One of the facts of life is that, as one entity becomes abundant, it renders something else scarce. The world wide web and the digital revolution has delivered an abundance of information to all of us. What it has rendered scarce is attention.
It becomes increasingly difficult to obtain attention from prospects and customers alike. Today, we are all swamped with an array of online TV and video channels, digital radio, blogs, 24/7 news, apps, emails, text messages, phone calls and a plethora of social media interactions etc.
Moreover, with such a multitude of choice, it is much harder for companies to ascertain exactly where their customers’ focus is at any one time. Of course, in the days of a limited number of TV channels, radio stations, newspapers and trade magazines, it was much easier to identify where a business’s prospects gave their attention.
So, if getting the attention of prospects and customers is difficult, how much are you leveraging strategic partnerships to assist in this endeavour? Quite simply, there will be companies that have some of the attention that your business lacks and, of course, vice versa. Why not partner to enable both businesses to receive more of that precious ‘attention’.
Let’s be clear. I am not referring, in this article, to passing each other leads. In today’s digital world, winning ‘share of time’ comes before receiving ‘share of wallet’. What we are discussing here is obtaining some ‘attention’ and ‘engagement’. In other words, that ‘share of time’. Once a company has the ‘attention’ of a prospect, it is possible to monetise that asset in the future.
The starting point is to understand the real deliverable of your business. So, for example, a recruitment agent may define their business as enabling businesses to ‘win the talent war.’ The question they would then ask, is what other companies assist their clients to also ‘win the talent war’.
An HR consultancy can help a business retain and get the most out of talent. A company providing management and leadership training may be able to give understanding, to a business, regarding the best way to lead and manage its people. Finally, a futurist may be able to provide insights into the organisation of the future. What will the best employees want and expect? What are the workplace trends which they can identify?
These organisations are not in any direct competition. Rather, they have aligned businesses. They can provide each other with valuable content, host joint webinars and seminars. All of this provides a richer experience, and greater value and insights, to prospects and customers. Moreover, each company benefits from the attention the others already possess. By an organisation delivering content from a partner, to its own customers, these individuals become aware of a business in an extremely credible way.
For example, the companies could run a morning seminar around ‘winning the war for talent’. If each business brought twenty guests, every organisation would have a chance to deliver ‘value’, obtain ‘attention’ and create some credibility and trust with sixty potential customers. These are individuals who are already interested in the subject matter.
Strategic partnerships take time and effort to put together. However, they are cashflow friendly, easy to track and can deliver outstanding results. Yet, they are overlooked by the majority of businesses which, in the main, seem to under utilise them. So, ask yourself; could your organisation benefit from a greater use of strategic partnerships?
