Tired of the merry-go-round of networking events where everyone's there to sell and no-one's there to buy?
Feeling like a used car salesman, trying to flog your business with every person you meet, when it’s not really your style?
Why not try creating a productive alliance with another business owner where both of your businesses can benefit?
You can create WIN WIN strategic alliances with other businesses by following five easy steps.
Step 1 – Opening the door
When you meet someone at a networking event, the first step is to establish if they might be open to exploring the possibility of working together in some way to help each other.
You might find that they share your target market or that you have some other business goal or strategy in common from which to build an alliance.
At this initial stage, all you are wanting to do is determine if they're open to exploring the possibility of a strategic alliance. If you decide they might be, then you can move onto Step 2.
Step 2 - Get to know your potential alliance partner
Make an appointment to catch-up with your potential alliance partner for either a real or virtual SMART cup of coffee.
This is like a first date; you both need to decide if the other is someone you'd want to work with in the future.
There'll be a lot to cover, so allow at least an hour for your discussion.
The sorts of questions you should ask each other include:
• Tell me about your business?
• What products or services do you provide?
• Who's your target/niche market?
• What's your point of difference?
• Can you tell me a bit about your background?
• What are your particular strengths and weaknesses?
Remember, it's important to be honest with each other; you don’t want any nasty surprises in the middle of an alliance strategy
• What are you looking to gain from an alliance?
E.g. increased leads, improved conversions, reduced costs etc
• What could you offer in an alliance with my business?
E.g. "Do you have a substantial database?", "Could you pay a referral fee?", "Can you speak or write on your area of expertise?" etc
• What limitations do you have?
Again, it's important to be honest; if you have no budget or no time, say so now, not later.
It's only when you're both clear and satisfied with the outcomes from Step 2 that you can safely move on to Step 3; remember, you may need to call it quits if you're not satisfied after Step 2.
Step 3 - Brainstorm your strategic alliance options
By now, you should both be comfortable with the idea of moving forward and working together in some way. It's now time to explore how you might go about doing this.
Some of the options you could explore include:
• Referral strategies
• Affiliate programs
• Collaborative alliances
• Host beneficiaries, and
• Joint ventures.
Remember, you don’t have to bring the same thing to an alliance. In fact, you should aim to make the most of each others resources.
For instance, one of you may have a database and the other a product or service which would add value for the other business.
Note of caution: When working on your first strategy together keep it simple and low-risk, e.g., don’t start out by sending a letter of endorsement to your entire database unless you have 110% confident in the other person.
It's much safer to start with a low-cost, joint- or cross-promotion, or a host beneficiary strategy.
Once you have agreed on an initial alliance strategy to work on together, it’s time to move on to the planning stage.
Step 4 - Create a plan to implement your strategy
The biggest mistake most business owners make at this stage is... skipping it entirely and going straight into implementing their strategy!
Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is the S.M.A.R.T. part of your SMART cup of coffee.
Make sure your strategy is:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound
Don’t forget to allocate responsibilities and to set some dates to catch-up and review. You should also agree on what each of you will contribute to the alliance.
Whatever you do, this is a great opportunity to really get to know your new alliance partner as you work together as a team on your new strategy.
Step 5 - Implement and review your strategy
Once your new strategy is in place don’t forget to monitor and follow up.
It’s important to be open and honest with your alliance partner:
• Is the strategy working to achieve your goals?
• What about your alliance partner’s goals?
• What could you do more of, better or differently to better support their business?
• Are there things you would like your alliance partner to do differently?
• Would you like to explore the possibilities of implementing more strategies together?
Remember to leave each meeting with an agreed next step.
In the worst case scenario, the agreed next step may be that the match really wasn’t made in Heaven and it’s time to call it quits. Learn from the experience and move on to the next potential alliance.
Whether or not you continue to work together as alliance partners, if the experience has been a positive one, the process of working together on a project, no matter how small, will have cemented your relationship.
You will be surprised at how this will increase the probability of ongoing business and referrals in the future.
