David Goldsmith - Establishing Alliances: Paid to Think

What you should know about your Paid to THINK Single

Here are a couple of tips you should know now about the Paid to THINK Single. The Paid to THINK Single is being offered to decision makers as an educational tool, designed from a long history of people seeking to use portions of content in their quests to do their jobs better. Over the years, countless leaders have received and utilized single chapters from Paid to THINK effectively to solve certain challenges and create opportunities, and now they are available to you, too.

Although each Paid to THINK Single stands on its own as a proven educational resource, be aware that within the content of certain Paid to THINK Single books, you may come across references to other Paid to THINK Singles or to the full edition of Paid to THINK. In these instances, you may want a full edition of Paid to THINK on hand to clarify terminology and concepts not fully described in this particular Paid to THINK Single.

Regardless, leaders and managers have used Paid to THINK Singles as cost-effective means of sharing information with other leaders and/or stakeholders. For instance, if you want to get six managers and 34 group members up to speed on a particular topic rapidly, you dont have to purchase 40 copies of Paid to THINK and ask everyone to read only one chapter within the larger book. Instead, you can economically teach your people by simply securing six copies of Paid to THINK for your leadership team and 34 copies of a Paid to THINK Single and achieve the same outcome!

Paid to THINK Singles offer additional value to people working in NGOs (non-governmental organizations), NPOs (non-profit organizations), and in emerging markets where the need for leadership information is great but where budgets may not be ample enough to cover pricey educational tools and methods. Luckily, Paid to THINK Single gives more people the opportunity to learn and develop..

Paid to THINK Singles make great gifts, and theyre convenient for those who dont want a full book. Whatever your purpose in choosing a Paid to THINK Single, youll find it to be an economical and easy way to learn.

This book is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information about business and leadership. Neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services, by publishing this book. If any such assistance is required, the services of a qualified financial professional should be sought. The author and publisher will not be responsible for any liability, loss, or risk incurred as a result of the use and application of any information contained in this book.

This book contained single-subject material from the book Paid to THINK. Content within this Paid to THINK Single, therefore, does not necessarily cover all the terminology or descriptive material referenced within that pertains to the comprehensive resource Paid to THINK.

Copyright 2012 by David Goldsmith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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AFTER SPEAKING AT A CONFERENCE for logistics firms, I was approached by one of the audience members, the vice president of sales for a manufacturer of large pieces of mail sorting and distribution equipment. During our conversation, he told me about a partnership his firm had with a trucking company. I was scheduled for an upcoming presentation before the American Trucking Association (ATA), so I was particularly interested to learn more about this arrangement. He labeled the relationship with the trucking firm a partnership, because its driver waited three hours at the VPs shipping dock while his staff packaged up a $300,000 piece of equipment that the driver would transport to this conference. The VP used the equipment as a sample at the conference, expecting to sell a dozen or so to gross $3.6 million in sales.

Considering how he used the term partnershipa word that Ive found to be interpreted differently by different peopleI asked for more details of his experience to be sure that I understood what he was trying to communicate to me. After a minute or two, I summarized, You called your trucking firm and asked for a price quote to ship the machine to Boston. After hearing their price, you asked if they could do better. The vice president admitted that he did ask for a better deal and got one.

I continued, The driver arrived at your dock, but the equipment wasnt ready for loading, so he waited for three hours until it was. He transported the equipment here to the conference, where you will gross $3.6 million off it.

The VP agreed.

Okay, I said. So since the trucking firm is your partner, when you return, youre going to send this partner a bonus check for helping you out. Right?

He hesitated, then said, I see what you mean; hes not really my partner.

Later, when I shared this story in my presentation to the ATA, some audience members laughed. Others, however, better understood how they had mistakenly assumed they were partners with their freight customers, when in fact, they were trucking vendors doing their jobs, sometimes eating the costs of down time but never sharing in the profits.

These leaders arent alone in their assumptions about what constitutes a real partnership. Misconceptions about partners are common, to say the least. Confusion stems from our lack of a shared vocabulary, leaving leaders with vague or diverse definitions for words, even those as seemingly simple as partner. So lets start by defining a partnership. Partnerships are traditionally seen as relationships where all parties share in particular successes and failures together.

This isnt usually the case with vendors, customers, or others that you may call partners. In fact, assuming that the vendor-customer relationship is a partnership of sorts could really hurt your organization. You need to see the relationship for what it really is. We become accustomed to certain buying habits and patternsfor example, we use the dry cleaner near our home or office and we shop for groceries at neighboring stores, but wouldnt you say we do so more out of convenience than loyalty to a partner? How often have you heard salespeople and leaders talk about how they have built relationships where their customers, clients, and patrons are so loyal to them that they would never buy anywhere else? Now consider some of the purchases you makeyour vehicle, your house, dinner out with friends, your shoesand ask yourself if you feel so tied to any one vendor that you could buy those items from only him or her. If the customer and the vendor are not sharing in the profits or gaining any other mutual benefit beyond the exchange of money for products, they do not have a partnership.