Finding the right alliances to double sales

Today’s business climate requires more sales with less effort and fewer employees. Finding the right strategic business alliance can double sales. Choosing the wrong partners costs you money, time, and revenue. Incorrect alliance associations are like eating chocolate covered jalapenos, they start out sweet and bite you at the end.

Strategic alliances are the conscious collaboration of individuals and/or companies to mutually grow. All parties involved must make an effort for the success of the relationship. Passive relationships rarely bear fruit. Focus on those you can manage and trust to ensure growth. Spending time creating the right alliance relationships that match up with your customers pays big dividends.

The first step in finding a key alliance is to understand your current and potential customers. Can you answer all these questions about your customers or prospects?

• What industry do they serve?
• Where in the world do you sell your products?
• How big is the company (revenue and employees)?
• How long have they been in business?
• What are their psychographics (values)?
• What are your Products and/or Services?
• What problems do you solve for your clients?
• How easy is it to do business with them?
• Does your customer sell someone else’s products?
• Who are your providers?
• Who else sells them?
• What community activities do they belong to or participate in?
• How do they buy your product (direct, indirect, as part of another product)?
• Why did your client choose you over the competition?
• Who are your ideal customers (answer these questions for your customers)?

Knowing your customers is critical to keeping them happy and finding more. An alliance comes from three different arenas: the customer community, industry catalysts, and distribution channels. Using the Alliance Compass you can direct sales to your customers, your true north.

If you know where your customers live and how they interact with their communities (communities can be local or global industry communities), you can meet them there. Online communities are now called Tribes. Just like face-to-face networking groups, online networking takes work.

Working with community organizations can be difficult and requires work. You can’t just pay your monthly fee and expect customers to just show up. Volunteer for committees and make your face known. Your cost to join these groups will be your time. With work, communities can be an alliance partner to grow your business.

For example, a local business owner wanted to meet the presidents of small businesses. He joined a local chamber of commerce. He then volunteered for the committee to judge Small Business of the Year. His time as a volunteer led him to meet all the up and coming business owners in the community. His clients live in the community and he received an introduction from them. His camera was his alliance partner.

From your research on your prospects, you know who else is calling them. These people become your industry catalysts and informal sales ambassadors. By using Industry Catalysts, you harness the power of others who are already trusted by your customers. Finding these companies for collaboration is easy. By being active in your customer communities, you’ll meet influential industry catalysts.

To find other catalysts, ask your current customers:

• What other products do you use?
• Who else sells products to them?
• Are your products/services used with another (complementary) product?
• Can you work with your competitors – co-opetition?

Your catalyst partners can share your income as an affiliate. Since they are giving you business that you otherwise would not have received, this is usually acceptable. Similarly, some collaborations maybe just “scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back” commercial trade. For example, CPAs or bankers may not be able to charge a referral fee and so you have to give them business in return.

A client in the high-tech field uses IT (information technology) vendors to recommend their products to small business owners. You can find the right IT support company for a business owner by simply asking, “If your computer crashes, who are you going to call?” The IT vendor is trusted by the business owner and could recommend their products. These IT vendors are now the industry catalyst for our client.

The most complex form of alliance partnership is distribution channels. The key here is to understand how your customer wants to buy your product. If you want to enter this type of alliance, be prepared for contractual relationships and partner management issues. Properly built and managed, the use of distribution channels can dramatically increase your revenue. Examples include resellers, distributors, joint ventures, or OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). This doesn’t just apply to the sales side of the business, but setting up joint ventures for R&D can expand your product lines. These relationships cannot be entered into lightly, as they require time and effort to be successful.

Choosing the right alliance partners starts with understanding your customers. Then you will know the best way to reach them. Your customers and market determine the type of alliance you want to create.

Once you’ve chosen the right partners, you need to spend time and effort managing the relationship to ensure it’s a success for both parties. This article has addressed the search for the alliance and does not begin to cover the cultivation of the relationship.

Once the relationship begins, an alliance lifecycle plan helps establish how you work with identified partners. Strategic alliances are not for the short-sighted or the faint of heart. The relationship takes work, but the rewards can be immense. Making a conscious effort to create the right associations from the start can double, triple, or even quadruple your sales revenue. You want to avoid eating the chocolate covered jalapenos associated with bad associations.