the partnership. It must be a ‘two-way’ street and a win/win alliance to be sustainable and successful in the long-term. So before the meeting consider developing some intuitive prompts that helps the potential partner to plainly see the benefits of the arrangement you propose. When doing this, the key is to understand and do some homework on the challenges your partner faces and how working together can best gain the knowledge and develop associated actions to solve them. That is, fully focus on the ‘value proposition’ and your ‘critical mass of collective competencies’. After the initial discussions, if the potential partner is in- RETAILING continued
the portion each partner will contribute. Map any re- sources that need to be developed and who is responsible for providing them. For example, this may just require an inexpensive joint brochure to promote your alliance. In partnerships that involve companies with several di- visional managers (e.g. retail sales manager, marketing co- ordinator, etc.), time and effort must be allocated to getting their strong buy-in. I have seen some very good potential partnerships go to ruin because staff were either kept out of the loop or simply had no passion for their critical role in the venture. For example, if a dive store staffer is not going to actively promote to touring divers a partnership
terested, call for a second meet- ing. If available, take along some evidence and/or data that reflects the possible success your joint mission may enjoy (e.g. increase local diver certifi- cations, tourism numbers, equipment sales, etc.). You may not want to share too much of that type of information at the first meeting as it may over- complicate initial discussions and there is always the possibil- ity that there is no interest in proceeding and walks away with some of your propriety ideas. Obviously, sensitive and propri- etary information is better
with a local hotel, or if that hotel is not going to have div- ing promotional literature at check-in, a few diving pictures on the wall in rooms, mentions the quality of local diving as a matter of course, etc., the entire partnership is likely to fail. As the partnership pro- gresses, it is important to be able to establish success metrics or more specifically be able to answer the question: “has the partnership truly lived up to the expectations of both partners.” Data is invaluable at this stage since performance data main-
A Great Example of Partner- ships: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
tains a level of objectivity and avoids the potential for emotional/subjective perspectives. This does not have to be overly complicated. For example, that dive store and hotel mentioned earlier can simply record the number of customers they sent to each other each month. Also do not think that partnerships must have massive outcomes. Some are even successful on a very small scale. For exam- ple, if as a dive store the local hotel was responsible for sending you say 10 customers per month that may be a good outcome, especially if it was reciprocated with room bookings by your visiting divers. Neither should you assume that partnerships with com- petitors should be totally avoided. For example, as a dive store owner, I once formed a partnership agreement with two other stores where we simply agreed to independently place radio advertising with the same popular radio station
shared between you when the agreement to proceed is fully confirmed. The second and subsequent meetings should clearly establish common objectives and expecta- tions. Remember “the single biggest problem in commu- nications is the illusion that it has taken place” (George Bernad Shaw). Therefore, clearly establish the partner- ship’s communication strategies, who speaks on behalf of the partnership and to whom. Once both partners display enthusiasm for the idea and, above all, make a commitment to invest time in building the alliance, the real work starts. This may take several meetings to lock in critical elements before any joint ini- tiatives are launched. Here the focus should be on identi- fying project drivers, their scope and contribution to the health of the partnership. Any costs associated with the partnership should also be clearly established along with
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