If you have been serving business owners for very long you have come to some important conclusions. You only know what you know, you can only see what you see, and there are other professionals with blind spots in different places than you.

Let's face it, if we all knew the same things - most of us would not be needed. And if we had productive relationships with other professionals - those our clients use who services compliment ours, our clients would receive our coordinated ideas and insights. Plus we would be in a position to refer business to these professionals - now that we know how they work, and they would tell their clients about us. This is a perfect scenario all the way around.

Partnering, on a case by case basis or in an ongoing relationship with consultants, financial planners, accountants, coaches, lawyers, and other professionals can be a very good idea indeed.

And of course there are many different workable business models for doing this. For many of us it works best when we to do it quid pro quo basis vs. referral fees. Here are a few quick suggestions that you should consider:

1. Always work with someone you trust. In over three decades working with business owners I have found that if there is any doubt in your mind about the person you are considering working with - no matter how casually or infrequently, do not do it. I am still reminded from time to time, in a nice way - about the time I partnered with the wrong person - years ago.

2. Be the one to give more than you think you have to, in time, money, energy, etc. The other professionals will appreciate it and the law of reciprocity will kick in. The one thing everyone will remember about you is whether or not you did what you said you'd do. If you always deliver more than they expect, and because of your example your project partners do the same - you will all be proud of the results.

3. There are lots of opportunities to work with other professionals these days. I would suggest that you not enter into long-term relationships until you have a lot of experience with each person. In fact you may find that your clients hold you in greater esteem when you become known as the person who can put the right people on the team - no matter the situation, and they may be different people almost every time. You are seen as the go-to person because you are the one with the connections, the one who fits the pieces of the planning team puzzle together.

4. Give, rather than look for, credit. It is as true today as it was the first time someone told me that there is nothing we can not achieve if we do not care who gets the credit. All relationships are give and take. Give more and you'll get more.

5. Think outside the box when choosing your partnering relationships. Naturally if you are in the life insurance business you think of partnering with an accountant and a lawyer, or if you are an engineer you work with architects and people in the construction industry.

If there is anyone you should consider putting on your team, in addition to the usual suspects, it is a workplace conflict resolution professional. Why, because where there is conflict - no matter how far they keep it under the radar, nothing gets done. Wills are not signed and we never know why, estate plans end up in the file cabinet when doing nothing is just dumb.

When nothing happens to your (team's) proposals it is either because of you or the client. If it is you - they don't trust you or your partner's recommendations, that's one thing. You may or may not be able to overcome that.

If it is them, it may be that there are unseen disagreements and conflicts going on that are keeping them from taking action. And you may not about them until later, long after the deal has gone sour and the proposals are taking up space on your hard drive.

When you are putting together your next planning team - add someone who sees what you can't see, both traditional number crunchers and workplace conflict professionals.

Successful professionals are always on the lookout for ideas and resources to help them. They are also looking for creative ways of marketing their professional services. If you want to be even more successful in the future than you are today, learn more about marketing professional services and share your insights with others, visit us and join in the discussion.

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