Uglue: Steps to Forging a Profitable Smart Partnership

To fully enjoy the power of profitably partnering get specific about the market you serve – both as their habits directly related to your kind of work and also their traits that are not related to your work.

In so doing, you’ll discover you have two kinds of profitable partners to approach.

1. What Do Many of Your Patients Have in Common?

List at least 10 things many of your prospective patients have in common, using the checklist below for ideas.

Make two lists:

1. Characteristics many prospects have that are related to dental needs.

2. Characteristics many prospects have, unrelated to dental needs.

• Rewarded for what kind of behavior?

• How, where and on what do they spend their time and money?

• Their passions and pursuits

• How they entertain themselves

• Their concerns, fears, complaints and other “hot buttons”

• Significant events for them

• Their heroes and heroines

• Who irritates or angers them?

• Main allies and friends

• Other organizations to which they belong and/or contribute, or that their friends or people they admire do

• Their small indulgences and major extravagances

• How they spend time with friends, and other free time

• What they value (for themselves, their family, friends and colleagues) in personal growth, work-related learning and bragging rights

Tip:

Ask your patients (or clients) “What are two or three other professionals or businesses you trust and use?” Soon you may see that some names keep popping up. They are your prime prospects for valuable partners.

2. Narrow Your Market to Increase Your ProfitsDescribe one of your best niche markets. It may be, for example, 30ish working couples probably because someone starting referring their friends and/or you are located near where many of them live or work.

Describe one niche within that niche: Are many of them also members of another organization such as a fitness center?

I have an Irish-American dental client who thrives by adapting his practice and recruiting partners who collectively serve the lifestyle, needs and interests of the Korean American Baptist community in his area.

That’s a close-knit niche within-a-niche so word travels fast amongst them when they feel understood and well-served. Now the partners are learning how to serve parents of young infants in that market – an investment in the partners’ future with this niche-within-a-niche-with-a-niche.

Main differentiating benefit (MDB) of your dental business in that niche-within-niche market (most frequent reason that they use your services):

Why are they most likely to see you?

When?

What else are they likely to need, either from you or someone else?

Two other significant benefits you provide these patients:

1.

2.

Main reasons they do not use your services at all:

1.

2.

What they often do instead of using your services:

1.

2.

How are their main needs met for you kind of dental services?

Met - Met well

Unmet - Not met well

Target this niche-within-a-niche for your most efficient SmartPartnerships.

3. Resources You and Partners Can Contribute to a SmartPartnership

Here are some to prime the pump of your thinking:

• Special expertise.

• Well-known in a niche market.

• Have a base of clients in a different niche than you.

• Located near your office, so your face-to-face collaboration is easier and clients can go easily to both of your offices.

Your Checklist

• What’s your first partnership?

• What is your niche-within-a-niche?

• What partners will your recruit?

• What is your goal in partnering?

• What resource(s) will you provide?

4. Steps to Recruit Your First Partner

a) Ask to meet with the prospective partner to confirm you have some of the same kinds of patients/clients.

b) Tell them that you’d like to explain how the right kind of partnerships could enable you both to attract and keep more patients – while spending less.

c) Ask if they would like to hear one or two specific partnering methods and how all partners could benefit from them.

d) Suggest more of the leveraging benefits of joint efforts over “solo” advertising or promotion.

e) Don’t propose too many details to leave room for all partners to “buy in” and participate in the actual creation of the first action.

f)) Reiterate your strong interest in working with them and refer again to the “best case” success scenario.

g) If they agree to partner, explore the value and downside of involving more partners.

h) Write a simple agreement to review together to be sure you are on the same page about the goal of the partnering method you selected, what who will do when and how for what benefits.

5. How to Choose a Method

Will the partnership serve your patients by:

• Saving time?

• Saving money?

• Giving more value for the same price?

• Representing a new opportunity for them?

• Making something easier to use or do?

• Improving their ability to use your services?

• Increasing the number of ways they can use your service?

• Making it more convenient to buy or use your products or services?

• Responding to a current, pressing interest?

• Making life more interesting or fun?

• Helping them feel better about themselves?

• Making them look good in front of others?

• Supporting them with their family, friends, clients or work colleagues?

Tip:

A successful SmartPartnership makes the patient’s life better – as he sees it.

Five “W’s” of a Successful SmartPartnership

1. WHO are your patients?

2. WHAT is your specific offer?

3. WHEN will you take those actions?

4. WHERE are the places you can reach your kind of patients?

5. WHY would they come to your office when they see or hear about you at another place?

Tip:
Gain an introduction to your partner’s clients by providing your partner with a gift offer that will entice them to try your services and products. Reciprocate by extending an offer of your partner’s service or product to them.