WEEK 33

Although you can accomplish a great deal on your own, you can often achieve more, faster by teaming up with someone. This is true whether you have a personal goal (e.g., quit smoking, lose weight, or read more books) or a professional goal, such as expanding your business, beefing up your marketing efforts, or reaching out to new markets.

Salespeople, in particular, often achieve much higher levels of success when they team up with other salespeople to share techniques, practice scripts, challenge one another, and hold one another accountable.

My friend and colleague, Terry Wisner, founder of Partnering To Success, LLC, developed his own version of teaming up with a partner, called the Personal Partnering Process. Perhaps you already practice personal partnering and aren’t even aware of it, or maybe you call it something else, like the buddy system.

If you are a member of a group that reads, exercises, or diets together, for example, you are already involved in a basic form of personal partnering. Members of the group set goals together, set deadlines, and meet to share their progress and support one another. Without some peer pressure, you would have a much easier time blowing off whatever goal you set and probably would not make nearly as much progress. The group (or your partner) holds you accountable.

This week, you discover how to team up with a partner to set goals, hold one another accountable, support one another’s efforts, and celebrate your achievements on your way to mutual success.

CHOOSE A PARTNER

The first and perhaps most important step in developing a partnership consists of picking the right partner. Teaming up with someone in sales is probably best because another salesperson is likely to be more aware of what you are trying to accomplish and the challenges you are facing. Two salespeople are also more likely to be able to share techniques and strategies. When looking for a partner, try to find someone who:

• Is a salesperson, preferably in the same or a related industry.

• Believes in goal setting and planning.

• Is supportive.

• Is able to offer positive criticism.

• Is at or slightly above your level of success.

• Is someone you like and respect and who likes and respects you.

Avoid partnering with salespeople you may be competing against. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation in which you reveal a vulnerability to someone who could potentially use it against you. If you work on a sales team with team members who are mutually supportive, partnering with fellow team members could be the ideal situation.

DEVELOP A PLAN

Things tend not to get done unless they are written down. After you have identified an area for improvement, develop a partnering plan that lays out exactly what you are going to do to achieve your goal. Your plan should include the following:

• A measurable and realistic goal: Set a goal that you can measure. “Improve my referral business” is too vague because it fails to specify how you would measure the improvement. “Obtain 30 referrals this month” is a more concrete goal. For more about setting goals, see Week 5.

• Intermediate goals: Break down your goal so it does not seem so overwhelming. For example, obtaining one referral per day may seem less daunting than obtaining 30 a month. Your intermediate goals enable you and your partner to check your progress so you can stay on track.

• Steps you will take to achieve your goal: Jot down a list of detailed tasks or steps you will take toward achieving your goal. For example, are you going to call existing clients or past clients and ask for referrals? Are you going to ask for a referral each time you make a sale?

• Deadline: Write down the date by which you plan on accomplishing your goal. When the date finally arrives, you and your partner can touch base to determine whether you achieved your goal on schedule.

Terry Wisner tells the people he coaches to make sure that their personal partnering plan is SMART:

• Specific: Provide enough detail to explain how the efforts will culminate in the desired change.

• Measurable: Include intermediate goals, so you can track progress.

• Actionable: Specify tasks you’re going to accomplish and the steps required to complete those tasks.

• Realistic: Set realistic objectives, to avoid frustration and disappointment.

• Timed: Set deadlines for accomplishing each task and achieving the planned objective.

You and your partners should share your plans with one another to make sure they fulfill all the requirements of a good plan. Collaborating with your partner every step of the way is the best approach to keeping you both on track.

MEET WITH YOUR PARTNER

Teaming up with a partner requires more than simply stating goals, drawing up a plan, and then heading out on your own. True partners support one another’s pursuits and meet regularly to share successes and setbacks, track one another’s progress, offer suggestions, and make any necessary adjustments.

The following sections show you how to launch your partnership in the right direction and keep one another on track with regular meetings.

Agree on the Ground Rules

All relationships benefit when all parties involved know what to expect. To start your partnership on the right foot, you and your partner need to agree on a few ground rules, including the following:

• How often you will follow up with one another.

• Method of contact: phone, e-mail, in person, and so forth.

• How you will celebrate your achievements.

• Consequences for not achieving goals.

• Type of support you will offer one another.

Do not feel as though you are responsible for your partner’s success. As professionals, each of you is responsible for your own success. You cannot force one another to take specific action, and you should not feel as though you have to. In many ways, you are likely to act as a silent partner; your partner’s desire not to let you down is usually sufficient motivation. The role you play is part cheerleader and part facilitator.

Keep Each Other on Track

Weight Watchers has weekly weigh-ins to keep members honest. Part of what motivates each member to stick to his or her plan is that they are well aware of these public weigh-ins. If someone cheats, the scale will tell the truth. This sort of peer pressure is very effective.

Peer pressure is also highly effective in personal partnering. Every time you meet, you naturally want to report to your partner that you have been making progress. As long as you have both clearly stated your primary and intermediate goals, you should be able to tell when one of you is wandering off course.

Consider scheduling meetings frequently at first, say once a week to start. Once you are both on track, you can scale back your meetings to once every two weeks or even once a month. I would not recommend going any longer than a month between meetings.

Review One Another’s Performance

Assuming each of you had a plan in place along with a deadline, you should meet on or near the deadline date to review your performance. During this meeting, you and your partner should review your stated goals and how successful each of you was in achieving your goal:

• Did you and your partner meet your goals?

• What did your partner do to assist you?

• What did you do to assist your partner?

• How engaged were you in the partnering process?

• How helpful was the process?

• Could you or your partner have done something different to improve the results next time?

• Were your goals challenging enough? Too challenging?

• What effect did the partnering process have on your success in sales? Can you quantify the value of the process in terms of sales volume or gross revenue?

To make the partnering process most effective, provide each other with honest feedback. This can lead to improvements in the partnering process that can make it more productive next time.

Celebrate Your Mutual Success

You have both met or exceeded your goals. It is now time for the victory dance, or whatever you and your partner choose to do to celebrate your mutual success. Following are some ideas for how you can celebrate together:

• Lunch or dinner at a fine restaurant.

• Shopping spree.

• Trip to the spa.

• Weekend getaway.

• Day at the races or casino.

When partnering improves your sales success, it also boosts your commissions so you don’t have to worry too much about the expense.

Ralph’s Rule: Partner with people you respect and who respect you, so you will naturally strive to meet or exceed the expectations you have for one another. When you choose the right person, he or she can hold you accountable without having to play the taskmaster.