If you have not had a successful referring alliance partnership in a while, you may be asking yourself what you are doing wrong. But in fact, it might not be you. Oftentimes, the problems stem from what the other person or company is or isn't doing.
When proposed business alliances don't produce mutual referrals, it is disappointing and frustrating. However, according to research we have done on successful and not-so-successful alliances, it often seems to come down to a few clear reasons for failure. Before you throw in the towel on referring relationships with other professionals, it may be worthwhile to address these keys to failure in order to improve your results.
If your strategic alliance partnerships are not working, it is almost always due to one of the following three reasons.
1. The wrong professional
You may be attempting to have a referring alliance with the wrong professional. Some people do not have the propensity to refer their clients to other professionals; they are slow to trust, or are solely focused on their own deliverables. These alliances will likely never work. Just because a professional has a client base of people that are a fit for you and your services does not mean that the professional will be proactive in sharing you with those clients. It is time to take these people off your list and find others.
