Joint ventures are a powerful tool to increase your profit, visibility and market share. You can leverage the time and resources of all parties involved and when done properly, bring increased value to the customer base of each business partner within the joint venture.
Copyright (c) 2008 Christian Fea
Joint ventures are a powerful tool to increase your profit, visibility and market share. You can leverage the time and resources of all parties involved and when done properly, bring increased value to the customer base of each business partner.
Successful JV Partnerships Have Several Things in Common:
Understanding a Target Market
A successful partnership will have an in depth understanding of the target market it is intended to reach. This is important because it will utilize the existing relationships each company has formed with its customers. If your potential partner's customers are not your target market, and vice versa, there's no sense in forming an alliance. On the other hand, if you're both reaching the same market with different products or services, you can create an instant revenue stream if the customer views the product or service you introduce as something of value. Remember, value to a customer doesn't always mean money or savings. Sometimes value can simply be helpful information, times-savings, or value-added services that will enhance their lives.
Enhanced Credibility
Joint ventures that instantly provide you with enhanced credibility are worth their weight in gold. Make sure you choose to partner with a company that has a sterling reputation with its clients and you can immediately increase your opt-in list. People love having the legwork done for them ahead of time and are more likely to use a company that is recommended to them by someone they know and trust. Make sure you guard the reputation of the company who is recommending you by taking the need to service their customers seriously. They've put their reputation on the line for you, and you for them, so make sure you both understand you're sharing are a valuable asset and treat them accordingly.
New Product or Service Offerings
Another feature of a successful joint venture is the new product or service offerings you can provide to your customer base. This works well because you can offer new products or services to your customers with little or no investment of time and money that they may otherwise not have received. When a customer feels you've taken additional time to find or pass along quality products or services to them, they will begin to develop a sense of loyalty to your company. Building loyalty in your customers is key to any successful business. Keep the customers you have happy, so that you can continue to expand your network via their recommendations. Just be careful that the products or services you are offering via your marketing agreement are quality products. You don't want your customers to get the feeling that you're trying to make a fast buck. Nothing will give them that feeling faster than shoddy performance from your marketing partner.
Creating a successful joint venture is worth your time and energy. Do your research, understand your target market, and go out and service them!
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