Are You Using this Powerful Networking Strategy?
Author: Jill Konrath
Added: 07/29/2004
Topic: Relationships - Referrals
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Copyright Jill Konrath. Reprinted With Permission.
Several years ago while reading the Business Journal, I came across an article
that stopped me cold. It featured IntroWorks, a company that focused
specifically on marketing and branding new products.
Most people would have skimmed right over the article. Not me.
Suddenly I was struck with a big, audacious idea. I needed to meet the owners of
this firm - and soon.
You see, my expertise is in creating demand and shrinking time- to-revenue on
new product introductions. My goal is to help the sales organization sell more,
faster.
As luck would have it, shortly after that I was speaking at a large conference.
And guess who happened to have a booth at that very same event. I went up,
introduced myself to the guys and invited them to lunch.
By the time we got together, I'd immersed myself in their website. I liked what
they said; it was very aligned with my own beliefs. But I still needed to learn
more about the quality of their work, their clients, their thinking processes
and what they were like as human beings.
I came away from our meeting very impressed. I could work with these people and
they could provide high value to my clients. They felt the same. The big
question was HOW to make it happen.
A few months later, at a board meeting for the James J. Hill Business Library, I
met the president of inTouch, a firm that specializes in lead generation for the
complex sale.
"Very interesting," I thought. "We both work with clients that sell into the
business-to-business marketplace. We probably deal with some of the very same
decision makers."
As we were leaving, I suggested we get together for lunch. We got a date on the
calendar and then I went to the office to check this company out. Again, I was
impressed; there was a clear alignment in our business approach and strategy.
Our meeting went well. I also discovered that inTouch shared several clients
with IntroWorks - and they'd never met before. It was time for us all to get
together.
Let me fast forward a few meetings and a few months. As we got to know each
other better, the synergy between our businesses was obvious. One more company,
Aware Web Solutions, joined us in these discussions. They did the internet work
for many of IntroWorks' clients.
We explored a variety of ways to work together. After much discussion, we
decided to do an all-day Product Launch Seminar together. That was 18 months
ago. Since that time, we've done a second seminar and we have more & different
ideas in the works.
We've all realized major benefits from our strategic alliance:
Our shared clients get better service. Because we know how to work together and
how each other think, we can contribute at a higher level. Plus, everything we
do meshes with and builds on each other's work.
We've all added new clients. Each of us has added several new customers that we
wouldn't have had without this relationship.
We've increased our revenue. In fact, each of us can attribute between $60,000 -
$120,000 in sales over the past 18 months to our joint relationship.
Developing Strategic Alliances
Over the years, I've tried out numerous networking strategies. Most have yielded
minimal results. Strategic alliances are a whole different matter - they work
well!
Here are some tips to help you form and leverage strategic alliances:
1. Identify potential strategic alliance partners.
The best partners for a successful strategic alliance are businesses with
related specialties to yours and/or firms that sell to the same decision makers.
Any size business can form a strategic alliance. One of my corporate clients
sells abrasive systems (i.e., sandpaper) and tape to the automotive industry. A
top selling rep at this firm has established strategic alliances with other
companies selling into the painting/priming area.
By keeping on top of new paint formulations and other developments, he's able to
ensure that his customers don't experience any line-stopping problems. He's so
valuable to the client, that low-cost competitors can't displace him. And, his
business keeps increasing.
How do you find these partners? First of all, ask yourself, "Who do I know today
that's in a contingent business to mine" and "Who else has the same target
market as I do and sells to my primary decision maker?"
If no names come to mind right now, then consider these options for finding
alliance partners:
Attend networking meetings to find related businesses.
Read the local business press to identify people in adjoining
businesses.
Ask your customers about other suppliers he/she works with
and respects.
Remember, all you need to get started is just one other person. You can add more
people over time.
2. Get to know each other.
You need to invest time upfront to really understand each other's
product/service offering. Also, since your reputation is at stake. When you
bring in someone else, you need to be confident in this person's ability to do
the work, take care of the account, act ethically and more.
Don't rush this process or you may be sorry. I've seen people blindly trust
their 'partners' only to find out that they've gone behind their backs and
stolen the work or done something so stupid that no one would want to be aligned
with them.
3. Pick an initial project to work on together.
Our first venture was a joint seminar. There wasn't a lot of risk since we
weren't bringing each other into our best clients. It was also a good chance for
us to see each other in action.
In doing this product launch seminar, we divvied up the work according to our
expertise. I wrote copy, developed emarketing material and handled the business
details. IntroWorks did the marketing collateral and branding.
Aware Web Solutions developed the web site. We all sent emails about the event
to our own private email lists. InTouch followed up with a lead generation
campaign. And our 5th partner, the James J. Hill Business Library handled
logistics.
The event went smoothly. We all heard each other speak and present. While we
didn't make money on the seminar, we broke even with costs. But most of us got
new customers - from people who were in our partner's database.
4. Expand the relationship.
Since then, we've had our second product launch workshop. We've also done more
together. Here are a few examples:
We confidently bringing each other into meet our clients. We know that our work
only covers certain aspects of our customer's needs and that we now have trusted
resources to help out with other areas.
We co-market in other ways. I did a teleseminar that InTouch marketed to their
client base. It's posted on their website. A very sizable new customer came to
me after listening to it.
We sometimes feature each other in our e-newsletters, websites and blogs. In
fact, one of my partners helped me get started blogging. And now, I'm telling
you all about them in my ezine.
We've hired each other for projects. That's right. We need each other's services
too!
Strategic alliances are the most powerful networking strategy I've ever used.
Big companies often arrange them at the corporate level, but anyone can create
his or her own network of strategic partners. A single salesperson can easily
form an alliance that catapults his/her business to the next level.
Small businesses, professional services firms and independent consultants can
leverage their partners to expand opportunities far beyond where they could go
themselves.
As far as I'm concerned, I've only just tapped the surface of what can be done.
I'm looking forward to developing my existing alliances to an even deeper level.
Plus, I'm talking with several other firms right now with product/service
offerings we don't have in our mix yet. Those relationships are in their early
stages, but hold a lot of promise.
If you're still trying to go it alone out there, consider forming a strategic
alliance with other firms. If you choose the right partners, it will make a huge
difference in your business.
One last caveat: A strategic alliance is NOT a merger of your businesses. It's
simply a go-to-market method that expands your reach far beyond what you're
capable of reaching on your own.
"Brilliant people talk about ideas,
average people talk about things,
whining people talk about each other."
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