The picture above was me (metaphorically) after sitting through a conference call with a company who wanted to talk about partnering with my company. As you can see from the picture, it was not a great experience. It still amazes me how many alliance people schedule exploratory partnership conversations, but then don't take the time to prepare for those discussions!
To prevent this from happening to others, I bring you the Five Rules for Having an Exploratory Partnership Conversation!
Rule #1. Tell me what you want!
If you approach me, the onus is on YOU, to explain what you want - where you see the value in a potential partnership. Don't leave it to me to "intuit" your proposal, or guess what you want us to do together.
Rule #2. It's all about me.
I'm already working on more than I can say grace over. You want me to attend to you and this potential partnership. This means I've got to figure out what I'm not going to do so that I can do this. Which means you need to sell me on why I should care. What's in it for me? I don't care what your alliance and product strategy is - unless it's directly relevant to what you are proposing and its value to me. Set your radio to my favorite radio station - WIIFM (What's in it for me?) and make your message compelling.
Rule #3. Know what my company does.
This might seem obvious, but as my grandmother was fond of saying "common sense ain't so common". I've gotten calls from companies who had not even bothered to look at my company's website to understand our solutions and key industry segments. It will be difficult for you to craft a compelling value proposition, much less a partnering proposition, if you don't know what I do.
Rule #4. Have a clear call to action or next step.
Loosey goosey close is simply inviting me put this at the bottom of the pile. If you get my attention, have a clear next step identified. Who do we need to engage next? What do we need to cover? How do we complete the due diligence process to get to EOJ?
Rule #5. PREPARE before you get on the phone with me!
Rules 1 through 4 pretty much indicate that you've got to do your homework. Do not throw your standard 25 slide company presentation at me and expect me to "figure it out"! Think through your pitch, develop a compelling story and "serve it up to me on a biscuit!" - meaning, clearly articulate what you want and why I should care.
Follow these rules and the odds of you having a productive dialog with your partner prospect will go up exponentially. Even if you wind up mutually determining that this is not a good partnership opportunity, at least you will have left a favorable impression, and that will do nothing but help you in the future!
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