Yesterday I was talking with the CEO of a software company who saw that referral leads to each other, even if the majority were sent to his company versus those of his partners, was a win-win for both.
Why is that?
When one company can enable the completion of a sale for another, that’s when win-win can happen. Now, not all allyforce relationship necessarily work that way. Often times it is purely non-competitive versus enabling.
But sometimes it is an enabling solution. One way to figure out who those players are that can accelerate your sales as well as theirs is to see if there is someone out there operating as a “giant” that has a portfolio of solutions of which one of them is yours.
So, for example, if you are in IT, look at say an IBM, Oracle, HP, or CA and see if one of your products competes with any of the hundreds they offer. Then find a company who also offers a product which competes with the giants.
The giants have those offerings because they are often asked for as a single solution from customers. But that doesn’t mean you can go into a company with your solution hand-in-hand or referring leads to win the deal.
This works in non-technology sectors as well.
Does your consulting services, say, in HR or performance management mirror that offered by larger consulting firms who offer several practices? Which of those practices seem to be “grouped” or lumped in with others that you don’t offer?
The vision of an allyforce is that, together, smaller companies can team to provide the same level of market coverage as the behemoths like IBM while providing superior solutions because of nimbleness.
But it will only work if the people in the field or in inside sales who are making contacts with prospects and customers are able to team with partners effectively.
Look at your strategy and ask yourself, “Have you set yourself up for win-win with partners?”
Providing the complete solution for more sales
March 5th, 2010 | Tips and Hints