This past week, I have been diligently following several LinkedIn conversations that started with questions like:
"If you're a trusted advisor who believes in collaboration and leveraging relationships to best serve your clients, how do you work with other advisors?"
What!?!
The conversation included statements like:
I believe we all have clients that can benefit from all our help. I"m here to help.
Client centric collaboration begins with team building. Shepherding is part of the function of seeing client's needs through to fruition.
...you're all doing what fewer than the top 10% are not, which is engaging in dialog. This is the first step in collaboration.
What!?!
How about asking the real question. I find it easiest to work with other advisors in driving business. However, my experience has been that we have a great conversation and then nothing happens. Or . . . I send a client to my new collaborative relationship and never get anything in return. Or . . . we conduct a seminar together, but it is all me who puts prospects in the seats.
It does not have to be this way. These relationships must begin with specific expectations about the reciprocal nature of the alliance. Lead sharing, work quality and technical support all play a role. Once we agree on these details, our next step is to determine how we will get started. Will we begin with:
A letter to our respective clients introducing the new relationship.
A seminar
A webinar
Demonstrating good faith and scheduling that first appointment with a client
Surveying each other's clients.
It really does not take much to see the value of strategic alliances. Once you are educated on each other's business and expertise, we become "reps" for each other. Referrals are yours to lose. The numbers are pretty simple. 1 qualified referral from each of 4 strategic alliances per quarter yield a very successful year.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Better Strategic Alliances
Teaching Your Strategic Alliance How To Sell
The Problem
You just finished a great "networking" meeting with a potential Strategic Alliance. You are excited about the possibilities and really believe that this one is going to generate referrals!! You come back to your office and fire off an email to the new referral partner telling them how excited you are to be working with them. Now what? You wait . . . and wait . . . and wait, but the referrals never come. Sound familiar? How many times has this happened to you? The problem with strategic alliance marketing is three-fold:
Other advisors often don't know how to sell, or more importantly, how to refer you.
You have no rules!
You set up the new relationship to fail because you provide no tools or a clear definition of the next step..
Many strategic alliances that we meet with are excellent advisors that depend on their clients calling with more work or, hopefully, with a referral. They don't know how to actively seek new work and they clearly don't know how to build business development relationships with other advisors. They say things like, I get all of my clients from other advisors like you. How can I possibly refer you other advisor's clients? This is a smokescreen. They can refer you, but you have to teach them how the relationship works.
You must have rules. Let me suggest three spoken rules (I learned from a very wise advisor in upstate New York) for every strategic alliance relationship:
This must be a reciprocal relationship. If referrals only go one way, the relationship will not work.
This must be a trusting relationship. When you send me referrals, you must trust that I will do excellent work. I know I can expect the same from you.
This must be a learning relationship. If I have a questions for you (i.e. estate planning) you must be comfortable giving me a little of your time without expecting work in return every time.
Finally, the "what happens next" is critically important. "Let's do an estate planning seminar sometime in September" is not a clear next step. There are a variety of tools to be successful with the next step.
Next Step
Tools For The Next Step
Your Strategic Alliance wants your help with marketing. Consider these ideas to help them make your new business development relationship stronger:
Provide them with a "leave-behind" branded with their logo that will inspire their clients to ask more questions. The leave-behind can be one of the most valuable strategic alliance weapons in your arsenal. Customized graphically with a checklist that is unique to them.
Suggest that they conduct a joint survey of clients, prospects and contacts to determine the unresolved issues which would inspire them to speak further with both of you. (Discussed in a previous issue of "Marketing Ideas." Call us for more info.)
Create and distribute a joint newsletter.
Conduct a joint educational event (Seminar or Webinar).
If you do the work, your new strategic alliances are far more willing to work WITH you. Providing tools like leave-behinds and surveys is your first step in getting them out of the comfort zones and into a joint business development mindset.
The Problem
You just finished a great "networking" meeting with a potential Strategic Alliance. You are excited about the possibilities and really believe that this one is going to generate referrals!! You come back to your office and fire off an email to the new referral partner telling them how excited you are to be working with them. Now what? You wait . . . and wait . . . and wait, but the referrals never come. Sound familiar? How many times has this happened to you? The problem with strategic alliance marketing is three-fold:
Other advisors often don't know how to sell, or more importantly, how to refer you.
You have no rules!
You set up the new relationship to fail because you provide no tools or a clear definition of the next step..
Many strategic alliances that we meet with are excellent advisors that depend on their clients calling with more work or, hopefully, with a referral. They don't know how to actively seek new work and they clearly don't know how to build business development relationships with other advisors. They say things like, I get all of my clients from other advisors like you. How can I possibly refer you other advisor's clients? This is a smokescreen. They can refer you, but you have to teach them how the relationship works.
You must have rules. Let me suggest three spoken rules (I learned from a very wise advisor in upstate New York) for every strategic alliance relationship:
This must be a reciprocal relationship. If referrals only go one way, the relationship will not work.
This must be a trusting relationship. When you send me referrals, you must trust that I will do excellent work. I know I can expect the same from you.
This must be a learning relationship. If I have a questions for you (i.e. estate planning) you must be comfortable giving me a little of your time without expecting work in return every time.
Finally, the "what happens next" is critically important. "Let's do an estate planning seminar sometime in September" is not a clear next step. There are a variety of tools to be successful with the next step.
Next Step
Tools For The Next Step
Your Strategic Alliance wants your help with marketing. Consider these ideas to help them make your new business development relationship stronger:
Provide them with a "leave-behind" branded with their logo that will inspire their clients to ask more questions. The leave-behind can be one of the most valuable strategic alliance weapons in your arsenal. Customized graphically with a checklist that is unique to them.
Suggest that they conduct a joint survey of clients, prospects and contacts to determine the unresolved issues which would inspire them to speak further with both of you. (Discussed in a previous issue of "Marketing Ideas." Call us for more info.)
Create and distribute a joint newsletter.
Conduct a joint educational event (Seminar or Webinar).
If you do the work, your new strategic alliances are far more willing to work WITH you. Providing tools like leave-behinds and surveys is your first step in getting them out of the comfort zones and into a joint business development mindset.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
