Introduction
We are all suffering through a very difficult economy. The low-hanging fruit that was available a year ago has disappeared. We need to work smarter, with fewer resources. One area that will allow CRM consulting firms to leverage your organization is the development of strategic relationships.

Setting the Right Expectations
Over a twelve-year period, I assembled a team and built a nationally recognized CRM consulting firm with a diversified but consistent sales and marketing strategy. It included a direct sales team, call center, direct mail campaigns, seminar series, print advertising, public relations, trade shows, public speaking engagements, email campaigns, and a corporate video. The most successful campaign by far was the business generated from our strategic relationships.

You need to have the right mindset and expectations in developing strategic relationships.

It has to be a long-term, win-win relationship. If you take a potential strategic relationship partner out to lunch and expect to immediately start receiving a steady stream of leads, forget about it! It is not the way it works.

When you identify a strategic partner for your CRM consulting firm, what is the upside of the relationship for them? Is it an exchange of leads, referral fee, filling a void they may have in their service offerings? You should prepare for your meeting with a potential strategic relationship partner as you would for a sales call. Learn as much as you can about the organization and tell them what they will gain from the relationship.

What Makes Strategic Relationships for CRM Consulting Firms Successful?
If you begin tracking referrals, fees, and micromanage your relationship with your strategic partner, it is not going to work. You will know within a short period of time whether the relationship is working and makes sense. You can’t expect the results of the relationship to be the same for both parties. I was more than happy if it was 40%-60% or 30%-70% in favor of our strategic relationship partner as long as my clients were getting good service and we in-turn, were getting some referrals and business from the relationship.

Inexpensive way to Expand Your Sales Force
If you develop the right relationship, you can get access to your strategic relationship partner’s sales team. You can expand your sales force at virtually no costs. I would recommend a joint function between organizations allowing each firm to present the services they offer. Again, you will need to structure a win-win relationship that makes it worthwhile for the sales team and the entire organization.

You Better Deliver!
Your new strategic relationship partner will refer a friend, business associates, or client to your CRM consulting firm. If you can’t deliver the services they need, do not take the account or engagement. If you provide inferior service to a referral client, you might as well forget about getting any other referrals from that strategic relationship partner.

Keeping in Touch
As I mentioned earlier, it is more than one lunch or meeting. You need to keep in touch with your strategic relationship partner, and don’t expect anything if you don’t give them anything. You need to call them once a month, keep them on your mailing list, and invite them to your own company functions and holiday parties. You have to be top of mind so when an opportunity for CRM consulting is made available to your strategic relationship partner, they immediately think of you.

Long Term Approach
You need to take a long-term approach. If you maintain the right relationship and keep in touch, you will be top of mind. When an opportunity comes up, you will get the lead. It may take weeks, months, or even years, but these relationships will pay off in the long run.

Limit Conflicts
It does not make sense to have multiple strategic relationships in the same field. There is less incentive for your strategic relationship partners to send you referrals knowing full well that the opportunities you receive are being divided between their competitors. Be up-front and honest with your partners and let them know with whom you are working. It may be an opportunity for you to introduce your partners to each other and expand your network.

Competitors
Is a competitor a candidate as a strategic relationship partner for a CRM consulting firm? You have to evaluate it on a case-by-case basis. There are many advantages to working with a competitor. They may have an expertise that you don’t have nor is it worth hiring that expertise. You may be short on staff and have the ability to share resources. But there are some cases where you can’t build the trust and confidence with a competitor and it is just not going to work.

Who is a Good Candidate?
If you really analyze a successful CRM system, there are a tremendous amount of strategic relationship candidates. Let’s breakdown a field sales person and the tools he has and the potential relationships:

Cellular Phone – Cellular Phone Vendors

Laptop Computer – Hardware, Network and Infrastructure Vendors

Sales Training – Sales Training Vendors

Order Entry System – Accounting Software Vendors

Telephone – Telephone System Vendors

Conclusion
Without a doubt, there is work involved in building a strong network of strategic relationship partners for a CRM consulting firm. But the costs are still significantly less than other sales and marketing campaigns and the results can be phenomenal. What is it worth to you to get a phone call from a qualified prospect that was a direct referral from a strategic relationship partner? Priceless!

About the Author
Sidney C. Lejfer is President of Harvest Solutions, a Customer Relationship Management Consulting and Training Organization. He is a featured writer and speaker on the benefits of Customer Relationship Management Technology. Please contact us for additional information.