How many good partnerships can you think of right now? Well, how about Abbott and Costello? Hanna and Barbera. Smith and Wesson.
Abraham and Strauss. Hope and Crosby. Lewis and Clark. Rowan and Martin. The Lone Ranger and Tonto!
These teams were comprised of individuals who were very good in their own right. Joining forces made them even better! The whole was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s why it’s imperative in any business to be able to form strong personal and strategic partnerships.
Good partnerships are formed by building good relationships; relationship networking is simply the art of meeting people and benefiting from those relationships. Often the benefit of these relationships is to obtain information, contacts or customers that lead to further growth of your business. Any successful relationship; whether a personal or business is unique and evolves over time.
Effective relationship networking is all about building those relationships and maintaining long lasting connections with other professionals.
You can employ a variety of vehicles for establishing relationships.
But nothing really beats good old-fashioned face-to-face communication to start the process of building the foundation for a strong business partnership.
Establishing new relationships open new doors, often it’s “who you know, not necessarily what you know”.
Tips to building new business relationships:
- Focus on providing genuine assistance to potential partners
- Be open-minded
- Remember personal details
- Respect cultural differences
- Research people and companies
- Know their goals and interests
- Reciprocate
Where do you meet new contacts?
So many people wear multiple hats; everyone and anyone could possibly
be a potential partner. However, just like
targeted marketing, the more targeted the networking the higher the
chance of success. ‘Targeted’ networking offers the most potential.
Try these some of these ideas to make new contacts:
- Industry specific trade associations or organizations
- Trade shows
- Vendors
- Focused newsgroups and topic specific forums
- Customers
- Business events or chamber meetings
In many ways relationship networking and partnering overlap, and in
many instances members of your network will become synergistic partners.
Partnering
Partnering is an attractive flexible way for companies to develop new
markets and additional revenue. Working together, partners can
combine strengths in critical areas. Often a larger well-known
partner provides small companies with credibility, while the smaller
contributes specific industry knowledge unknown to the larger
partner. Synergistic relationships come in all shapes and sizes, but
the best relationships and partnerships are the ones that benefit
everyone. Partnering is a good way of tapping into related customer
bases. Often the partners complement each other in such a way that
they can provide a combined solution that neither partner could
deliver alone.
Expectations
In order for a relationship to work you must have a clear
understanding of both your companies, product strengths
and weaknesses. By being aware of
any deficiencies, you will find partners with strengths in the areas of
your weaknesses.
- Know what you have to offer potential partners
- Know what you are looking for in a new partner
- Don’t waste time, it’s either a fit or not
Win/Win
Only when each partner is successful can the partnership itself claim
success. Awesome partnerships are truly win-win situations. It goes
without saying that companies, who master the art of strategic
partnering and relationship networking, will obtain long-term
profitability and success.
Final Tips
- Adage - you are who you hang with
- Not every relationship is a good one
- Evaluate potential partners thoroughly
- Make it personal by taking the time to say thank you
- Results are not always immediate
- Carry business cards everywhere you go
Relationship marketing and partnership building go hand in hand.
Build strong relationships and you will have an unlimited source of
partnership opportunities. The more win/win situations you build the
better you bottom line will look.
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