Open a partnership program to promote the Sale of products and services through business partners It's a strategy that is often underestimated for business growth.
And it is a mistake, since it is a very useful form of advertising to promote one's products and services without anticipating the advertising investment, but paying only after the results have been achieved.
To build a strategic alliance linked to the sale of your products and services, it is necessary to know how to "attract" business partners, but there are aspects to take into account to achieve results.
Let's see who the business partners are, where to look for them and how to build a profitable relationship while avoiding losing them.
Who are the business partners
Partners can be either companies on which there is no overlap of customers, or agents, distributors or professionals in the same sector in which you operate.
Generally, the presence of the territory and the investment of the time necessary to follow new customers are required, including the preliminary market study, including a map of local competitors.
Of course, in return, it is necessary to offer adequate technical-commercial training, dedicate time to coaching, launch marketing campaigns and share prospects in the reference area.
Where to look for business partners
Certainly a good search channel can be the local trade fairs in which the reference operators exhibit.
In addition to specialized job portals for agents and representatives, you can search LinkedIn to find people and salespeople who are already active in an area and industry.
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How to build a relationship and avoid losing them
Looking for business partners requires an investment of time and money, so it is necessary to know what the main rules are for building an effective business relationship to obtain tangible results and avoid frustrating the efforts made to activate a business partnership.
Here are at least 5 reasons to consider:
Weak collaboration agreement
Beyond the legal aspects, it is necessary to build a remuneration plan that takes into account the criteria of merit and the sharing of objectives.
Lack of training and coaching in the field
In the first phase of starting the commercial partnership relationship, it is important to invest in the new resource, dedicating the necessary time for technical training and support in the field.
Insufficient motivation
The parties must share objectives and strategies to evaluate together what actions should be taken to conquer a slice of the local market.
Brand promotion and prospect sharing
One of the most critical aspects for the business partner is the absence of marketing campaigns and the poor sharing of local customers and prospects by the principal.
If the counterparty does not want to make its customer portfolio available to the principal, it must at least commit to promoting the brand.
It is important to consider that the business partner has as its main objective the sale on which he has a profit while he is not paid to promote and make known the client's brand.
Lack of tools for sharing information
In addition to brochures and promotional materials, the client should provide the business partner with useful work tools to share information and monitor activities.
For example, it could be useful to allow the partner to access the company's CRM software in order to share prospects and customers assigned in the territory, allowing him to quickly create offers independently.
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