e6: fiona lewis interviews simone novello - get a strategic alliance with a big company!

7/30/2019 E6: Fiona Lewis Interviews Simone Novello - Get A Strategic Alliance With a BIG Company!

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Introduction:

00:44 - Simone Novello, expert instrategic alliances and marketing partnerships

04:40 - Strategic alliance vs. Marketing Partnership vs. Join Venture

07:58 - The best marketing strategy on the planet

11:20 - Top 3 golden rules for the perfect strategic alliance

p. 1

Fiona Lewis Interviews Simone

Novello - Get A Strategic Alliance

With a BIG Company!
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Strategic Alliances in 6 Steps

17:55 - The 6 steps that get you a strategic alliance

18:18 - Step 1: Its really important to get partner-ready

20:15 - Step 2: Your asset audit

24:53 - Step 3: P____ing for gold

28:39 - Never Eat Alone

29:30 - Big corporates need your help.

32:58 - Step 4: Choosing the type of partner program for your business

36:02 - Step 5: Sealing the deal

39:25 - Tell me who your LinkedIn connections are and I will tell you who you are

41:30 - Exit the meeting with grace: leverage every opportunity

43:14 - To have or not to have a written agreement?

44:30 - Step 6: Happily Ever After in partnerships is attained through _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Free Goodies

45:45 - Get your free 6 step flow chart using the Super Savvy Business secret code

Here is the transcription:

Fiona: Hi, Fiona Lewis here from Super Savvy Business and welcome back to this weeks

podcast episode. Today we have a very special guest in the area of strategic alliances, and

this is a topic which I believe is very important to business owners.

00:44 - Simone Novello, expert in strategic alliances and marketing partnerships

Now, our expert today is Simone Novello. Simone and I have known each other for a few

years now and once I found out what Simone had expertise in, I knew that she was someone

that I really wanted to connect with from the business point of view.

Now Simone is a subject matter expert in strategic alliances and marketing partnerships

with over 17 years experience in the corporate arena and running her own business. Simone

founded her business in 2005, rebranding as Partner Up, which offers one-to-one

consulting. And in 2009 here was a growing demand for businesses needing to form these

strategic alliances and there was very little expertise in the area of marketing partnerships.
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The thing that I love about Simone is that she has a 360 degree view of partnerships,

working across a number of industry verticals, including: financial services airline university and retail

...to name a few. Now, Simones long background in loyalty marketing has seen her work

with some of Australias biggest and most successful brands, including:

Virgin Australia the Commonwealth Bank and American Express

So you can see that she has a lot of big brands behind her. And with a consistent track

record of success, she thrives on connecting businesses for mutual gain and is particularly

energised by aligning smart up & coming businesses with big brands for fast growth.

So I think you are going to get a lot out of our interview today and I am very excited to be

able to bring Simone today to our call.

So welcome to the call, Simone, thank you so much for being here!

Simone: Thanks Fiona, its a pleasure to be here and I am really excited about talking about

this topic, so please tell me to stop when we run out of time...! (giggles)

Fiona: Hahaha! Well do! I know you and I do tend to sort of get going and prattle on when

we get talking about business, because it is something that we are both very passionate

about. Now, I have given a bit of a background as to who you are and what you have done in

the past, but would you like to explain to our listeners a little bit more about who you are

and what your current projects are and what you are doing?

Simone: Yes, absolutely, and thank you for the wonderful introduction! So I have been in

partnership marketing now for over 10 years... I rebranded as Partner Up, as you said,

because I recognised a growing demand around the world really for strategic alliances and

marketing partnership in businesses of all stages and sizes.

As you mentioned, I have a long corporate background, I worked with a lot of brands; I have

also, on that side of the fence, worked with startups and small businesses that were, you

know, had a really great idea or business model that were ready for growth and I saw them

absolutely catapult their business growth and sales growth by aligning with some of these

big brands that I have worked with.
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So in response to that I developed a new brand called Partner Up Hub, and that brand is

specifically targeted towards smart startups, smart small business looking for fast growth...uhm, and also in the medium business sector as well. So in doing that I aligned with my

business partner Fiona Ranson who has built 9 businesses on the back of strategic alliances

herself. She has over 25 years experience in business and strategic alliances as well.

So thats the.. the new brand was born, and this is the one we are really excited about

because its a more leveraged model and it is therefore a lot more cost-effective than hiring

someone like me one-on-one to do it for you. And as the best marketing strategy on the

planet with the highest ROIs that I have ever seen from any form of marketing, its a skill

that I believe any business leader and any business owner should learn.

Fiona: And, you know, just listening to you talking about Partner Up Hub - that's exactly why

I knew that bringing you here today for todays podcast was going to be extremely valuable

to our community at Super Savvy Business.

04:40 - Strategic alliance vs. Marketing Partnership vs. Join Venture

Now, a lot of people might have heard about this thing called strategic alliances, but maybe

they dont quite understand exactly what that is, and, you know, how they can do thatexactly in their business. So I am just wondering, Simone, can you just sort of, can you give

us an explanation of exactly what a strategic alliance is in the world of business?

Simone: A really good place to start, of course. And one of the things that I would love to

start with is the distinction between strategic alliance, marketing partnership and joint

venture. Because those three terms, you have probably heard them a lot, there are a lot of

business leaders and coaches and mentors talking about these things, and the terms are

used pretty interchangeably within the small business sector.

And I think it is important to make the distinction because particularly if you are targeting an

alliance with a bigger brand... they have very different meanings for these words and its

important to understand that because otherwise you can get shut down pretty fast simply

because you are asking for something that is not what you think you are asking for. (giggles)

Fiona: Right! Okay...


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A joint venture is where you are really getting into bed with somebody and you may be

both investing money, you may have co-ownership of a particular product that you developtogether... Its a much more of a business partnership as opposed to a marketing

partnership.

Fiona: Okay, so...

Simone: So that... yeah.

07:58 - The best marketing strategy on the planet

Fiona: So the strategic alliance is really, uhm, the main topic that we will talk about today.

So can you explain to us then why small to medium size business owners might want to go

and set up these strategic alliances?

Simone: Absolutely! Look, its the... it is the best marketing strategy on the planet, and my

business partner and I wholeheartedly believe that. We are the only people in the world

who are running this sort of business for this sector , which is really exciting to us and it

energizes me because I love helping businesses grow by working smart and not workinghard and you know, entrepreneurs work incredibly hard and its about time they had access

to this sort of marketing strategy.

Now, what this sort of marketing strategy can do for any business, really, at any stage is it

enables you to find money. So if you dont have the money to go out, you dont have the

marketing budget to go out and grow your business the way you want to, you find the right

partner and you can share their marketing resources. So all of a sudden you dont need the

budgets that you used to need. So its a great way of finding money.

Its a great way of building your brand -- you are judged by the company you keep so that

can be work for you or against you, so be careful about the company you keep (giggles) --

Fiona: Definitely.

Simone: And you know, just by being aligned with a particular brand, there is implied

endorsement, there is implied credibility, so its a great way of building your own brand;

its an awesome way of growing your audience... so you can get access to databases that

are our money cant buy databases - they are not available for sale - so you have an


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opportunity to reach databases of your ideal customer by aligning with a complementary

brand that is targeting the same type of customer.

And the fourth one is that you can monetize your assets. So every business and every

person has business and personal assets that you can potentially monetize. You can

repurpose those for the purpose of a strategic alliance or a marketing partnership and you

can amplify them.

And I cant go into that now because we will run out of time (giggles) but we do have more

resources around this sort of information, but its really exciting because you can be taking

existing assets that you probably didn't even realize you had and you can be monetizingthem. So there are a lot of good reasons for doing this.

Fiona: So what I am hearing very loud and clear from you, Simone, is: leverage, leverage,

leverage! I mean, you just brought up four points and all that was going through my head

was, this is a leveraged way to do business.

Simone: Absolutely! And its not only leveraged, its fun! So when you find the right partner,

it is rewarding, its profitable, its fun and its leveraged. So it is... you know, it really... its a

fantastic strategy!

Fiona: Mmm... Because, you know, the majority of small to medium size business owners,

they dont have this marketing budgets, they dont have the time to go out and put all this

time into, uh, you know, it can take a lot of time to build that database and to find... you

know, to get access to your target market. So if you can connect with other complementary

businesses that you can leverage off what they have already got going on and they leverage

off what you have got going on, then it is a win-win, isnt it?

11:20 - Top 3 golden rules for the perfect strategic allianceSimone: Absolutely, and that brings me to the top three golden rules for the perfect

strategic alliance. And that is:

Number one: Its got to be win-win.

You have got to go into it with a win-win attitude and you have got to have that intention of

working with your partner to create win-win outcomes. If its win-lose, it is not going to be a

sustainable partnership.


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So even if you are the best negotiator in the world and you can go out and convince

somebody to give you a whole heap of value without you having to do much in return, itsnot the premise of a successful strategic alliance and you either are going to put that person

out of business or they are going to wake up and say well, this is not good for me, so I am

outta here.

So if you are going... and look, its having that attitude of abundance, you know? We do

better together. We always have. Its that concept of interdependence, uhm, as opposed to

independence. Its having two strong entities that can complement one another, can come

together and.. you know, the sum of the parts is greater... the whole is greater than the sum

of the parts. (laughs)

Fiona: Yes, yes.

Simone: So, look, thats really important. The second one is that:

Its absolutely critical to have value alignment.

So there is absolutely no point in, uh, you know, the Heart Foundation aligning with British

American Tobacco. (Fiona laughs) It like, you know, Well donate $1 for every pack of

cigarettes to the Heart Foundation (laughs). So there are some really poor examples of

poorly aligned, uh, partnership marketing campaigns. And this is quite a shocking one that I

use, a picture in one of our webinars. I dont know if that would be appropriate for your

audience, but it certainly alway raises eyebrows.

Uh, so you know, it is absolutely critical that you have the same value alignment, because,

a.) You are going to be working closely with this person, you are going to be working in

partnership. If you are a highly ethical business, you dont want to get to bed with an

unethical business.

You are a nimble fun, quirky, cheeky brand, you don't want to get into bed with a

conservative, dry, slow-moving beast. I mean, look, sometimes it can work, but think about

it like a marriage: when you have two people of very different cultural backgrounds coming

together, they have a whole other set of challenges they have to work through.

Your best partnerships will generally be the ones where you have a very good value

alignment.

Fiona: And I guess that sometimes, Simone, that value alignment may not be that obvious.

So there might be a bit of due diligence that you might have to do in order to really get anunderstanding of this business you are considering forming a strategic alliance with.


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Simone: Absolutely, and we have a 6-step process that we go through. And the first 4 steps

are all about preparation. And you know, it is so important that you do your homework

here. Its honestly like forming a personal relationship: you dont become serious about

someone until you know about them, and you know enough about them to understand if

you are compatible.

And honestly, the bottom line is listen to your gut. We talk about, you know, I think in

business, as entrepreneurs, you have got to go with your guts sometimes and you have got

to make swift decisions and you just listen carefully to language. I mean gut is not an airy-

fairy concept, you know, your intuition is usually based on the feeling you get based onprocessing information and Fiona and I both use an example of being in a business meeting

where you listen to someone talk like How can we cut them out of the deal?or, you know,

uhm, Can we steal those ideas?.

I mean, you listen to those sorts of words and you ask yourself, Is this somebody that I want

to partner with? Is this going to be a real partnership and can I trust them? If you cant trust

your partner, you definitely shouldnt be with them. So, very very important.

Fiona: Yeah. Now, you have mentioned the 6-step process, which I would love to come to ina minute and I really hope that you are willing to share that with us, but we were talking

about the three golden rules. I think we went through one and two; was there a third one

that we havent covered yet?

Simone: Absolutely, and I do remember what it is (both laugh). Its, uh, its target market

alignment. So, you know, its an obvious one, but it is really funny because I think we are all

guilty of this: sometimes we miss the most obvious things. And the obvious thing is dont

waste your time chasing a prospective alliance partner that has a different target market

unless it is a target market that you are wanting to grow into, unless it is a brand that you

think could benefit from targeting your market.

Uhm, you know, go for the low-hanging fruit, pick someone thats got an aligned target

market. A good example of this is there is no point in a company in sales insurance for

pensioners to align with a family four wheel drive brand. You know, its just... its not going

to work. So you really want to ensure that you have got that target market alignment.

Fiona: So I guess what you are saying is there is no point forming a strategic alliance, lets

say, with a bigger brand that maybe might be good for your credibility, uh, if they dont alsobring with them the same target market.


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Simone: Well, thats exactly right. And, you know, we always say that its not the size that

matters as much as the alignment. So in the case of strategic alliances, its not the biggest

database that will get you the best outcome, its the best aligned database.

Fiona: Do you know that... just getting back to my techno-geeky sort of way of thinking is

very much the way I teach people about keywords. There is no point going after a keyword

that has, you know, 200.000 searches a month if the people who are conducting those

searches arent your target market.

You are better off like you say, going for the low hanging fruit where maybe there might be

a couple of really highly ta... a couple of thousand highly targeted people searching for a

long tail keyword. Uh, so I guess the same roles really apply.

Simone: Absolutely, and you know, we always talk about the fact that, uhm, you just gotta

use common sense and really with strategic alliances, your first one is always the hardest. So

one of the things we talk to our guys about is: a.) 95% of our clients are sitting on assets

that are underutilised or they didnt realize they had; and nearly the same percentage are

sitting on a network or sitting on existing connections that they could be aligning with ,

that are known to them (we call them known prospects).

So really, most businesses have more profit they could be unlocking in their businesses right

now, using assets they have already got and connections they have already got.

17:55 - The 6 steps to get you a strategic alliance

Fiona: Mmmm... thats such good advice! Now can we maybe twist your around the share

of that 6 step process? Because I know that our community at Super Savvy Business wouldget a lot of value from hearing it.

Simone; Absolutely, it will be my pleasure to take you through them.

Fiona: Thank you! Im so excited! I cant wait to hear it myself. (giggles) Get your pen and

paper ready, guys!

Simone: (giggles) Alrightie, so look:


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18:18 -Step 1: Its really important to get partner-ready

Step 1: Its really important to get partner-ready

We use the analogy of you know, we have all had that friend (or maybe we have been

there at some point in our lives) where you run around and you are screeching, Oh my God,

I need a boyfriend!! Its not about finding THE ONE, its about finding ANYONE.

And if you are in that space of desperation, uh, you know, a partnership is not going to save

you. You need to look at your business in a realistic light and you need to see what you need

to become partner-ready. And you also have to be not too modest, you know? You have got

to look at your business and go Well, you know what? I am AWESOME in these areas and Ineed a bit of work in these areas.

Getting partner-ready doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a multimillion dollar

successful business already - you know, this is part of the point ofa strategic alliance - but it

means that your business has to be in a good headspace (its probably a good way to put it).

You know, you are... you have got a great product or service, you are confident that you

have got the right model and that you are ready to grow.

And what you have also got to look at is how ready or how much are you ready to grow by?Because that affects your partnering strategy. So getting partner-ready is also about forming

a strategy that helps you realise what you need to do, what partners you should be going at

at this stage of your business. So depending on where your business is at, you might be

ready to go out and partner with another small business, or you might be ready to go out

and partner with a medium business, or you might be ready to go out and partner with

American Express or a Qantas Airlines, you know? The stage of your business and how...

where you are at determines who you go after and how you go after them. So thats what

getting partner-ready means. It doesn't mean that you need a super successful business

already, but you need to have your foundations right.

20:15 - Step 2: Your asset audit

Fiona: Very good advice, okay. So, step 2?

Simone: So step 2 is all about your asset audit. So what we do at step two is we look at...

we take you through looking at your personal and your business assets. So its really

important to... take Richard Branson and Virgin as a good example. Before Virgin, Richard

Branson only had Richard Branson.
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Richard Branson used his personal assets to build his business assets. Hes now got both.

And what you have got to look at is both sides of yourself in business.

Uh, you know, people like John Symond he used, you know... hes the face of, was the face

of Aussie Home Loans; he built that business using lots of his personal assets. And hes not,

you know, Brad Pitt. So you dont necessarily have to be gorgeous or... You know, there are

lots of things that constitute assets... uhm... and a good example I use here for repurposing

an asset is when we did some work with Darrell Lea. And they didnt have the marketing

budgets of Cadbury, but I went in there and I said, well, what do you have?You have a

chocolate factory in Sydney.

And they said, Yes, that is a manufacturing facility.

I said, No, its not; its a really Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory V.I.P. experience . (giggles)

Fiona: Riiight! Love it!

Simone: We are going to use it to engage with all of the partners that you want to work

with. And we had the head of Qantas out there, we had Westfield out there, we had

American Express out there, and we got hundreds of thousands of dollars in incremental

marketing exposure by getting those people through the factory and having them come outwith a grin from ear to ear looking like, you know, kids in a candy store.

Fiona: I was about thats exactly what I was imagining! (laughs)

Simone: Sending them home with a bag of goodies that they could share with their family

and their colleagues... And you know, the exposure that got them for the brand, the

engagement that it created and the doors that opened, the promotional exposure that we

got and the subsequent sales, was phenomenal! And what did it cost them? It cost them a

bit of our time and some confectionery. So, you know, it cost... it cost us hardly anything...

Fiona: So that was an asset that they already had that they were under-utilising.

Simone: Exactly! So we monetise the asset by repurposing it and using it in a different

way.

Fiona: Wow!


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Simone: And if you think about it, most businesses.. look, on a smaller scale I have got a

dear friend and client of ours who runs an online organic gardening course and her assetsincluded the fact that she has... shes quite a sexy chic! And she makes gardening sexy!

So thats her point of difference and then she has also created a way of instructing people

on how they can create their own organic veggie patch and the target market is busy mums.

So she teaches you how to do it quickly, how to learn it easily, and she had a lot of assets

and she actually recently partnered with Better Homes and Gardens and doubled her

database overnight. Prior to that it took her 2 years to build her database to that point.

Fiona: Wow!

Simone: So she posted on my Facebook page and said, Partnerships WORK! (laughs)

Fiona: Wow! See, I just get so excited hearing about this stuff because the potential for a

business to really take off or reach their goals and their targets in a much faster time can

happen when you get this right.

Simone: Absolutely, and I mean this is incredibly powerful stuff! And it is why we are soexcited to have developed a model that brings this to your audience. I mean we had some

guys in our Fast Track program who are already signing their first alliances. And they posted

on our Alumni page about their wins. And I have got a confession to make: I started crying!!

(laughs)

Fiona: Awwww.... (laughs) love it!!

Simone: I was dont tell my kids this, but I was almost prouder than my kids, you know,

when they achieve things... I was just like, this is awesome!

Fiona: Thats the wonderful thing, isnt it? When you work in the coaching arena, when you

have your clients and achieving their goals... it is the most wonderful thing to watch, isnt

it?


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Simone: Oh, look, it is, and we ran a webinar for Anthill and we got a great testimonial from

one of the guys on the call and he said,I thought it was going to be a webinar where

someone was just going to try to sell me something and I was pleasantly surprised by [the

valuable information that we gave away] so I then got off the call and set up my two first

alliance meetings. And I thought thats awesome, thats exactly what we want to hear.

24:53 - Step 3: P____ing for gold

Fiona: Yep, getting that feedback is absolute gold! So we have gone through step one, step

two, step three... ?

Simone: Okay, so step three is your partner prospecting. So we call it prospecting for gold.

And that means you you want to sift out all the rocks and the dirt and all the stuff that is not

important to your business. You want to find the nuggets of gold and what you do there is..

we take our guys through a customerjourney and we get texts out and you know, we really

have a lot of fun with this.

And you want to... whatever time period you choose that is relevant to your business, so ifyou are in, you know, child products you might start at pre-pregnancy, it depends on your

type of business, right through to when your toddlers are five... and you go through the

whole journey that your customer goes through. And you think about everything they are

thinking about: their pain points, the resources they use, the communities they join, the

magazines they buy... and you want to think about all of the other things they are thinking

about and buying when they are thinking about your product.

You then go back and underline all those products and services and magazines and things

that they are doing that relate to other industry verticals. And thats where you find your

aligned partner prospects.

So a great little tip that we share is that you know, if you know your customers are reading

a certain magazine, or they are part of a certain business community, go in and see whos

advertising. Because a.) they have got budget, and b.) they try to reach your target market.

So thats how you go to your low-hanging fruit partner - thats how you identify your

partner prospects.

What you then want to do once you identify your industry verticals you are going for and

then what categories and what specific brands is look in your own network, look in the


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networks of the people around you and if you are running a business that you live and

breathe... so if you are in the wellness industry chances are you buy organic food, you mightshop at Lorna Jane, you might go and do yoga or Pilates... You have already got these

connections: you are a customer to some of the brands you may want to align with. You

have suppliers. You can partner with your suppliers.

So you look at your existing network and you go for the low-hanging fruit first.

Fiona: You know, and thats.. its often the way in business that sometimes the biggest

opportunities are right there in front of you. And you just dont see them.

Simone: Right under your nose! (laughs) And its like those people who marry the guy they

went to Uni with, that they have been best friends with for 20 years. (Fiona laughs) They

were looking for THE ONE and then one day they turned around and looked at him

differently and they say, Oh, wow, you were there all along!

And its a bit like that and actually a lot of the feedback we get is the mindshift that people

go through when they are learning the ins and outs of strategic alliances. Some of the

quotes of had are, Oh my God, you got me looking at everybody as a prospective partner! I

realise I have got opportunities all around me! it just comes from this blinding flash of theobvious, which is when somebody helps you to make the shift and look differently around

you, you suddenly see everything in a different light.

So we are all surrounded by opportunities; its just about knowing how to identify them, and

then how to set them up and leverage them and run them ongoing.

Fiona: Look, I am getting really excited on this topic here, Simone; the thing that I am loving

about it is that its businesses helping to grow each others businesses. So the entrepreneurs

are supporting one another and helping to grow together. And so this is what... I suppose,

this is not all about, you know, being all commercial and selfish and being all about me, me,

me! This is well, how can we help each other? How can we grow each others businesses?

28:39 - Never Eat Alone

Simone: Absolutely! And you know, this is what it actually is about. And I am reading this

book at the moment, called Never Eat Alone and he talks about the fact that when you look

at a lot of the wealthy people, a lot of the well-to-do people, its the way in which they help

each other get ahead that gives them the edge. It is leveraging the power of their networks.Oh I will make a call and you know, open that door for you .


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And look, I call it business karma. Seriously, what goes around comes around in business;

and the more generous you are when you need something... I can pick up the phone and I

can get in touch with just about anybody. I can open the door and enter just about

anywhere. And one of the reasons behind that is the fact that I am very generous in terms

of helping people to connect, and that certainly comes back to me.

29:30 - Big corporates need your help.

Another little secret that I would love to let you in on and your audience in on is that a lot of

the big corporates are having trouble engaging with small businesses. And so, if you are a

bay-to-bay business and you are targeting the small business sector, a lot of the big

corporates are looking for the sort of innovation that only small businesses and startups and

entrepreneurs can provide.

So there is a growing opportunity because the entrepreneurs sector and the small business

sector is growing so fast, corporates realise they cant ignore it anymore. And I know

personally I am working with a very large financial institution global financial institution at

the moment and I have just signed a deal between them and a well-known small business

investitor; because quite frankly, they are in trouble. They know that the small businesssector is a huge part of their business now; they have never put a lot of money towards it,

and as a result they lost a lot of market share and they needed help. And the only place they

were going to get that was not from someone who have been in corporate for the last 20

years, but from someone who lives and breathes small business.

So there are a lot ofgrowing opportunities to partner with the big guys to grow your

business. And that applies to business-to-consumer as well. Because you are talking about

the opportunity to deliver something very nimble; I mean you look at the example of David

Jones and Shoes of Prey... Shoes of Prey are a startup... a tech startup that started in 2009and, you know, they have now got an alliance with David Jones. So there are some really

interesting examples out there of that happening. Brands like Red Balloon Days, Roses Only,

eFragrance, they all got this start aligning with some of the big loyalty programs.

Fiona: Yeah, exactly, exactly. You know, its.. the world of business is changing and like you

say, its a lot of that I think has got to do with the opportunities the internet can provide

for small businesses, where thats probably allowing more entrepreneurs to go out there

and get started for lower costs. And I guess, you know, like you say, corporates need to

adjust and adapt to the changing way of business.


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Simone: And they need help! They seriously need help. I mean, we worked with a very very

large fashion retail group last year and I know that one of their number one priorities was togrow their online sales.

And to be honest, most corporates are really lousy at it, so... you know, there are so many

talented entrepreneurs out there who know this stuff. And if you dont think you have got

assets, I will tell you right now I came into this... into my own business with a corporate

background and an arrogant attitude, thinking I had an edge because I had a corporate

background.

Its been a handicap I have ever had! Its taken me a lot of time to retrain myself. (laughs)

Fiona: Riiight! So its a different type of thinking I guess, isnt it? Its just totally different.

Simone: Absolutely! it really... so, look I have... turning in circles and knowing people like

yourself... you are... you know, you are super-smart and you have got the edge on the

traditional way of doing business. So you have a lot to offer to businesses of any size.

Fiona: Mmm... I guess for me though, because I didnt initially come from the world ofbusiness, I had to learn it as I came along. So I suppose you had to undo prior learning,

whereas I just had to get that learning in the first place. So its, I suppose, different

backgrounds.

32:58 - Step 4: Choosing the type of partner program for your business

But listen, I am really keen on listening to the rest of these steps. I have gone up to number

4, is that right? So... uh...

Simone: Up to 4, yes, yes... So the other three, these are pretty fast. I mean in terms of what

you can do here, and... the fourth one is all about choosing the type of partner program

that suits your business. So what you do there is; we give our guys a top 10 partnership

marketing types and it can be anything fromcontent marketing to being a bonus or

redemption partner in a large scale loyalty program , or being a benefit partner, or being

an affiliate... there is lots of different ways that you can partner with other businesses.
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In some cases you may just give them content, in other cases you may award their points to

your customer. So for example, you boughtQantas Frequent Flyer

points, you can awardthem to your customer... so theres.. you need to work out what suits your business.

So if you were looking to.. you know, distribution partnership would enable you to reach

new markets. So you partner with businesses in other markets where you are wanting to

grow. Or, if you want to grow your distribution channels, you can find a distribution

partnership.

A licence partnership could be you manufacture a, you know, fantastic childrens toy and

you want to brand it with the Wiggles. You know, you look at Lego - they are fantastic at this- they do Harry Potter Lego, they do Batman Lego. So, uhm, you know, thats an example of

another type of partnership.

Co-marketing partnership is like Apple and Nike. They created a new product, which was

the... I dont know the fancy name for it is, but its the thing you stick in your shoe and you

can measure how far you run that links to your iPod. Uhm, so there are lots of different

ways that you can partner.

Cause marketing is another favourite of mine and the Breast Cancer foundation have donesuch an amazing job of their cause marketing partnerships! Breast cancer actually has

overexposure now to the detriment of other cancers.

So you know, there is such a thing as being too successful (laughs) and I guess a word of

warning there, uhm, the reason why you want to choose the right partner for your stay in

business is if you get out and get a partner who has got a database of a million people and

you are not ready for that sort of growth, you can put yourself out of business .

So you need to be very careful about what path you choose at what point. You know, the

biggest partner is not necessarily going to get you the best outcome. Depending on where

you are at.

Fiona: Right. Okay, so you have got to be quite, uh, realistic with yourself as to what type of

partnership is really going to work best for your business.

Simone: Absolutely. So if you have got high margins, you know, affiliate partnerships work

well; if you have got really tiny margins unless you are a high volume business you are not

gonna be able to deliver enough value through an affiliate partnership to make it


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worthwhile. So you just have to do your homework and research the different types of

partnerships. Look at examples of companies that have used them, and find the ones thatmake sense to you.

36:02 - Step 5: Sealing the deal

Fiona: Okay, so we have now identified the types of partners we want to connect with; we

are clear in our heads what type of partnership we want to try and set up. Uh, I take it we

are moving towards that stage of actually contacting potential partners?

Simone: Yes, so module five or step five is all about sealing the deal. So, you know, this is

where you open the doors, and what we talk about here is, you know, its really important

to engage with people and the reason we do so much preparation is particularly for the very

good partners out there; they are inundated with requests to partner up all the time. Some

guys get 5 to 10 requests a day.

So you want to make sure you have the right approach. You only have one chance to make

the first impression and you want to make sure you are doing it right, which is why we

spend so much time on the preparation. By the time you get here, you have got to be damn

confident about what it is you have got to offer and how to open the door for yourself.

So it is really important that you have a really refined elevated pitch. And you watch

someones ears prick up when you mention their target market. So, you know, when youve

got...

I guess the other thing to say is dont give away the farm in the first contact. You know,

particularly if you dont know somebody, you dont want to tell them too much because you

are giving them more opportunity to rule you out. You kind of want to whet their appetite.

You want to mention their target market, you want to allude to the fact that you believe

there are some great synergies and you want to explore the opportunity for a win-win

relationship.

And you want to respect their time - a lot of these people are very busy. Ideally, you want to

meet face to face over a cup of coffee, but if you dont have time, you know, at least you

want to get on the phone with them.

Fiona: It was going to be my first example.... My next question, sorry: whats the best

approaches? To try and meet face to face if you can, or ?


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Simone: Look, it really depends on the prospect and it depends on the offering. So ideally,

yes, it is great tohave that personal connection with somebody, but when you make the

initial contact, you know, either pick up the phone or use LinkedIn. LinkedIn email is a great

way to do it.

Dont ever send a connect request without any introduction as to who you are. I hate

getting those; unless it is really blatantly obvious, like we have 50 mutual connections and

we are part of the same business network, I really hate receiving connect requests without

any form of introduction.

So just make a warm introduction to yourself, even if it is just through LinkedIn email and

just say something like Look, I saw you speak at so and so, or I just read an article about

bla... You want to go in with some sort of warm introduction, you know? You might have

some sort of mutual contact, and you can say Lookso and so suggested I give you a call

because there may be synergies and Id like to talk to you about that opportunity. You know?

So you want to... you want to prick their ears up and you can do that on the phone... either

way, it is good to do your little elevated pitch, because you are scripted. You can either use

it in written communication or by picking up the phone.

Fiona: Yep.

Simone: We have a lot of this... doing LinkedIn inmail, or email, or just picking up the phone.

I mean, they are the main ways you want to get in touch with somebody.

39:25 - Tell me who your LinkedIn connections are and I will tell you who you are

Fiona: So just out of curiosity - this is a little bit off topic and going sideways in regards toLinkedIn - you get, you know, these requests from people that.. you know, you dont know,

and there is no personal message with that. You know, what are your feelings on connecting

with people on LinkedIn that are just random people?

Simone: Look, I am very careful about who I connect with, because I like to maintain

integrity in my network and there are a lot ofspruikers out there so, you know. Look, I...

someone asked to connect with me and we had one mutual connection. So I picked the

phone up and I said, Do you know who this guy is?. And he said, Oh, to be honest, I just

accepted the request. And to me, that instantly eroded the credibility of his network.
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So I would suggest that you dont just connect with anybody; I mean same applies to your

audience. I wouldnt... I dont just connect with anybody and I suggest you dont either. Imean, it is a bit of an ego thing to go, Oh, I have got 5,000 connections on LinkedIn! or, you

know, I have got 1,000 Facebook friends! But to me, it is always about quality.

And there is a good... you know, you dont have to know them that well, but there has got

to be a good reason to be connected with them; otherwise I wouldnt do it.

Fiona: Yep, yep. Okay, thank you for digressing a little bit, because I was just curious;

because I often get people coming through LinkedIn that arent connected to any of my

networks and I think Hmmm.... and there is not even a personal note with it to explain whythey want to connect with me and you wonder: are they trying to get into your network and

see who else you are connected with? You wonder what the motivations are.

Simone: Absolutely, and look, sometimes the first thing I do is look at their profile. The

second you can do is, if they do look kind of interesting, I will respond to their request first

and say, Look, how do I know you? Can I ask how you found my profile? How can I help you?

kind of thing.

And a lot of the time they dont respond. And its because theyre spruikers. So people haveto earn a connection, I think. And so, if you do that, youll have a really good quality network

and you have a lot of integrity in your network as well.

41:30 - Exit the meeting with grace: leverage every opportunity

Fiona: Fantastic! Okay, so we are now at the final stage, Simone?

Simone: Yes! So look, you know, once youve opened the door, youve made theconnection, you established they are interested... and look, just on that point, if they are not

interested, ask for feedback and exit the meeting with grace. You want.. there is still a

connection; you dont know who they know so dont ever consider a contact a wasted

contact. Also, dont bark up the wrong tree. If you establish really quickly that it was actually

not a good opportunity to work together, dont try and make some really loose connections

as to why you should really partner up or try and convince them to do something that

doesnt really make a lot of sense.


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So, you know, that is really important in sealing the deal. Partnerships can be very time-

consuming so you dont want to waste your time on the wrong ones. You want to quicklywork out for you -- and them -- what makes sense and just, you know, just move on.

But definitely, you know, use an opportunity to build a network and find out who they

know. Because quite often - and this has happened to us - you meet with someone and they

say, you know what? Love the opportunity! It is not right for our company, but you should

talk to so and so and make an introduction.

Fiona: Perfect! Yes...

Simone: Thats a really good outcome too.

Fiona: Mmmmm... definitely! And like you say, it may not be the right timing right then and

there, but maybe further down the track they might go, Oh, you know what? Maybe we

should be connecting with such and such. Or, like you say, perhaps they might be talking to

another business owner and they are, Oh!, you know? And I know this has happened

between yourself and my business, where we met other people and go, Oh, you really

should be speaking to Simone Novello about blah blah blah!

So although it might not have been the right connection for two businesses, a business

scene might come along and thats when they might connect you.

43:14 - To have or not to have a written agreement?

Simone: Absolutely! And look, and the other tip in sealing the deal is you dont necessarily

need complicated agreements, but you really need to have everything in writing. You have

got to be very clear about the commitment that has been made on each side. Not becauseyou dont trust one another, but because you dont want to leave room for

misunderstanding. You dont want to ruin a perfectly good partnership because you thought

they were going to do X and they thought you were going to do it.

So it is really important that you have a clear agreement that you have written down and

that you both acknowledged. And also along the way, if it is appropriate to have some sort

of confidentiality statement so you can openly share information, then make sure you take

the time to do those things because it is worthwhile.


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Dont get caught up in the paperwork; I mean, I never entangle a partner in a contract

because quite frankly the power of the relationship is in the relationship, not in how longthe type of contract is. If you need a contract to have someone work with you and not let

them out of the contract it is not going to be...

Fiona: Right! No, yeah, I agree... Look, Simone, I am very conscious of time, I know that you

are a very busy person so why dont we get to that last step and then we can let people

know how they can get in touch with you. And I think we are, we have got a very special

offer for our listeners as well. So lets move along to that last final step?

44:30 - Step 6: Happily Ever After in partnerships is attained through _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Simone: Absolutely! Now look, module... step 5... step 6, sorry, I always call them modules,

but step 6 is really about managing and leveraging the partnership ongoing. So you know,

there is no such thing as Happily Ever After. They are not set and forget. If you want your

Happily Ever After, you have got to keep working at it.

So.. and that means that... thats just building on your relationship. Its a fun thing, you

know? Thats meeting regularly, going through the results... being really honest with one-another about what worked, what didnt work, how you are both feeling about the

partnership, how can you build on it, do more of what worked well, do less of what didnt

work well.

In some cases, you know, you might decide after a campaign that it was just a one campaign

thing, and then if you need to end the relationship, you end it positively. So there is a

successful way of ending things and its really important to go through that process. Thats

something that we feel is equally as important as all the other steps.

45:45 - Get your free 6 step flow chart using the Super Savvy Business secret

code

Fiona: So I believe from our previous conversations, Simone, that you actually have a flow

chart that explains these 6 steps?

Simone: We do! So we have an awesome process flow that takes you through each of the

six steps. And it would be my pleasure to share that with your audience.
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Fiona: Fantastic!

Simone: To do that you just need to go to our website, www.partneruphub.com.auand sign

up for the six part series. We also have a free six part series, which is 6 videos and they are

10 minutes each and we have a few worksheets that we give you and as a bonus to your

listeners we will give them this workflow as well.

Fiona: So how will you know that they have come through Super Savvy, Simone?

Simone: We will put a promotional code in. So you can choose what it is and we will set it

up.

Fiona: So why dont we just, for all the Super Savvy community, uh, when you go to claim

this free offer from Simone at partneruphub.com... was that .com or .com.au ?

Simone: Weve got both, but the .com.au...

Fiona: Uh, so where the promotional field is put __________ (Fiona spells it) and that way

Simone will know that you have come through our community and you will be able to get

access not just to the six module course Simone has, but also the workflow...sorry, the flow

chart that she just mentioned.

But that is only accessible to the Super Savvy community -- the flowchart.

Simone: Wonderful! It will be our pleasure.

Fiona: Thank you so much, Simone! Now, look, it has been my pleasure to hear about

strategic alliances and how they can help to build businesses quickly, in a leveraged way...

Those 6 steps.. you know, I think anybody can walk away from listening to this podcast

recording and go away and implement it.

Wed love to hear some feedback from you, so if you do go away and successfully

implement, uh, some strategic alliances based on what you have learned today, please, you

know, let Simone and I know either on our Facebook page or on our blogs because we love

to hear these stories. This is what drives us as entrepreneurs and as mentors and coaches.
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So Simone, I would just like to thank you yet again for giving your time. You know, its been

an amazing recording as far as the amount of value that you have given away. We will

definitely look forward to hearing from you again. You and I are already starting to talk more

strategic alliances between Partner Up Hub and Super Savvy Business, arent we?

Simone: Absolutely! Practice what we preach.

Fiona: We certainly do. Okay guys, well this brings us to the end of our Super Savvy Business

podcast for this week. My name is Fiona Lewis, weve had Simone Novello from Partner Up

Hub with us today talking all about strategic alliances.

Please give us any feedback -- wed love to hear how you go implementing this information.

Take care!

e6: fiona lewis interviews simone novello - get a strategic alliance with a big company!

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