Picture two gardens. One is overrun with weeds and the other is full of beautiful, vibrant flowers. What made the difference? Focused attention. The gardener who planted seeds and tended to his garden on a daily basis was rewarded with beauty. The gardener who planted seeds and then ignored his garden yielded nothing but weeds. The flowers couldn’t survive.

In the same vein, the salesperson or business owner who creates and nurtures strategic alliances will see his sales grow. Why strategic alliances? Because they sell your business for you. And, they provide you with additional resources to offer to your clients and prospects. This makes you more valuable to the people you know and meet.

There are three easy steps to creating strategic alliances:
 

• Think about your target market. Why do they need your product or service? Who are they talking to? Who knows what they need? They’re talking to someone. Those are the people you want to ally yourself with. It may be a small business banker, or cpa. Maybe it’s their massotherapist. Don’t laugh. Most people vent while getting a massage.

• Once you’ve got some categories, find those people you can build a relationship with. Just because they fit the segment, doesn’t mean you’re going to click with them.

• Develop the relationship. It’s critical that you are taking the time to develop relationships with your allies. You want to be invested in them, and vice versa. For long term business growth, you need long term relationships.

Remember the garden. Now you have extra ears and eyes looking out for possible customers. You also have extra mouths talking about your business. Good news travels. Before you know it, all kinds of people will be talking about your product or service. And, you’ll be talking about theirs.

Your business garden will grow and flourish, yielding beautiful results for years to come!

Copyright© 2007 Seize This Day Coaching