For entrepreneurs and SMEs, strategic alliances are a powerful marketing tool for their businesses and an excellent opportunity for collaboration to compete, since they always seek mutual benefit. Also known as Joint Ventures, it is an agreement between companies, in which they join forces to achieve a strategic objective that is common to them.
The strategic objective of this union of forces, is to overcome trade barriers in a new market, to develop new products or services, to access foreign markets that require significant investments and knowledge of the market (know-how) of that country , to enter specific geographical areas or to compete more efficiently in the current one. It is very likely that you will be approached by other companies that want to form strategic alliances, merge, buy or perhaps make an agreement through which they can take advantage of their knowledge or the access that your company has to a certain market niche to distribute products or services. Nevertheless,
- Lower costs (more profits)
- Higher revenues (from new and existing customers)
- And More time (because they gain efficiency)
For businesses on the Internet, a source for obtaining new income is to promote products or services from other complementary businesses. In this way you get income from sales of these products. But how to know, what kind of new products or services will work in your business? The answer of course depends on your list of clients or subscribers, it is best to do a survey to know what kind of products or services would be willing to buy. Locate the problems or needs that they have, and then offer them the solutions, that is when you should look for alliances and identify possible or potential strategic allies.
Locate who is selling it and ask the owner of those products or services if they would be interested in allowing you to sell it to your list in exchange for a part of the income that is generated. However you have to be sure that the product or service is of quality, which is why it is very important to request a demo or a free version. In this way you can be completely sure that you will offer a quality product or service to your clients or prospects. Will The Alliance Work? To determine if the alliance works, you can send an offer to a small segment of your customer or subscriber list, and then measure how many responded to your offer. Depending on the results obtained, then you will know that you have found a suitable product or service and you will know that a successful alliance has been made, then send the offer to a larger segment of your list and be prepared to obtain better results.
Exploit Your Ideas and the Skills of Others If you are good at your niche and you have a great idea about a program or software that may be beneficial for your customers or subscribers, but you do not have the money to hire a programmer then you will need a strategic alliance. Offer your future partner a good portion of the profits during the first year, explain how this may be more lucrative than simply charging you for the fees you normally charge. If you have a keen sense for business and the ability to take on the challenge, you will have achieved an ally. Both will be in a win-win situation, you get a customized software ready to sell, without having spent a single cent. And your partner-programmer gets a succulent slice of the profits, the two of you will have made a good deal.
In an increasingly complex, changing and hypercompetitive world, the development of the power of a strategic alliance must be an important part of the repertoire of every good manager or marketing strategist, it is necessary to understand that it is better to work as a team, and act together to improve the income of your company. “A Strategic Alliance is the opportunity to take advantage of others ‘money, the strength of others’ Marketing, the credibility of others, the products or services of others, the skills of others, to generate new opportunities of business “.
