If you’re considering bringing in a business partner to help expand the business, there are several things you can do to impress them and win their business. The potential business partner may have many offers, so it’s important to make the best possible first impression.
Provide Transportation to The Business
If you’ve invited them to a meeting or presentation, consider providing transportation to it if you know the business partner is coming from out of town. If it’s in the company’s budget, you might consider a charter bus rental in Houston, or hiring a limousine to pick up the potential business partner at the airport.
Be Transparent and Honest
The potential business partner knows very little about the business. They may have heard of it and have some information about it, but you are the only person who can tell them the important details about it. They need to know the good and bad things about the business so they can make an informed decision about whether they want to become a partner. If there is anything they could interpret as bad, tell them you have a plan to take care of those issues. Show them how you’re working on the problems by describing the impact a certain product has had on their customers or interesting ways the company has helped employees increase productivity.
Show Them a Clean, Impressive Environment
Make sure the office and the entire business are clean, or as clean as possible. A little bit of mess is unavoidable in certain businesses. An otherwise neat, clean business shows potential business partners you care about its image. If you know the potential business partner will be visiting, make sure everything gets cleaned, including carpets, windows, and other areas of the building. This includes both the inside and outside of the building; after all, they’ll see the outside before they come in. When cleaning the outside, make sure there’s no litter and that any greenery such as grass and shrubs are well-groomed. Consider hiring a commercial cleaning service to clean the inside before the potential client visits.
Show Them This Business is Different
The potential business partner may have received offers to partner with other businesses. Show them your business is different, and prove to them that your company is the best choice for them to invest in. Make sure the interactions they have with the employees they meet are positive ones, and that anyone who speaks with the potential partner is focused and that they know about the business. They should look professional, whether they wear formal suits or choose a more business casual look with pants and a button-down shirt.
These are just a few ways to impress a potential business partner. Solid knowledge of the business, a clean environment, and evidence that your business is different from the others are good ways to show them that this business is worth investing their time and money. Before they visit, prepare your employees for the visit, and brief anyone who will interact with the potential business partner about the information they can share, and the impression you want to leave with the partner. This way everyone will know what they should do during the business partner’s visit, everything will go smoothly, and the business will have a new partner at the end of the day.
