Team Play and Organizational Growth ~ an excerpt from the new 5 Steps for Strategic Business Planning Workbook

The Interview and Building your team

Depending on your marketing activities, people will be attracted to your business in a variety of ways. Sometimes people come to the business as a result of product experience. I believe that happens most often when we model our commitment to the products we sell and follow through with a consistent, focused plan for DEVELOPING our customer relationships. Especially when we model a business that is fun and profitable.

Through advertising, direct mail, phone contact, internet based marketing and personal contacts we have opportunity to attract our ideal business partners.
Those activities can be to cold market (people who have not yet said YES) and to warm market (existing customers, referral sources and business partners).

You decide what specific activities you want to do when you complete your Plan of Action for BUILDING new business partners. (page: )

When someone says: “yes, I might be interested” I suggest having your Interview process in place, and your team set up to do it with you. I find the energy of a team working together is almost always the most interesting, dynamic and inviting way to attract someone really good.

In this section you will find a sample phone script for telling someone about your plans for expansion, a letter you might send announcing same and an email that can be a nice follow through after leaving a message for someone who might be looking.
We’ve seen great results using a COMBINATION of activities.
One phone call, email, letter, postcard etc. is rarely enough to get someone to respond.
Multiple marketing activities going all the time is always going to be your best bet.

I recommend getting a resume or some kind of work history and interest statement during the interview process. If it’s true that you are looking to attract someone who is going to be connected to you for a long time, maybe even for a lifetime, doesn’t it make sense to get good, solid information upfront so you know who you are going to be working with? Your happiness and business success is dependent on this new relationship.

Many people assume adding business partners will automatically increase your income.
That can be true IF they come to the party with resources, experience and a commitment to do the thing. On the other hand, if we do not hold any standards for WHO we attract as business partners, initially that relationship may be a liability before it becomes an asset.

I believe it is our responsibility to work successfully with our business partners.
Like a law firm or medical clinic, the success of each of the partners is a reflection on the whole. It would be totally unfair to bring a new attorney into a law firm who has no experience, no existing client base and no idea how to get started and leave them to sit in their office alone expecting them to thrive and grow. Most firms have an excess of cases and accounts to share with the new partners. They work on cases together long before the new partner is expected to go hunting. Many times new clients come as referrals due to the good work of the new partner in assisting with existing cases.
I know Direct Sales is not the same as a Law firm. Yet I do see similarities.

So what do I mean exactly?
Well, if I were to plan an expansion in my business ~ first I would create specific activity series’ for BUILDING and DEVELOPING new business partners.
Marketing activities to attract them in the first place is the building part. How I work with my new partner in getting THEIR activity series’ in place is the developing part.

The Punchlist for Getting Started is the first step in that dance. (See inside cover and page xx)

Part of my plan to get someone to take action sooner rather than later is to provide simple tools for getting started right away.

For example:...
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