Get Sustainable Revenue with Strategic Partnerships
By Nina Kaufman, Esq.
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Few things generate leads and maximize growth better than strategic partnerships. But finding great partners takes more than a single coffee date. It also means you need to take a close look at your own business.
On this week’s episode, business development expert Jennifer Crews shares her top tips so you can turn other service providers into a top-notch sales team, and scale your lead generation in the process!
Get Sustainable Revenue with Strategic Partnerships…
- Understand your client base. Which are your most profitable clients? What makes the client relationship work? It makes no sense to find strategic partners to send you more of what isn’t working.
- Identify the best fit partners and design a process for vetting them. Ask open-ended questions to find out how they really think and feel about their clients. Make sure they have access to the clients you want to reach. Find out their short- and long-term business goals so you can be on the same page.
- Teach your partners how to sell you. This is about more than racking up coffee dates and hoping something good will materialize. Be direct. Just like dating, a partnership is only successful if you clearly state your expectations.
- Open communication–and flexible boundaries–are key. By leaving the lines of communication open, you and your partner can exchange leads, plans, goals, and make changes easily and effectively. Set up agreeable (and achievable) expectations. Set guidelines for how you’ll check in with each other–whether email, phone, face-to-face, text–and how often.
Jennifer also explored the common pitfalls that come up most frequently for small businesses. If you want to avoid them, be sure to tune in to this week’s Business Breakthrough!
Jennifer Crews is the Managing Partner of Pearl Partners, a business development consultancy focused on helping businesses create value and generate revenue by strategically engaging customers and partners. Prior to Pearl Partners, Jennifer had 15 years of experience leading multimillion dollar projects and businesses within large companies, such as Lucent Technologies and Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). She holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from Lafayette College in Psychology. Jennifer is also a member of the corporate board for WOMEN Unlimited, Inc. and the advisory board of In This Together Media.
Jennifer serves as a mentor for TechLaunch, a technology accelerator program in Montclair, New Jersey, and on the Board of Trustees for Second Life Bikes, a not-for-profit community bike shop and youth earn-a-bike program in Asbury Park, New Jersey. She lives near the beach in New Jersey with her husband, son, daughter, dog and cat. She enjoys hiking as well as playing the drums and ukulele.
FAVORITE QUOTES:
“Every day in every way I get better and better.” Emile Coue
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” Yogi Berra
INTERVIEW LINKS:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercrews
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You deserve to be paid, protected, and prosperous. Kaufman Business Law can help get you there. Watch this short video to find out how.
