Glen Kohlenberg from Florida (http://www.contractorblabblog.com) responded to Tuesday’s newsletter advocating joint ventures and co-operative marketing strategies with this email, which he has given me permission to publish.
Hello Mark and a great article on JV partnerships. This is a must and let me give you some insights on how I have made this work in our business.
I do a ton of condominium work. Impact windows-Carports-Hand Railing. Now our company does all 3. But we own a separate company that does the impact windows. The company is in a different location is run totally separate from our main company. They have there own sales staff also.
None of our 12 sales staff will sell windows or refer them to our sister company. It’s a money thing. Not me I have picked the top salesmen and have done my own JV partnership with him. We both go in and do the presentations together as both companies and we both came up with a joint PowerPoint presentation that we give.
Now, call me crazy but here is my deal with my JV partner. I get no commission on the windows sales. I do get my shot at them with my carports and hand railing presentation. Guess who the top salesmen are in both companies? You guess it me and him.
Now I take it one step further because when I do carports I always need a paver company and a electrician So I went and found 3 paver companies and 3 electricians and interviewed them and I had 1 that really stood out for each. They now go with me when I do my carport presentations and we all win. I make know commissions from them but because we work as a team and all believe in 100 % client satisfaction this is how we get most of the work in my area.
We are not the cheapest by know means but because we can package the deal and it makes less hassle for the condo association and I make myself the ring leader and so they only deal with me on the project. Makes for a great marriage for all of us.
So Mark there are a ton of ways to put deals together but if the all mighty dollar is number one to you up front you may miss out on some great opportunity’s. So keep an open mind and look at every deal that comes your way and remember for this to work it needs to be a win win for all involved.
Thanks for the great article Mark.
Glen is correct, of course. Joint venture-co-operation principals apply to front-line selling and business development as much as to marketing and longer-term relationship-building. These concepts apply for simple residential projects but are especially valid for larger scale AEC design and construction initiatives, especially when you combine specialized technical knowledge and relationships with local political and economic connections.
If you specialize in serving a highly localized market, for example, you can diversify your capacity to more technically demanding specialties by linking with a partner who has this sort of knowledge and if you work within a focused specialty niche, you will find your chances of success in project implementation much higher if you can relate to local partners.
How do you make these connections? Referrals help, of course, but I think your most valuable resource here are your relevant trade associations. If you get to know your colleagues and peers in other communities through attending national conventions you’ll be well placed to pick up the phone and ask the “who knows who” question. In some cases, just checking the association’s directory will be helpful (but your credibility will be highest if you’ve actively contributed and are recognized within the association.)