[thelist] partnering

[dwayne]

On Wednesday 06 June 2001 21:52, A. Erickson wrote:
> > jumping in, i'd say you'd have to be in slightly different areas
> > for this to
> > work anyway - a 'you do killer print/image work, i make fab web
> > sites' kinda
> > thing.
>
> I absolutely agree. This seems pretty basic to me. Nowhere did I assert
> that we were in the same business.

sorry, didn't mean to give the impression you meant anything other...

> > otherwise, why would they be interested in partnering with
> > you in the
> > first place?
>
> Well, I guess that is the question for the person being approached. Any
> ideas?
>
> What *I* want is the opportunity to do some fun work. This person has some
> interesting clients who could use my services. I have a working
> relationship with this person.


how about exactly that? and maybe toss in a 'i have/am going to have some 
interesting clients who might be interested in your services'? i don't know 
what business they're in, but i'd be willing to bet if you're interested in 
the people they know, they'd be interested in the people you know.

perhaps i'm being naive, but what you've already said sounds like what you 
need to sit down and say to your potential partner. 'i like your work and if 
you like mine, our clients might feel the same. more, we can both double our 
exposure and increase the likelihood of closing a sale because the work comes 
with the recommendation of someone they've already worked with.' mutual 
referals, referal fee (and make sure you're collecting a percentage from 
signing clients up front, so that's not coming out of your pocket).

this conversation is of particular interest to myself as well, as the 
development team (that's myself included) for the company i'm currently with 
is ejecting as we speak. exciting, scary, and i can't wait to see what 
happens.

also take that as a caveat - i could be talking out of my ass here, because 
i'm way new at this end of things.

> Nothing wrong with being brazen is there?

heart of sales, i think. or lots of confidence anyway - an absolute belief 
that what you offer is valuable. we've also decided that (internally at 
least) we're not going to  call it sales, just because of the bad taste left 
in our mouths by the way we've seen some do it. education, maybe, or problem 
solving. in various non-sales positions i've had, i've closed more deals 
simply by talking about what services we offered, identifying a problem the 
prospect had, and talking about how i'd solve it. signed contracts often 
followed. everyone wants their lives to be easier.

by the way, visited your site, like your portfolio and the way you've set it 
up.

- dwayne