Hammer Out an Airtight Deal Structure

Partnering for Profits: New Book to Consider

Strategic Alliances: Three Ways to Make Them Work by Steve Steinhilber

From Harvard Business Publishing, publication Date: Nov 3, 2008

Link for purchase: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=QXC04XAEHDHR0AKRGWDSELQBKE0YIISW?id=2588&referral=2342

Excerpted: “At Cisco, I manage a portfolio of alliances that crosses multiple industry sectors, technologies, and geographies, with a cumulative value of more than $4.5 billion annually in business impact to Cisco and much more than that to our alliance partners. Strategic alliances are woven into the very fabric of our company and the way we see ourselves in the world—from Chairman and CEO John Chambers on down.

You’ll see a similar picture at other alliance-savvy companies, like IBM, Eli Lilly, and Procter & Gamble—partnerships are a central part of their core strategy. If alliances are not viewed as an integral part of your strategy, then you’re working with both hands tied behind your back. You might have a few short term successes, but long term, make no mistake: you will probably fail.

Let’s assume that you have a strategy in which alliances do make sense for your company at one or more levels of your value chain. If that’s the case, you need to construct and manage each alliance as a business. Your job is to bring the right framework, the right organization, and the right relationships together and to move the project forward. Your approach needs to look at the big picture rather than short-term payoffs. “Winning” and beating the other company in negotiations may doom the relationship from the beginning. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is thinking that alliances are all about hammering out an airtight deal structure, negotiating hard, and planning for every eventuality. We had one partner whose CEO said he measured a partnership’s success “in the number of POs [purchase orders] that get written”—in other words, how much business his company generated from us. That company is no longer a partner.”

You can read more about my perspective on the fine points of alliance development at http://www.Rigsbee.com/morearticles.htm (Permission to reprint my articles is also there.)

Executive Presentation Skills: Audience Engagement

For several months now, I have been on the editorial committee for Speaker Magazine. My job has been to author a monthly column where I interview people that book professional speakers. A point that frequently is made by these people is that they want a speaker that will ENGAGE their meeting attendees.

Earlier this month, I attended a meeting planner site familiarization trip in Breckenridge, Colorado. After the second day of skiing, rather than to join the “hot tub” group I joined the “bar” group. The entertainers, Swing Crew, a two-piece local group did an amazing job of ENGAGING their audience by bring some folks on stage and enrolling some at their tables. For this group, tips were high following their set. And the important lesson was about engaging an audience through participation. I do not think I have ever seen bar entertainers do such a masterful job of including their audience.

In an hour talk, might you be able to have two or three audience interactions? Not just asking everyone to hold up their hand or to repeat after you, but real interactions? Give it a try.

Executive Public Speakers, Professional Speakers, and Emerging Professional Speakers; please visit http://www.SucceedInSpeaking.com for additional ideas, assistance, and resources.

Trade Association & Professional Society Executives: Fall Meeting Cost Busters

For executives at small to mid-sized associations, two important cost saving ideas for your fall meetings:

1. If you still have not signed a contract, look at higher end hotels for your meeting. Yes, you heard me right. As the corporations are scrambling to change the “location/venue perception” of their coming meetings (moving to Marriott & Hilton), the higher end properties have been hit the hardest. As such, they currently seem the most willing to negotiate.

2. For your speakers, you might be inclined to find someone local or a college professor? This might not be the best financial/benefit ratio strategy? They just might not be that good. A better strategy might be to engage a more experienced “content expert” speaker that offers a wide range of services; keynote, workshops, industry discussion facilitation, emcee, on-site consultation with members, etc. One fee, one hotel room, and one travel expense might prove to be more cost effective than a host of “f-r-e-e” industry speakers covering their travel and lodging? With only one paid speaker from the outside, you still get the prestige of bringing in an expert but at a better cost/benefit ratio. Many experienced speakers will fit this description and offer a single-price package.

Association Executives may access association growth articles and member recruitment campaign information at http://www.GrowingYourAssociation.com

Alliance Implementation Steps

Partnering for Profits: Alliance Crash Course

Perhaps, now more than ever, it’s time to give your organization a crash course in alliance management? As you already know, facing 2009 are some difficult economic realities. Goods and services demand has slowed or reversed; resulting, are many organizational failures. Increased competition and consolidation naturally follow. CEO edicts; “Do more with less” have become common place. Can organizations realize more value from their alliance relationships? I absolutely believe so.

Have your alliance relationships grown organically rather than by purpose? If so, perhaps your alliance managers could use a tune-up? Like most other business development and managerial activities, alliance skills are learned rather than inherent. Do your alliance managers have the ability to see the bigger organizational picture while managing an external relationship?

Below are my Seven Steps for Alliance Development, I like to call them the Alliance Alchemy; the formula for turning your alliance efforts to gold.

1. Monitor (Determine Reasons and Need)

2. Educate (Cultural, Operational and Strategic Differences)

3. Select Alliance Type (Structure)

4. Organize (Select Partner)

5. Agreement (Written is Best)

6. Implementation (Begin Activity)

7. Maintenance (Monitor Progress and Cooperation)

You can read more about the fine points in my several alliance articles at http://www.Rigsbee.com/morearticles.htm (Permission to reprint is there too.)

Executive Presentation Skills: Twittering in the Back

If you are presenting to an audience where there are a minimum of just a couple people under the age of 40 (perhaps 50?), I can assure you there is someone Twittering. What’s Twittering? Visit www.twitter.com/edrigsbee to see. Twitter is something like an instant blog Web Site where persons can post—from their cell phones using the text messaging function. Their friends that follow them receive a notice of the other person’s post. You may not realize it but there can very well be a number of people commenting to one another about your speech—real time, while you are speaking.

What’s a presenter to do? First acknowledge it. Say something early in your speech like, “For those of you Twittering in the back, say something nice about my speech.” This is being proactive. Let them know that you know. Also, if it is possible, leave the podium (the definition of podium is; riser or stage, not lectern) and walk toward the back of the room, you can keep them off guard and they might Twitter less. Of course this is assuming you have a wireless lavaliere microphone.

For years now presenters have been successfully dealing with those RUDE individuals that leave their cell phones on “ring” rather than “vibrate” in a belief that they (the offender) are more important than the entire audience—that it is okay to disturb others trying to glean some important bit of information. Today, presenters are also successfully enduring the second generation of “disturbance through technology.”

Executive Public Speakers, Professional Speakers, and Emerging Professional Speakers; please visit http://www.SucceedInSpeaking.com for additional ideas, assistance, and resources.

Trade Association & Professional Society Executives: Getting to Yes

Just last week, I was hosting the Cigar PEG, Inc. Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, AZ. I called the hotel front desk (from California) to be sure my attendees could check in before I arrived as the rooms and expenses would be put on my card, which was already in their system. And what do you know; the clerk I spoke with at the front desk was all about why they could not check in without…

Why in the world does one want to create conflict before the guests arrive? The primary reason I believe is twofold; a lack of training and a lack of a desire to serve. Let’s now move the discussion of your staff interacting with your members. Is there any chance that any of your staff could be guilty of this?

At the hotel, there was of course a very easy solution that (the second) front desk person offered. Perhaps the same is true when one of your members has a challenge? But why did I have to go to a second person? See the above two-fold reason.

Let’s face it, 2009 could deliver your association a membership net loss. So why in the world would you allow your staff to do anything but deliver absolutely fabulous value to your members? When staff doesn’t care or is trained poorly, the E.D. needs to look in the mirror for fault.

Please do what you can to help your staff to abandon the “sorry, it’s our policy” and stay focused on the “yes, I’m sure we can help you.” Your members will thank you.

Association Executives may access association growth articles and member recruitment campaign information at http://www.GrowingYourAssociation.com