Tag Archives: values

Business Strategy , , , Leave a comment

Building a Referral Partnership

by

Now that you’ve got your business up and running, beating the odds and experiencing some success—congratulations!— ambition may bring thoughts of growing your entity. It’s natural that you’ll want to realize the dream that drove you to launch a business. You’ll wonder how you might continue to grow your customer base and revenue and become a force in your marketplace.

You’re dreaming big but you’re also pragmatic; you’d prefer to attain growth without taking on onerous debt or committing to some other risky strategy. Your choice of strategies may be limited but there is at least one that, over time, has the potential to deliver the growth you’d like to see without putting a dent in your budget. Your ideal growth strategy could be a referral partnership.

A referral partnership is an agreement in which business entities refer customers to one another. A well-chosen and consistently executed referral partnership agreement can become an important element of a business growth strategy and enable the participating businesses to reach new markets and access new customers to whom they can introduce their respective brands as they book additional revenue. While the reciprocal benefits of referred customers is the foundation of the agreement, in some instances a bonus might be paid for referrals that result in a sale or billable hours. Negotiating an agreement that is considered advantageous to the parties is crucial to building a successful and sustainable referral partnership agreement.

The principal building block of a successful referral partnership is your list of potential partners whose customers can be reasonably expected to become your customers as well, as your own customers can likewise be recommended to your referral partner’s business as a potential customer. The viability of a referral partnership rests on what you and your partner can offer one another.

When you think of business colleagues, or even your customers, whose product and/or service line complements, but does not compete with, your offerings you can create a short list of potential candidates and discuss the possibility of creating a referral partnership. There are other factors to consider when selecting those you’d like to discuss a referral partnership, as you might expect, including identifying a potential partner who shares your values and whose customers can be expected to have the motivation to do business with you and vice versa.

Once you have selected a partner, it is important to develop a clear plan for how the referral partnership will work and expectations for its performance. It should also outline the roles and responsibilities of each party.

Building blocks of a sustainable referral partnership

  • Trust

Trust is a core aspect of finding the right fit in a business partner, and evaluating trustworthiness often comes down to conversations, track record and intuition. This is why it’s essential to take the time to have those pivotal discussions around vision, values, professional and personal background. Sadly, the business relationship you went into with such high hopes and visions of the money the parties will make is closer to fantasy than reality. In fact, some 50 to 80% of partnerships fail in the first few years. Before you finalize a deal, build a strong foundation of mutual respect and trust with your referral partner to increase your chances of success.

  • Similar values

To create a beneficial small business partnership, there needs to be common ground. For this reason, it’s important to ensure your prospective partner shares business goals and values that are aligned with yours. This goes beyond the desire to simply make a profit — it means confirming that you share similar core values that guide how you conduct business.

  • Define roles and responsibilities

Although there’s no legal requirement for a written contract that details the terms of a referral partnership agreement, getting things on paper will help participants to establish accountability, avoid miscommunication and defuse the potential for conflict that might arise from an underwhelming outcome, for example. Your referral partnership document can summarize the expected duties that participants will undertake to promote, whenever appropriate, selected products and services of a referral partner. A written agreement demonstrates that each participant is satisfied with the terms, in particular the amount of work that must be done to generate viable referrals. The terms and conditions of your referral partnership agreement might reasonably include:

  • Describe the responsibilities and expectations of participating companies (owners and staff)
  • Define what constitutes a referral
  • When referral bonuses (if applicable) will be paid and the amount paid per referral
  • Length of the partnership
  • Results that define success or failure
  • Timeline for assessing initial results and for declaring the partnership a success or failure
  • How the partnership can be terminated

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Everett Collection, photo by Conrad Hall (1970 Academy Award Best Cinematography) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) starred Robert Redford (L) as the Sundance Kid and Paul Newman as his partner in crime Butch Cassidy. The film was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture at the Academy Awards and won four Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

Survival Strategies , , Leave a comment

Can You Say No To a VIP?

by

Sometimes, the answer is no. Respectfully, I must decline. No, this will not do. Nein. It’s just that I find saying yes is more fun than saying no. In fact, I find “yes” to be a powerful word. “Yes” makes people happy and I enjoy making people happy.  I love to give people the green light and let them do wonderful, fulfilling things that satisfy them, things that help them grow and achieve special goals.

But certain behaviors or ideas one may find unacceptable, unsustainable, untrustworthy, or merely unattainable. We find them upsetting or unsavory or unrealistic. To such words or conduct we may even have an intense visceral reaction that literally makes us pull away, as if to shield our offended sensibilities. It may seem counter-intuitive, but think about it—what we reject defines us because our core values, priorities and boundaries often become evident only when they are challenged. Saying no to requests that compromise one’s values announces and reconfirms those values.

Saying no not only represents the conviction to honor one’s own values, priorities, self-respect, or boundaries, but can also be about conserving and managing one’s energy, time and other resources. To politely refuse certain invitations allows one to direct energy and attention to people and activities that matter most. Saying no is strategic.

Now, let’s be honest—saying “no” to a VIP, especially when the VIP is a paying client, carries risk. Certain powerful people have the ability to make an offer that cannot be refused (at least not without damage). Nevertheless, it’s worthwhile to explore ways to decline that which we dislike, mistrust, or just find inconvenient for some reason. Disappointing someone whom one would much rather please is stressful.  Think of it this way—when you feel it necessary to voice doubts about a strategy or proposal makes your expertise, insights and values known to colleagues and keeps you true to yourself. You may also prevent an ill-conceived idea from gaining support (maybe because others were not inclined to speak out?) and causing an ugly crash and burn somewhere down the line.

Tact and diplomacy will be needed when saying no to a VIP, no doubt about it. Pour oil on potentially rough waters to head off the appearance of insubordination and ensure that disappointment doesn’t escalate to insult. Take care to separate your discomfort with supporting a certain strategy or participating in a proposed project from your feelings about the people involved. Make it strictly business and emphasize that you support the organization, its mission and history. Below are suggestions for how one might diplomatically say no and not burn bridges:

  • Provide facts. Don’t simply say “no.” Express the reasoning behind your decision. Most importantly, communicate the values that influenced your decision. If you don’t provide the context, others will do it for you, and the picture they paint might not be pretty.  Unflattering motives could be assigned to you and your reputation is sure to suffer as a result.  Don’t create a mystery for others to solve. Cite data and share the motivations that led to your position.
  • Acknowledge values trade-offs. Let others know that you respect the priorities  they aim to promote. Decisions are rarely as simple as black and white, right and wrong. They typically involve value trade-offs. To soften your “no” vote and avoid unnecessary offense, remember to compliment the worthy values that may motivate others’ positions.
  • Be tentatively confident. It’s important to take a firm stand, but avoid appearing intransigent or aggressive. You’ll alienate more people than you’ll convince if you make absolutist statements.  Show that you’re a thoughtful person who has arrived at a reasonable conclusion. Opening statements such as, “I’ve researched the matter and learned…” and “I believe…” demonstrate a combination of resolve and humility that avoids provoking unnecessary conflict.
  • Ask for permission to say no. When saying no to a VIP, particularly someone who might misinterpret your refusal as disrespect, it can be helpful to ask permission to say no. This allows you to honor their authority while maintaining your integrity. For example, you could say, “Boss, you’ve asked me to take on a new project. I think it is a bad idea for me to take it on and I’d like to share my reasons. If, however, you don’t want to hear them, I’ll take it on and do my best. What would you like?” In most cases, the boss will feel obligated to hear you out. If the boss refuses to hear your reservations, you might decide to say no to continuing your employment there!

 

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: L-R Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson The Supremes sing Stop in the Name of Love in 1965.

Marketing , , Leave a comment

Corporate Social Responsibility and Freelance Consultants

by

“We live in the era of the conscious consumer,” says Marco Scognamilio, global CEO of RAPP, the advertising agency based in New York City. “No longer content to separate their politics from their wallets, buyers want to know that the brands they’re supporting also stand for something.”

Freelance consultants and business leaders for the past decade or so have been encouraged by our customers and communities to disclose our organizations’ guiding principles and adherence to best practices and demonstrate our philanthropic priorities.  By the early 2000s, the term corporate social responsibility came to encompass not only standard business ethics, but also actions that promote some form of social good, as interpreted by the organization leaders.  It’s now common for businesses, in particular national and global enterprises, to take a public stand on social justice issues such as environmentalism and sustainability, public health promotion, civil rights and individual liberties.

Organizations large and small that operate in certain industries, most notably entertainment and fashion, are now well aware that publicly supporting individual liberties (that in some demographic segments are promoted as civil rights) is a must-do.  Activists are ready to quickly call out all who do not fall in line.

So it may be useful to evaluate how your organization can demonstrate some measure of your personal values as a way to show current and prospective customers that your purpose is not solely to make a profit, or even to do work at which you excel and enjoy, but also show your concern for the well-being of fellow citizens, wildlife, or the environment.

Kara Alaimo, Assistant Professor of Public Relations at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY points out, “There’s huge demand right now for professionals who can teach businesses how to navigate these new consumer expectations and how corporations can  take stances on political issues and practice good corporate social responsibility.”

Hildy Kuryk, founder of Artemis Strategies, a New York City consulting firm that creates marketing messages for socially aware customers, so that consumer-facing companies can deepen their civic engagement and communicate their value story more persuasively, cautions, “What’s astonishing is that we’re consistently seeing major brands that can’t seem to apply basic principles to how to make decisions when they’re taking stances on political issues.”

I concur that wise organization leaders are advised to be circumspect when evaluating which social or political causes to publicly support.  Ms. Kuryk goes on to say, “In an unpredictable political landscape, brands need to be acutely aware and cautious (about) whom they align with.” No kidding.

But I trust her instincts.  If your company can afford the Artemis Strategies consulting fee, I recommend that you call her and commence the building of your organization’s social responsibility based marketing campaign strategy and messages.  Those who are not so flush are invited to spend another 5 minutes reading this post, at no charge, and make note of my respectfully offered observations and suggestions.

Declaring the values that guide your business practices will humanize you, differentiate you from competitors and make you less likely to be perceived as a commodity.  It’s smart marketing and effective branding.  So choose the causes that you’ll publicly associate with your organization very carefully and avoid the possible disapproval of current and prospective customers.  Keep what might be considered controversial in your private life.

Widely approved causes include libraries, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, working against hunger or homelessness, remedial education and raising money for research used to discover therapies that would eradicate or more effectively treat serious diseases.  I’m a board member at my local branch library and serve on the committee that selects local authors for our guest author series.  Previously, I’ve conducted “Dress for Success” and networking workshops for low-income women who were in a 20 week job training program and for several years I was a board member at an organization that transfers donated original art to sparsely funded social service agencies.

Find a cause that resonates with you and your leadership team and decide what your organization’s budget will allow you to donate.  Alternatively, it’s sometimes also possible to provide volunteer labor, where your employees spend a day assisting a not-for-profit agency to deliver certain services.

Publicize your organization’s involvement in social and philanthropic causes on your website, on social media, in the local business press and in your bio.  BTW, philanthropy can bring networking opportunities and it’s possible that you might meet your next client through volunteering.  You could do well by doing good.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: Mohandas K. Gandhi (the Mahatma), leader of the campaign for independence in India, meets with Jawaharlal Nehru (l), who would become the first Prime Minister of India after independence from Great Britain, at the All-India Conference in Bombay (Mumbai), July 6, 1946.  © Associated Press