Hi.

I've been in a similar situation in the past and the single biggest challenge I found was that reselling a 3rd party service was not a core business development priority for the partner agency.

To overcome this I'd advise that you find the no-brainer proposition that makes it one.

A few years back a British insurance company wanted to offer to offer a new policy to insure your set of golf clubs for £35 per annum.

On the face of it, this was a non-starter. Few sets of golf clubs are worth more than £35 and those that are, are typically covered or itemised on existing home contents insurance policies.

The project was a huge success because the no-brainer proposition was identified and a partnership marketing approach adopted.

In return for the £35, the policyholder received the following free benefits:

6 Nike golf balls
A Calloway cap
A free round of golf at any DeVere club
4x two for one vouchers to use at most courses

The perceived value of these free benefits was over £200.

The benefits were all obtained free of charge.

Nike and Calloway were happy to do a sampling exercise to their target market. very few people play gold lone, so the vouchers were, at worse, cost neutral.

So, find partners who also want to reach the agencies you are targetting woth non-competing products or services. (e.g. trade magazine subscriptions) and create a "welcome bundle" of benefits that cost you little or nothing.

Find a remuneration model that is tied to usage. If you don't show this confidence then a prospective partner won't either.

I have my own a framework called APELA (Awareness, Perception, Engagement, Loyalty and Advocacy). I'd be happy to provide you with more over a call and follow up with a summary of our call with recommendations.

Good luck.

Mark Walmsley
mark@markwalmsley.co.uk