A great way to find partnering relationships that will benefit you is through referrals from clients. As an example, you may be taking on a new client and find yourself meeting a deeply-niched expert. Invite this person to lunch or coffee. The goal is to propose a situation in which you can get together and talk about your clients and which might be potential mutual clients. When you’ve proven your abilities to each other on a mutual client account, partnering in the future is all but solidified.
When a new client introduces you to a partnering opportunity, jump on it.
Partnering Relationships Take Effort
Partnering opportunities won’t just appear magically. You need to be active about seeking out partnering opportunities. This means you have to go to the chamber of commerce and talk to people that say they are consultants. Set yourself apart by defining your strengths.
Everyone else might be saying they do PC hardware, software, LANs and service. Because these are pretty general categories, you may have a hard time deciding whether or not there is an issue of competition. Ask questions and be specific about what you do to find out which consultants are the best candidates for partnering in your area.
Keep an Eye Out for Specialists
You need to explain to others that you are looking for something unique when it comes to partnering opportunities. If you plan to be a generalist, you need to find specialists. You can look at the Websites of people in your local market to find potential partners as well. Still, meeting them face-to-face is your best option.
The Bottom Line about Partnering
Meeting people in person at a channel event or user group meeting or through a mutual client are great ways to find potential partnering opportunities.
Submitted By: Joshua Feinberg
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