Clients rely on us – not just for the service we provide them, but for our knowledge of e-commerce in general. They look to us for guidance.
Why Build Partnerships?
In its simplest terms, partnership means three things: you give, you get, and you work for the greater good. You will see that everything in this article falls under this larger idea.
Benefits for the Customer
This is the definitive characteristic of any partnership; does it help the customer? We will discuss all the business benefits behind it – but this concept has immense value on its own.
E-commerce is our field of work. Many customers are not as familiar with this world as we are. The ability to foresee problems, see opportunities, and provide real solutions will be huge for them.
It’s the professional reward for giving good directions to people who don’t know the way. You don’t want to be the person telling the elderly couple to keep going down Main Street when they should be turning right on 14th Street. Being a good human being is a reward in itself. Just ask the Dalai Lama.
And you can offer more to clients. Partnerships work best when one party meets a need or provides a service to the other party that they don’t offer. In other words, a good partner has something you don’t.
Benefits for the Business
The statistics on customer loyalty and its impact on businesses are staggering. The probability of selling to a new customer is 5-20%, while the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%. A good referral or partnership can make or break this kind of retention.
And here’s the stunning thing. It takes twelve positive experiences to counter one unresolved negative experience. Now be honest: have you ever directed a customer to a product or service that annoyed them? I know I have. And I did it for all the reasons mentioned. I was asked to do it, and I didn’t think it through before giving the advice. I wasn’t prepared (and we will cover this later).
The point is: we are not just the sum of our services. We are also the guidance we provide. If you direct a customer to a bad experience, that becomes part of their experience with you. A good experience leads to retention, which leads to profit.
Enhancing Relationships
This is a byproduct of “Great for Business.” Nothing builds a relationship like trust. Check out what Harvard Business Review says about professional trust. This is from a negotiation perspective, but the lesson is the same. Building trust means putting yourself in your client’s position and saying and thinking “What would I want if I were in their shoes?”
Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes feels a bit strange, I know, but follow me in this metaphor. If you were your client, you would want to be referred to someone you actually know, someone who will do a good job, and someone who won’t charge you exorbitantly. In the end, this isn’t too hard a thing to do.
Moreover, when you start working with a network of other Shopify experts, you enhance relationships with them.
Time Management
Your clients may not understand this, but you are not a project manager. You don’t have time to track and chase down other companies working on their project. When you have strong partnerships, you know the people you are working with will communicate well and will do part of the supporting.
Increased Revenue
Many companies offer referral bonuses or finder’s fees for directing a client to them. Since we generate recurring revenue, our company offers a revenue share (20 percent) to any partner who directs a new client to our platform. We’ve also developed a partner portal that people can use to refer customers, and track their subsequent payments.
Again, it’s all about trust and relationships. We want the people we work with to be fully aware and easily accessible to what we’re doing. They help us, they help their clients – they should be rewarded for that.
Must
say that all of this relies on our ability to assist the client. We feel that we often are the best solution for someone in need of multi-channel support, as we have a robust platform and offer a unique agency experience. However, if the client wants something we can’t provide, we will refer them to the best company to work with.
How to Build Partnerships
I will be completely candid about my own experience. Our partner campaign started with two goals. The first is recruitment; I felt that my company had a core value – through our offering to clients and partners. I knew we had an exceptional multi-channel option for mid-level vendors thanks to our service and pricing model. And we were ready to offer a revenue share to partners who bring new clients to our platform. For me, that justified the outreach.
The second goal was to expand my professional network. This thought was brought up by a client who asked me what he should do about one aspect of his business – and I didn’t know what to tell him. That was the time I realized I didn’t want to be in that position again. I always wanted to be able to give the client the best possible guidance.
I laid out a very detailed step-by-step plan. Here’s exactly what I did:
Understand the Landscape
Here’s a breakdown of all the categories and subcategories included in the Shopify process:
– Development
– Design
– Operations
– Marketing
– Strategy
– Analytics
Communication
Once I had this list together, I went to the Shopify Experts directory and started searching for different companies. Shopify categorizes their experts into the following categories: Setup, Designers, Developers, Marketers, and Photographers. This made it easy to start segmenting potential partners.
And that’s what I did. I used sites and services like Capterra and G2 Crowd to find companies that had good ratings, and then I started reaching out to them via email, phone, and LinkedIn. The great thing about that is it can be done when you have free time (which doesn’t happen very often). But by doing that in advance, it means I won’t be in a panic later when a client needs a solution.
Half of the outreach I did was through LinkedIn. I searched for the name of a Shopify expert and found a contact within the company. In some cases, large companies actually have an individual or team dedicated to partnerships and/or business strategy. But with most experts, I reached out directly to the founder, co-founder, director, or executive.
When using LinkedIn, I was concise and conversational. For example, “Hi, I’m another Shopify expert reaching out to you. I visited your site – you’ve done a great job.” I didn’t use templates – I just spoke directly about what I liked about the company. Once making the initial contact, I scheduled a call to discuss our partnership program and the possibility of working together.
If I couldn’t find or reach a contact, I emailed the contact at the company. Here’s an example:
Hi Jim,
How are you? I found your company on Shopify Experts – I really liked the work you’ve done.
My company is launching a Win-Win program that allows Shopify experts to help clients (win), while creating a new source of income for themselves (double win). We don’t deal with design – we’re not competitors – we help people manage products and inventory. We offer mid and high-level vendors a scalable alternative to some of our bigger competitors by providing a great tech platform with a unique agency experience.
We provide a referral incentive for partners – you can see how it all works through our partner portal here: https://www.channelape.com/partners/
I can
I see from what I’ve seen that you truly care about customers. We do as well – and we aim to create a community where all sellers can access the best Shopify services available. Do you have any time this week or early next week to discuss potential collaboration? Contact me or Skype me at tcalpin@channelape.com.
I personally wrote every email, and generally noted what attracted me to their company. While the content and wording varied from email to email, I made sure to hit three key points:
– Not a competitor – I wanted to make it clear from the start that we are Shopify experts, but we are not in competition. In most of the outreach cases, our services were complementary.
– Value proposition – I wanted to outline what we bring to the partnership. It can be tempting to direct the email toward the company you’re reaching out to, but they already know their value and offering. I wanted to ensure I presented clear reasons for collaborating – especially our service and financial incentive.
– Commitment to discussion only – I won’t make any decisions without an objective conversation and follow-up. I expected the same from other Shopify experts.
Talking in person is what solidifies the relationship. I found that two things will evoke trust in the company. The first is personal experience; when someone can walk me through the actual process of working with a client, explaining problems and identifying solutions, I trust it more than general claims.
The second is defining what makes the company stand out in its landscape. Most experts I talk to have had experience with one or more of our big competitors. When I can clearly state this is how we differ, and provide examples of that, they see the value immediately.
When I find a company I’m impressed with, I put them on my list alongside their areas of expertise. I also invited them to join our partnership program through our portal. There is a level of trust that comes with working together. That’s the main reason we created the partner portal – to foster that trust. Our program has its own contract – outlining our terms and conditions. If there is any type of referral fee or revenue share, any financial amount that is exchanged, I strongly recommend a written agreement between partners.
However, the partnership becomes something alive after it starts. You evaluate its success while communicating and collaborating. More on this in “experience.”
Understanding Client Needs
When you have a new client, run them through this checklist and anticipate where they will need help. Bringing a partner into the project from the beginning makes the process easier to manage. As a result, things get done much faster. I know when we start a project, clients are thrilled to see their final site loaded with their inventory.
Experience
As you continue to work with different partners, consider each project a pilot. In a short time, you’ll be able to refine the skill set of each partner and the ideal client for both. Treat it like fantasy football – start tracking partners who show up on time and under budget. Types of partnerships
Simple Partnership
Most partnerships will likely fall into this category. When you name someone a partner, there should be some loyalty there. There should be give and take. If you’re consistently sending clients to a partner – but notice you don’t receive anything in return, there might be a problem there. This is equivalent to dating someone who doesn’t call or text or stays at your place. If you are the one making all the moves, the person who has to wake up every morning at 5:30 AM to get home and get ready for work, maybe you should move on.
Can
This type of partnership is defined by joint efforts and sporadic joint campaigns. You might run offers in parallel throughout the year. Send out some emails together. It’s nice, but it’s not serious.
True Partnership
True partnership means everything we talked about. Trust, give and take, specific joint marketing efforts. You might even have their name engraved on your site. I believe this should only happen if you find the ultimate company that occupies its place. If you are willing to send all your clients who need a specific service to one place, you need to make sure they will deliver.
I will give you examples on each end of the partnership spectrum. Recently, I connected with a fantastic designer named Matthew – he runs an Australian company called SeventyFour Design. One of the coolest things about living in the Shopify world is that it truly is a global community.
When I spoke with Matthew via Skype, it was 8:00 PM on Monday my time, and 10:00 AM on Tuesday his time, which meant our conversation was close to traveling through time. I discovered that he has some clients who need inventory management support / do not want to pay a lot for it – clients in our line of work. Thus, he is in the process of referring those people to us. We are getting new clients, he gets a share of the revenue, and he strengthens his relationship with them.
This relationship does not require much. It defines the direct referral dynamic – with the added bonus: while we do not get a lot of incoming Australian clients needing design work, we have our coverage in case that happens.
A few weeks ago, we had a more complex partnership with an agency in San Diego that handles a wide range of services: development, design, marketing, and analytics.
We found that our customer categories have a lot in common. Many of their clients need a multi-channel platform, and many of our clients need the support they can provide. We have worked on joint marketing efforts, launched a joint campaign, and maintain continuous contact.
This represents true partnership more. Both sides have invested time, effort, and money – but the return is much greater. It goes beyond hiring and revenue sharing. Working with this agency has allowed me to grow as an e-commerce expert. I learn by working with them. Being a good partner
In conclusion, I would like to return to the original partnership criteria we discussed. I will show you how my SaaS company meets each of these criteria in our relationships with other experts in Shopify:
We give
This component of partnerships was an issue for us at first. By the time clients reach us, they usually already have a site and a sales channel. The help they need beyond our scope requires an expert in marketing, analytics, or strategy. However, most Shopify experts are people who do setup and design. We realized that we might get more clients than we would be able to refer. Therefore, we offered a direct financial benefit to work with us. The monthly recurring revenue model is a desirable model – we simply offer it for good guidance. Help your clients and make money online in the process. This is real.
We receive
New clients. This is easy. And with every new client comes the opportunity to witness business success. We work for the common good.
Do you remember the email you sent to Jim? The last paragraph said:
I can see from what I saw that you really care about the clients. We do too – and aim to create a community where all merchants can get the best Shopify services available.
This
It is the common good. Playing a role in something bigger. I love my clients. Some are funny, some are amazing, some are completely strange. But they all share an entrepreneurial spirit. They have that little kind of heart that belongs to small businesses, and that is something that really speaks to me.
Small businesses – it’s a term thrown around a lot by politicians and in the media. But very few can speak specifically about how they contribute to this wonderful adventure. We can. And so can our partners.
I am very proud of my company’s humble contribution to the global community of small businesses. I am invested in it. And by working with others who share the same belief, my contribution can grow.
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