Peta Schulman, founder of GoodnessMe Box reveals the strategies she used to get much larger brands to hop on board.

The first question is: What can you do for them? Once you’re absolutely sure that your offering lines up with the big brand’s goals, you can show them just how your company can fulfil their needs. Start with the brand. Explain the ethical principles and values that drive your brand, and give real-world examples. For instance, GoodnessMe Box only works with brands that are natural and gmo-free. Let the potential partner know that they’re part of an elite group. Then, move on to the audience.

Boost brand awareness

 If you want a big brand to work with you, prove that you’ve caught the attention of other big brands, too. At GoodnessMe Box, we spent a lot of time cultivating relationships with brands that a: we admire and b: align with our values and visions.

Patience and persistence always pays

 Partnerships take time. To speed up the process, take your time. It sounds like an oxymoron, right? But you want to learn everything you can about the goals and principles of the company, as well as who their key players are. By doing that, you’ll figure out how your brand can complement their brand, and you can start building your value proposition. Once that’s locked down, focus on developing relationships. This includes picking up the phone! In today’s tech landscape, there’s something to be said about speaking to a human on the phone. Big companies field hundreds – even thousands – of partnership requests, so prepare to be persistent.

Look after your existing partnerships

 Explore other revenue channels with your current clients. We’ve worked with over 600 brands, and it’s mutually beneficial. We provide value by promoting their brand to a highly targeted audience and provide data insights. Your clients are far more likely to do more business with you if you expand on existing partnerships. For example, if a brand has recorded higher sales after their products have appeared in our boxes and blog, they’ll be open to other potentially lucrative partnerships – like our Wholefood Markets or Online Shop. These complement the sample box, and allow customers to continue purchasing their favourite, hard-to-find products. In turn, they increase our partners’ profits.

Step up your elevator pitch

Know that when you do get someone on the phone or email, you’ll have around 30 seconds (or one line) to capture their attention.

Highlight your engagement levels

In the social media age, engagement is everything. It’s about quality, not quantity, so move beyond follower counts to prove your connection to your audience. What kind of interaction does your brand have with its customer base? How does this propel the business forward? And how can your potential partner harness this power?

Don’t forget the wow factor

Some markets are saturated, so for a business to cut through and succeed, it needs to offer an innovative, inspiring or exclusive product or service. Find a tangible way for them to see the USP up close and experience the consumer journey.

This post was written by Peta Schulman on Kochie’s Business Builders.