Continuing the New Client Acquisition Series, the last approach to New Client Acquisition is the Cooperate & Network approach: Attracting new clients by identifying strong synergistic partnerships.
Why are strategic partnerships important?
The short answer would be: Because they make business sense!…Desiring a longer explanation? OK.
If we look at the global giants out there, they achieve a steady growth by continuous acquisition. They expand their market share, strengthening their position, by acquiring start-up, SME or even large international players. Let’s just peak into Amazon’s case, being the leader in spotting the right acquisition ventures – see image below.
These huge corporations understand the value such acquisition strategy can bring in regards to innovation, know-how and target expansion, eliminating possible competition from the playing field. They understand the money and speed they can gain.
For a smaller or medium-sized business, it is, of course, harder to accumulate the funds necessary to acquire e.g. Whole Foods for 13.7 Billion USD, right? That is why instead, you need to partner up!
To truly accelerate your business growth, identifying key strategic partnership will allow you to:
- Boost Brand: Build stronger credibility and competitive edge by partnering up with a reputable and well-established brand. Such enhancement will enable you to address your weaknesses (aka fill in the gaps), achieve stronger market positioning and attract more clients in the future.
- Shared Target: Act smart and look for win-win-win solutions, benefiting not only your company in isolation but rather a union of companies. Rather than “knocking on the door” of one client at a time, partner with a business that has an established client list already, bundling or cross-promoting your products/services.
- Expansion Opportunities: Expand your reach to another territory or even go global. Expand into a new product line or enter a new market by having the right partner(s) on board.
- Shared Resources: Get access to finances, talent, know-how or technology you would otherwise have to develop in-house or purchase, saving you loads of time and allowing you faster market entry, innovation boost for your business or creating an offering of significantly higher value.
How can you find the right partners?
- Synergy identification: Identify your need and what resources are your missing, defining suitable strategic alliances that own the resource and would be the right candidate for your strategic partner.
- Stakeholder Mapping: Run a stakeholder map analysis looking at the variety of stakeholders linked or related to your business. Maybe your highest spending customer could become an investor bringing in a significant amount of funds.
- Networking (events): Spot the right networking events for your and your business, giving you access to a pool of potential partners. Cherry pick such events and do your due diligence in knowing who do you want to speak with on site.
- 3rd Party Referrals: Use your existing network to ask for 3rd party recommendations. People know people, so… don’t be shy to ask and be specific when sharing about what / who are you looking for.
What Partner types can you explore?
At Fortuny Consulting, we have identified six partner types you should explore:
#1 Supply Chain Partner: The range of potential partners from within your supply chain, where exclusive deals or unique terms can be explored and negotiated.
#2 Competitor Partner: The power of combined resources of two organizations aiming for the same goal, having a similar or identical product or service, which can be stronger together.
#3 Proxi Partner: A company in your neighborhood, in the same location, maybe in the same street, where combined offering or cross-promotion is possible.
#4 Complementor Partner: A combination of two complementary products/services that would make your offering more attractive and expand your reach if audiences are combined.
#5 Target Partner: The businesses out there which are neither your competitors nor complementors, but they share the same target and have an established customer network.
#6 Sparring Partner: A company or an individual that brings a specific gift into your business – if in form of funds, talent or expertise that would strengthen your business by filling in a current gap.
YOUR TURN!
Do you have a strong partner network or are you a solo-rider struggling to create a healthy pipeline of clients? Partner up and build a sustainable strategy, act smart and gain speed!
Start building winning strategic partnerships today!
