Not all partnerships end up on paper, but many of them start out on paper; meaning, sometimes the most successful partnerships start out with the exchanging of business cards at the local coffee shop.
Some of these informal exchanges do end up on paper in the form of referral agreements, reseller agreements, or even integrated technology agreements. However, some of the most successful partnerships never end up on paper in the form of a partnership agreement between two companies. I refer to these partnerships as informal alliances or relationships of awareness.
There’s no monetary component to these informal alliances other than two people that recognize working together can advance each of their sales initiatives in the spirit of achieving a win-win outcome for both. The partnership is truly defined by two business cards being exchanged with different logos on each card. One logo might be “Company A” and the other might be “Company B”, but that doesn’t mean there’s a formal partnership between the two. It’s just represents two seasoned sales professionals that recognize the power of partnering and working together to serve a common customer and achieving their respective sales goals.
I’ve worked with many sales professionals throughout my career, and the most successful have mastered the art of informal alliances and developing these relationships of awareness (see The Hunt). I’ve always believed that a sales professional is responsible for developing their own pipeline. This was passed on to me from one of my mentors early in my career. What they get from Marketing or system-generated lead-gen activities is icing on the cake. The most successful sales professionals I’ve worked with have owned 100% of their pipeline. I like to refer to these sales professionals as “The President’s Club” members. Taking responsibility for your own sales pipeline is the difference between being in President’s Club…or not – it’s as simple as that.
Let me role play for a moment…if I’m a sales professional, I’m seeking every opportunity to network with my peer group (sales professionals) that are selling into my same customer base or industry. If I’m traveling, I make this a part of my agenda to maximize my trip. There is no shortage of local networking opportunities regardless of where you are; whether it be through your local Chamber, professional networking/business groups, vendor-sponsored events, etc. You just have to have the initiative to insert yourself in these activities and develop mutually beneficial relationships. What I’ve found throughout my career is that these relationships start out professional in nature, but in the end I’ve developed some long-lasting friendships through these efforts.
What is interesting about these informal alliances is that they often times go viral; meaning, wins have a way of making their way around a sales organization. When one sales professional sees another having success, they tend to ask questions. They want to know what the secret is. They want to be in President’s Club too. It’s these viral relationships of awareness that sometimes lead to a formal partnership agreement between two companies.
There’s sometimes this notion that it should be the other way around; meaning, let’s paper an agreement and get the sales teams engaged with one another. This works where it makes sense, but you still have to invest the time to develop one-on-one personal relationships to be successful; whether it’s through local networking activities or structured engagements through a formalized partner agreement. The reality is that you have to do both, but it does all truly boil down to establishing meaningful field-level relationships.
If you’re a good sales professional, you’ve also learned to wear your partner hat. Hopefully I’ll see you at the local coffee shop!
Happy Partnering!