The Alliance Conversation - featuring yours truly

Simoons & Company, an alliance consulting organization based in the Netherlands, recently had me as a featured guest for the latest installment of their podcast series - The Alliance Conversation. You can check out the podcast at the link below!

Alliance Conversation with Donna Peek

Step 8: Create an Alliance Plan

Before you uncork the Champagne bottle, realize that after the alliance agreement has been signed your work has just begun. You now need to work with your new partner to develop an alliance plan that outlines partnership goals/objectives, action plans, rules of engagement, and checkpoints , and you will need to assign an alliance manager to manage the relationship and execute on the plan.

Step 7: Negotiate Partnership Agreement

The negotiation process effectively starts when you make your initial call to the partner prospect and you should be continually establishing your value in all your interactions, up through and including the negotiation process. Before you start drafting contracts, first sit down with your business sponsors and gain agreement on general business terms. Make sure that everyone is on the same page before you engage your respective attorneys.

Step 6: Conduct Due Diligence

In this step both you and the partner prospect will be evaluating the "fit."

Technical fit: This will typically involve technical product walthroughs by your respective product teams. In these sessions, you are both trying to find out if the product is "real and ready".

Marketing fit: What are the products' strengths and weaknesses relative to the market needs? How do we complement each other? What are the areas of potential competitive conflict? How will customers view the value this partnership?

Cultural fit: Don't give this process the short shrift. Talk to the prospect's current partners. Talk to analysts or experts that follow your market. You are trying to get a sense for what this company would be like to do business with.

Go back and look at your Partner Selection Criteria in Step 2. Validate any of the assumptions you may have made about this partner prospect.

Finally, you will need to layout the business case for the partnership. Based on what you find out during the due diligence process, what investments will be required to make the partnership work?

Step 5: Conduct Recruitment Calls

Once you've done your homework, you are now ready for that initial call. Depending on the size of the firm, your target will either be a VP of Business Development, VP of Marketing, or perhaps the company founder or president. Use your friends and family network to identify the right contact and perhaps get an introduction. Send them a copy of your completed partner proposition worksheet and step them through it. You will win points with them simply for being prepared and demonstrating knowledge of their business.

If all goes well, they'll request a follow-up call or visit and the due diligence process will begin.

Step 4: Prepare a Partner Proposition Worksheet

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Don't blow it by indiscriminately calling your targets and "winging it." Approach partner recruitment with the same care and preparation that you would if you were trying to land a marquee customer.

Prepare a "Partner Proposition Worksheet" (http://www.entrepreneurship.org/Resources/Detail/Default.aspx?id=12194) for each partner prospect. Start by thinking through "WIIFT" (what's in it for them). Here you must stand in the target partner's shoes. Why would they want to partner with you? Why do they need to partner with you? What capabilities do you have that they need in order to compete more effectively? Do your homework. Understand the company's goals, objectives, and strategies and what's happening to them in the market. Think through what your combined value proposition would be to customers. Identify a compelling vision for the partnership and articulate the impact of that vision on the marketplace.

Finally, clearly articulate your partnering proposition — what it is that you are proposing that you do together. Be as specific as possible. Perhaps you can even identify a few options.

Step 3: Identify and Prioritize Partner Candidates

From the gaps you identified in your market validation work in Step One, start identifying companies who possess your missing capabilities. Read the trade rags, contact trade associations, search the web, and leverage your investor and advisor networks including your accounting and law firms. Who do the industry analysts say are the important companies in the space you're targeting? Add these companies to your recruitment target list. Using the criteria you identified in Step Two, prioritize your target list to whittle it down to a manageable number of companies to target.