When you’re a business owner, having good alliances is like having a team of people who are personally invested in seeing you succeed.
In this sense, allies should be businesses that can help you in your quest for that most valuable of resources – customers. Think of other companies that your target customer may go to for products and services that complement or enhance what you offer.
If you’re a restaurant, you might want to form an alliance with a nearby movie theater or hotel. A camping outfitter may seek out a company that offers wilderness excursions . If you’re a web-based company, you might recruit a group of affiliates. If you install custom closets, try real estate agents and home repair and maintenance services. The best and most beneficial alliances are those in which you also refer customers to the other business.
Are They a Good Fit?
Go through similar research as you did when you researched competitors in Step 9 of Building a Better Business. Decide if these companies are good partners for you. You want to check these potential allies out to see why you’d want to work with them, and to make sure that you offer some benefit for them working with you as well. Your aim is should be to keep a relatively small list of very high-quality allies. 5 or 6 very strong allies that refer business to you regularly can be just as effective as 20 or 30 allies who hardly do anything.
Make Contact
Once you’ve found a potential ally, you need to introduce yourself. You might send them an email or letter, pick up the phone and call or just drop by for a visit. I’ve found its easier to call or drop by out of the blue if you’ve already sent an email or letter. That way you can open the conversation by asking, “Did you get a chance to read the email/letter I sent?” Even if the answer is no, you’ve got a good way to start the discussion.
Give them A Sample
If you’re going to ask for someone to recommend your product or service to customers who already know and trust them, you should probably give them a sample of what their customers will experience. When they speak to their customers about you, they won’t remember what you told them to say, they’ll remember and recount their own personal experience. You should ask for a sample of theirs as well, so that you’ll be able to provide the same personal recommendation for your customers. Once you’ve given them a sample, be sure to specifically ask, “Would you feel comfortable referring this product/service to your customers?” If they say no, ask them why not. You may get some feedback that can help you improve your offering, or you may just realize that this person is not someone you want to work with after all.
Make Referring Easy
Once your ally has agreed to refer business to you, make it as easy as possible for them to do. Remember, they’re a business owner, too. And they have the same daily demands that you do. If you require them to jump through hoops or institute a complicated process to refer business to you, they’re not going to want to do it.
Remind and Reward
Even the most well-meaning friends and allies forget to remember you sometimes. It’s up to you to remind them, and remind them often. You should have marketing activities designed specifically for your allies. Occasional emails and postcard reminders are a simple way to do this. You may also host receptions or special events just for your allies. It should be a small enough group so that the costs aren’t too high. You should also have a method of compensating your allies when they refer business to you. This can be financial compensation, or just through verbal recognition, but you want to make sure that you recognize their efforts and appreciate them for it, so they’re continually motivated to do it.
With the right allies, your customers will begin to see you as the go-to source for multiple, related needs, and so will your allies’ customers. You’ve instantly made choosing your company more convenient for your customers and more worth their time, and all you had to do was make a new friend.
