“Look where it is not, as well as where it is.”
So says a centuries-old French proverb, and there’s truth in that saying where strategic partnerships are concerned.
My client, the president of a technology company, wanted to target new customers in a highly regulated industry and needed an entry strategy. He believed that a partnership with a large, global provider of information technology (IT) security hardware that had a track record in the industry was the way to go. To find out, I went to the source—the CEOs of 10 companies in the industry—and requested a brief conversation with each of them.
Figuring out which companies or experts these CEOs relied on for IT and regulatory-related services was the key objective for my conversations.
Looking Where it Isn’t
I went back to my client with the name of a small law firm in the Southwest. My client was skeptical—a law firm? That’s it? According to several CEOs I spoke with, this small law firm was one they relied on for guidance.
My client and I researched the law firm. The off-the-shelf website template did not impress my tech-savvy client. We dug deeper. One page on the website included information on the law firm’s hard-copy regulatory guides, which it provided along with highly specialized legal consulting. Aha. Instead of assuming that the law firm and its low-tech approach were not a fit, my client began to see the potential opportunity in a partnership based on complementary expertise and interests.
Taking Cues from the Clues
We contacted the law firm, taking our low-tech cues from the website: we wrote a hard copy letter and sent it postal mail. A few days later, we got a call from the firm’s principals and an invitation to meet. It turned out that the law firm had a client base of more than 1,000 companies in the industry that my client wanted to target, and was looking for an alliance to address the technology-based regulatory needs of its clients. That meeting was the start of a mutually productive partnership and a steady pipeline of prospects for my client.
What Would Your Company Do with 1,000 New Prospects?
Maybe it’s time to drop your assumptions and look where it isn’t. Not every high-tech/low-tech or other seemingly contrarian pairing develops into a high-yield relationship. But sometimes, looking where you think opportunity isn’t, as well as where you think it is, can reveal an unexpected path to profitable growth.
