I help founders who sell, but aren't "sales"people. Are you open to one hyper actionable sales tip per week, useful for your very next sales meeting and consumable in 4 minutes or less?
069: Partnerships
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Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 3 minutes. This week goes out to the founders who believe they just need more leads. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. But you almost certainly need more partners. ​ Today, we'll cover:
​ Story Time A client of mine, let's call them ACME, sells a hyper-niche marketing service to mid-sized contracting companies. Almost all mid-sized firms outsource their website or digital marketing to an agency. One of ACME's lead generation strategies is to ask for warm intros to the agencies with whom their customers work. If the agency is large enough, 10+ clients, ACME runs a partnership sales funnel to onboard the agency as a referral partner. The partnership funnel starts like any other, with an intro call and demo. Then, ACME asks for a "Proof Of Concept Client" (POCC) to prove the relationship will be profitable. If the POCC goes well, the agency commits to introducing as many of its customers as possible. Since most companies constantly change agencies, this includes their current and future customers. Ultimately, it's a win-win-win. The agency finds a new source of revenue. The contracting company wants ACME to provide the service. And ACME has a sustainable, strategic, naturally growing source of customers. ​ One Lead at a Time Most companies generate interest using a Lead-at-a-Time strategy. This means the marketing is focused on getting as many leads as possible of potential customers who can buy within 1-2 sales cycles. Typical "Lead-at-a-Time" strategies include:
And all of these are valid sources. If you can get just one of these channels to really take off, you're golden. The trouble is that all of these strategies are saturated with competitors. They're expensive. And they're so dynamic that what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Partnerships, on the other hand, are relationship-driven. They take longer to establish and are more sustainable, defensible, and less crowded. And an intro from a partner instantly elevates you in the eye of your potential customers, which is invaluable. ​ Partnerships A partnership is when you leverage someone else's audience to generate leads for your product or service. Ideally, your partners are in complementary businesses or have an audience packed with your ideal customer profile, such as an industry podcast. There are three types of partnership:
Referral Partners provide you with an introduction and leave you to handle the rest. Referral partners typically expect a flat fee or small (~10%) ongoing commission for the introduction.
Content Partners will create and/or promote content with you. The content ranges from being a guest on a podcast to promoting a joint webinar to an integrated marketing campaign with emails, landing pages, and more. Content partners range from free to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The best content partners will pay you to speak to their audience, such as a paid speaking slot at a conference.
Value-Add Partners sell something on top of your product. This could be anything from implementation to bundling your product with three others. Value-Add Partners often take their cut by charging the customer directly and paying you minus a percentage discount off your list price. ​ Downside of partnerships Partnerships can be great, but be warned: they take time. Like any sales process, only a certain percentage of partners will accept your terms. And even then, you'll need to prove your worth to their audience before they go all in. So there is a significant delay from the first meeting until you have 5-10-100 new clients. Sometimes 3-4 sales cycles. If you can't afford that delay, try the Lead-at-a-Time strategies above. ​ Partnership Sales Funnel Like a regular sale process, you'll want a partnership sales funnel.
​ Do you have any partners to generate clients for your business? Until next week, ​ PS Did someone forward you this email and it seems like something you want more of: Link to subscribe​ PPS Have you seen my back catalog of over 60 newsletters with hyper-specific sales tips? Check it out here.​ |
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I help founders who sell, but aren't "sales"people. Are you open to one hyper actionable sales tip per week, useful for your very next sales meeting and consumable in 4 minutes or less?
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