Sales & Marketing: Developing Relationships for Business Results
Developing Relationships for Business Results Finding a business partner with complementary services and a similar customer base can bring mutual benefits.
By Elizabeth Usovicz
For most small business owners, business networking and reseller agreements are standard business development activities. Networking can lead to new business contacts, while alliance and reseller agreements provide additional products, services or credibility for the business. When these contacts or agreements don’t produce new customers, it is generally because they never become fully developed relationships or because the business owner is managing too many of them. By developing relationship partners—two or three highly selective, qualitative relationships built over time to produce specific results—business owners can build a pipeline of prospective customers or clients. To develop relationship partners that bring business results:
Develop a profile of your ideal customer.
Research and identify the types of companies and individuals that serve this customer profile.
Identify the tangible value your company brings as a relationship partner.
Follow a five-step process for developing the relationship.
Developing a Profile of Your Ideal Customer To target the right kind of company for a relationship, you’ll need to be specific about your ideal customer.
What benefits does your business provide, and to whom do you provide them?
What is the profile of your current customer and of your ideal customer?
In what segment of your target markets or industries are they found?
For example, a network securities company that developed a relationship partner answered the first question with, “Any company that has a small IT department.” Further brainstorming revealed an opportunity with small to mid-size banks that needed to ensure their security measures were in compliance with privacy regulations. This led to investigating partnerships with other providers that bankers relied upon.
Researching and Identifying Partners Points to consider in identifying potential relationship partners are:
What other companies or providers does your ideal customer rely upon or trust? If you don’t know the answer to this question, don’t guess; ask your customers or prospects.
If your business is primarily based on high-tech or hard skills, explore the potential of “high-touch” or soft skill providers as potential partners, or vice versa.
Remember that the quality of these relationships is more important than quantity. Your goal is to develop and maintain two or three relationships that will yield specific benefits for both of you.
The network security company above requested informational meetings with bank CEOs and developed questions about bankers’ perceptions of privacy and compliance. From these meetings, the company identified a law firm that was highly regarded for bank compliance training and advice.
Identifying Your Tangible Value to Your Potential Relationship Partner
Do your research before you approach your potential partner.
Clearly identify the benefits your company gains from, and brings to, the relationship.
Be sure that you can demonstrate this two-way value before you approach your potential relationship partner.
Research your potential partner by conducting an Internet search, reviewing their Web site and identifying industry trade group affiliations or publications. These clues will help you to formulate the mutual benefits of a relationship.
Process for Developing a Relationship Partner With your research completed and your mutual benefit clarified, it’s time to develop the relationship.
Create a Connection
Do it diplomatically, in writing, addressed to the company’s president.
Tell your potential partner that in speaking with your customers (prospects) about “x” (issue/opportunity), their company was mentioned as a valued resource. Suggest that it might be mutually interesting and beneficial to meet and discuss how you’re both helping your customers and prospects.
Indicate a time frame for your meeting (next week, between now and the end of the month, etc.). Invite them to contact you, and indicate the date on which you will follow up.
Include a brief overview of your company with the letter.
2. Initiate a Dialog
Call when you said you would. Set up a meeting time.
Identify an agenda that is focused on the issues or opportunities with which you are both helping your customers or prospects.
Don’t try to “sell” your company or a relationship on the first meeting. Your objective is to begin to build a sustainable relationship.
Identify a small follow-on step to ensure a beneficial next contact, such as inviting the contact to attend a professional meeting with you.
3. Turn the Dialog into a Relationship
Relationships develop with common interests and continual, meaningful activity. Invite your potential partner to customer user groups or to social activities with your customers. Or include them in a meeting with a customer or prospect.
Generating benefit for your relationship partner earns you the right to ask them for referrals, or inclusion in a meeting with one of their customers or prospects.
Keep in mind that your goal is to develop mutual liking and trust.
4. Turn the Relationship into Business Results
Once you’ve built a degree of trust and conducted successful joint business meetings, initiate a discussion to review the mutual benefits of your relationship.
Mutually identify the potential for greater benefit from your relationship. Quantify these benefits and the resources that both of you will need to provide. Be realistic about both your expectations and your resources.
Outline an action plan that will yield both of you these benefits.
Incorporate into your action plan a regular means of communication on your progress.
Document your plan and refer to it in your regular communications.
5. Repeat the Process
To generate results, the relationship will require an investment of time. Continually assess the relationship, and re-engage your relationship partner at the appropriate step.
Developing successful relationship partners can be an effective way to develop new business. The keys to success are identifying the right partners, limiting the quantity of partners and investing the time required to yield long-term business results.
Elizabeth Usovicz is chief operating officer of Sounding House, a qualitative market research company in Overland Park. You can reach her at (913) 236-4775 or
