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Here is the list of the easiest people to sell to.First - The existing clientSecond - A past clientThird - A prospect referred by a trusted source Fourth - A cold prospect
The strategic alliance/JV strategy focuses on the third prospect, the person or business referred by a trusted source. Perhaps the number one reason that people do business with a particular company over another is trust. They believe when they do business with a trusted source, they will get a good return on their money, whether it is from an auto shop, a doctor or a florist.
The trust factor is the main reason so many companies use celebrities in their advertising. The psychology behind the strategy behind it is that if I say something about my business and me, it is perceived as selling or promoting myself. If a trusted source says good things about me, you are much more inclined to believe them. Big companies can afford the celebrities but you can get the same result without having to shell out big dollars.
Another advantage of an alliance is that they are very cost effective. For example, if send out a mailing of 1000 pieces and it costs you $1,000. If you get a 5% response, you have 50 prospects so you essentially spent $950 marketing to people who don't know or trust you and may not have even opened your letter!
What if you were able to get a 30% response or even greater? Your marketing dollars just went lot further because you are marketing to a database of an alliance partner's established list where trust has already been established.
Here is your assignment: Make a list of the top 20% of your clients who you feel trust you a great deal. Add to that list several of your suppliers. Next step is to define the demographics of your best clients and see what they have in common.
Is your business something that everyone needs such as a bank, food store or insurance agents? This is a very generic profile and almost anyone could be your customer so the list of potential partners can be very large. However, you can be selling something that everyone needs but could be serving a certain type of client. If you are the food store or bank but could be catering to a upscale segment of the market. Once again, the more you know and understand your clients, the more leverage you can get from using alliance as one of your business marketing tools.
Does your business focus on a specific niche like fishermen, athletes, mountain bike riders or yoga students? If so, then only certain types of people will do business with you so you need to search out businesses that are also serving this specific clients.
The more you know about your clients, the better because when you begin to search out alliance partners, you will need to focus on those who have clients similar to your clients. You also need to have a strategy for capturing your clients names and as much information about them as possible. You have a lot more to offer partners if you can say, "I have a list of 1,000 clients who live in houses worth $250,000 to $500,000 with an average household income of $125,000." Just think about it, when you approach a potential partner and have an asset like this list, that person willing to listen to you!
The next part of your assignment is to look at the list of clients and suppliers who own compatible businesses or belong to organizations that cater to a market similar to yours and have clients who could also use your services. Your next step is the approach strategy. Call or write the potential partner and let them know that you would like to discuss an alliance to increase the sales and profits of both of the businesses.
You will want to do some due diligence to insure that your potential partner meets your standards of quality and service because the alliance could easily backfire as a business marketing tool if they have service or quality problems. You also need to insure that both of you can handle the additional demand if there is a sudden influx of new clients. If this issue is a potential problem, you want to start slow to test the waters.
More information about joint ventures on my site is here
PS - do you find these joint venture and strategic strategies intriguing but are not sure where to start? Some alliances can involve a lot of details, contracts and negotiations, and others are as simple as a cross-coupon promotion. Either way, it's good to have an expert on your side.
If so, then contact me directly to see how implementing this powerful business marketing tool in your business can bring you rapid sales increases that you never thought possible. Send me an email to set up a complimentary consultation of your business.
www.paulfloodmarketing.com/business-marketing-tools.html
