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MenuWhat are some recommended ways to generate leads and establish B2B strategic partnerships to drive sales for early growth?
Is cold calling ineffective versus leveraging a social media platform like LinkedIn for getting in the door? How can an emerging business leverage Clarity or LinkedIn to find connectors willing to make introductions?
Answers
Inbound marketing is currently the greatest ROI method of generating demand for your offering. This really boils down to putting out high authority content through Search and Social channels so you can start to engage with prospects and steer them inwards to your automation system. From there lead nurturing takes over to heighten their trust and knowledge to create sales ready leads.
Cold calling is a low ROI method and really only works well with highly targeted segments from our experience. LinkedIn is good for B2B and strategic B2C. Partner Marketing can help to create ongoing lead flow of high quality if done right.
You may call me if you want specifics on your situation. More detail from you will allow for a more relevant answer.
For forming strategic partnerships, we've gotten the best results by doing favors for other companies without expectation of a return favor. Sometimes there isn't a return favor, which is fine. Other times, the favor is a catalyst for a conversation that leads to a great partnership.
This highly depends on your product or service. The cold calling approach could work if you have a clear value propositions that is easy to explain. However a cold call should be well researched. Who is the actual decision maker and is there a high likelihood that your service is of interest. Then is is pure math. In India a business analyst doing the research and making the calls cost 700 dollar per month. He is able to set up 10 meetings per month, of which 0.5 projects come out. This is for it services, but can give you an idea on the acquisition cost per project. If you are looking for partnerships such as joint ventures, distribution, affiliates, licensing I would always find a trustworthy door opener. Here also you must have a strong well researched concept ready to quickly show a true benefit for the partner. I have seen to many let's meet and see what we can do presentations. Best to provide clear numbers and Ideally a financial commitment from your side, this will move things for sure. For early growth and high strategic value, you could consider and equity stake for the partner with clear deliverables. Then you have to convince him about your growth story. In this event you might have a different person to talk to. Good luck
Related Questions
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How do I setup a strategic partnership agreement without having to do a rev/profit share deal?
If you are really investing in a strategic partner (one that will provide mutual benefit in the end, either in terms of revenues, access to financing or other resources) then revenue sharing isn't absolutely necessary. In the partnerships I help to form, they are often around shared value (http://www.fsg.org/OurApproach/WhatisSharedValue.aspx) which means shared revenue isn't the absolute aim. What is the aim, however, is sharing information, knowledge, technical assistance, operational help, etc) and build a lasting framework for engagement together into the future that will benefit both parties. I am happy to help you negotiate these types of partnerships (it's what I do!) so feel free to get in touch.JS
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I need partners to help my company launch. How many shares and/or how much profit do I offer to get them?
There are several factors to consider: 1. Profit share does not have to equal equity. As an example, two people can agree to split net profits 50/50 even though the percentage of equity is split 60/40. Just get it in writing. So find out their expectations for long term income and equity. Are they expecting a share of net profits or just the ability to recoup their investment when you sell the business? 2. What value do they bring to your business? Are they funding? Are they bringing significant contacts or the ability to secure contracts? Are they helping with infrastructure or product development? What would you pay someone in salary with no equity to do the same exact thing? 3. Are the short term or long term? In other words, once they help you launch, do they continue to have value in building the company? Or, are they no longer needed? There is no right answer to how you compensate them for helping you get started. But, try to look at all the value variables. Maybe that will help you identify what they are ultimately worth and what a fair, win-win offer would be. It sounds like they are very reasonable and you have a good opportunity to get their help for a reasonable compensation package. Good luck. If you would like to talk more about this at no charge, I offer a one time free call to new callers. Just use this link to schedule a call. https://clarity.fm/kevinmccarthy/FreeConsultKM
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Investor and strategic partner wants to do similar/same business with his brother in 2-4 years whilst still being a partner with me
Hi, Legitimate question. Business wise, it would not make sense to train someone who you know - in advance - is going to be a competitor. That said, there are so many competitors in the industry that you are talking about, so this makes what your partner is doing a little less strange. The ideal solution would be to condition the little brother's training and involvement on the following: 1. a minimum time investment in your company - meaning he has to devote x amount of work hours (with no payment or minimum wage). 2. You get a percentage in any future profits he generates through his future business (assuming it is indeed in the same industry/field). So basically, you will be training someone to setup a company in which you also get percentages from the profits, which makes his training an investment, and not a competitor. on a personal note: you could have written your question in 1/4 of the length/space - this is something that you should work on if you're going to be dealing with customers and people (please don't be offended, we learn from feedback, not praise). I've successfully helped over 300 entrepreneurs, startups and businesses, and I would be happy to help you. After scheduling a call, please send me some background information so that I can prepare in advance - thus giving you maximum value for your money. Take a look at the great reviews I’ve received: https://clarity.fm/assafben-david Good luckAB
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What is the best way for a fin-tech (mobile wallet) startup to approach a bank for an operational partnership? For eg. Stripe & Wells Fargo
Depending on the market, a bank is going to look at a combination of low-cost customer acquisition (particularly in strategic growth segments), mass-market desposit mobilization, credit portfolio growth and fee-based income. The respective weight of these, in terms of relative importance, will depend on the bank and its strategic objectives. It will also vary based in whether you are talking to an acquiring or an issuing bank. The best way to approach a bank is therefore to identify which core business element your startup is best positioned to support, and which bank is likelier to find the value prop attractive. I would suggest talking to the head of retail banking, the head of credit business and the head of acquiring business.AM
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Should we use another small startups API for a core piece of functionality or build a 'lite' version of our own?
So the question is what are your "Plan B" options. Let's assume for a sake of argument you've weighed the options (build your own, buy from an established competitor, partner with this startup) and you've decided that partnering is the best option. One way you could protect yourself in the event this company either shuts down or pivots and no longer supports what you need, you could negotiate to have the code put in an escrow account that has triggers to release the code to you. You of course will be restricted to the usage (e.g. you couldn't take it and compete). I've used escrow agreements in past deals and can discuss the details if your interested. Caveat, I'm not an attorney so can only provide business advice. Good Luck!GS
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