HOW TO NAIL THAT FIRST ALL-IMPORTANT MEETING WITH A NEW PARTNER

So, you’ve put in the hard yards behind the scenes to finally secure that all important first meeting with a potential new partner. So, how will you make it a success on the day?

This is your chance to make a great first impression, and ultimately secure the next meeting, and hopefully, a fruitful new partnership.

Here’s a simple plan to help you create a brilliant first impression to kick-off the start of a successful partnership.

• Have a simple - but structured - agenda

An agenda brings structure to your meeting.?

It sets out the main objectives you want to cover guides you to your desired outcome, and helps you get back on track where you need to, and maintains the focus of everyone involved.

Start with an introduction which includes these key areas:

1. Objectives of the meeting and desired outcomes
2. A summary of your business?
3. A summary of your partners business?
4. What a partnership between the two companies could look like
5. Next steps and timings?

Extra tip: share the agenda ahead of the meeting asking for any additional input. So when you have the meeting, it’s already clear what you’ll be discussing so there are no surprises on the day.?

• The meeting?

It’s the big day!?

You’ve agreed the agenda in advance and you’re all set.

Now it’s simply a case of walking through each section of the agenda calmly and clearly, gathering new insights and validating assumptions along the way to help strengthen what a partnership could ultimately look like.

Here are some tips to help you get your desired outcome:

• Your business?

Keep this short and no more than 5 mins. Include an overview of what you do - no fluff (!) - and why you do it better than your competitors.?

What’s your USP? Who are your existing partners? What do they say about working with you??

Remember to keep it brief and to the point.

• Your partners business?

Include a slide which demonstrates you’ve done your research about them and understand what they do and who they do it for.?

What are their challenges? What does success look like for them??

Structure it as bullet points and play it back to them to validate - they’ll quickly say it’s correct or not!?

Doing this is critical to make sure you’re clear about their objectives and goals - which will form the foundation of any partnership between the two of you.

• What a partnership between the two companies could look like??

You’ll already have some ideas how you can partner together so list these out as bullet points which will form the basis for a conversation.?

A good way to do this is to show how you have the same or similar objectives, and how you can compliment each other to achieve these goals - ideally faster, more efficiently, more cost effectively - or ideally, a combination of all three!?

You want to show how partnering together will help both grow better than you could alone.

• Next steps and timings?

You’ve had a successful meeting, validated your assumptions and outlined what a partnership between both businesses could look like.

Add a final slide which summarises the points you’ve discussed and the next steps with clear timings and owners.?

Importantly, agree on a date for a 2nd follow up meeting which will keep the momentum going.

• After the meeting?

Send a follow up email - ideally the same day (or as a minimum, within 24 hours) - thanking them for their time and summarising the key points of the discussion and next steps. Attach any presentation you shared as a PDF.

Summary

First and foremost, create an agenda that hits the mark and starts off the partnership on the best footing.?

To get ready for the meeting and leave a good first impression, do your homework!?

Finally, keep the momentum by sending a follow up email on the same day.?

For more tips and advice to help accelerate your partnership efforts, follow Diary of a Partnerships Pro!