Strategic partnerships can help you increase consulting sales provided they are set up right. When they aren’t, they lead to a whole host of unwanted problems. 👇
First, what is a strategic partnership?
A strategic partnership is when your consulting business partners with another non-competitive individual or firm to refer leads/opportunities to one another.
Examples:
- A management consulting firm that partners with an accounting firm (which shares a similar client profile).
- An independent consultant that partners with a lawyer/s with a similar client profile.
- A firm or independent that partners with an industry association or group that has access to potential clients.
Creating partnerships can be exciting. Expectations are generally high; everyone think leads are going to come rushing their way.
In reality, most of these partnerships don’t produce results for either party and fizzle out for a variety of reasons. Here are some of them:
❌ Partnerships are formed without appropriate vetting, i.e. client profiles don’t match.
❌ The partners may have a similar client profile, but the level of commitment each partner brings to the partnership is not equal.
❌ Both partners don’t have a “giver’s” mindset. They’re only in it to “take”.
❌ Expectations are not set from the get go. What should each partner do and when? How will conflict be resolved?
❌ Everyone’s busy. The partnership is not nurtured and suffers from neglect.
As you can see, strategic partnerships can die a slow death. But not before significant time, money and energy are poured into putting them together.
Here’s what I would ask:
❓ What could you have done with all of that time you spent in putting together partnerships?
❓ How much did all of that time cost you?
❓ What opportunities did you miss out on as a result of giving your attention to setting up partnerships?
Check out the video below where I talk about this during a recent Consulting Growth Hour session 👇👇👇
And watch this space soon for Part 2 where I’ll share mistakes I made setting up strategic partnerships for my consulting firm.
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Ready to add $100k-$500k revenue to your consulting business in 12 months or less without burning out? Schedule a call and let me show you how.
Image credit: Fine Art America
