I’m sure you heard of this expression before – it’s everybody’s favourite radio station ‘what’s in it for me?’. From working with a range of different clients lately it is has become quite clear that many organisations are portraying themselves as the worst date ever. The date that sits there and tells you all of the things that they have done, why they are the best at their job/sport/hobby and quite frankly how amazing they are at life and how lucky they would be to have you. Except for one thing…they haven’t asked you any questions or bothered to find out about what is important to you, your life goals or your values. They have no idea about whether you are even remotely interested in the football team they have been talking about for the past 20 minutes. If you have ever been on that kind of a date, and yes I have, you decline their kind offer for a second date and leave them wondering what went wrong.
With a corporate partnership the most important word is “partnership”. It’s about two parties coming together to create something that neither one can do on their own. We see many organisations looking to corporates because of what they want from them, be that money, reach or even access to their employees. The pitches could be so much more successful if charities took the time to consider things from their potential partner’s perspective and found out what it is that matters to them.
Here are five tips on how to tune into your potential partner’s radio station WIIFM:
- Conduct a thorough discovery meeting – this should be happening before any pitch is attempted. Ask them the questions of what is important to their business. What threats and challenges is their business facing? What aspirations does their organisation have?
- Read their annual report/ CSR report. What are the things that they most often write about? If it’s a vision about being the number one business in x, what is stopping them from doing this? Are they employee centric?
- Do your research on the organisation – this can be as simple as desk top research or as thorough as seeking out some of their employees to find out about their culture, challenges and aspirations from an internal perspective.
- Know what benefits and assets your organisation has and whether you are prepared to offer them – have you researched your own organisation fully and know what you have to offer to a potential partner? How do these assets compare to what you prospective partner might be looking for?
- Reread your pitch and answer these two questions – how am I going to help my prospective partner make more money and how am I going to save them money? This will help you to really articulate how what you’re proposing is going to deliver against your partner’s aims and ambitions.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to develop the value proposition for your pitches please contact us via info@stellarpartnerships.com