That’s a shame, considering how profitable it can be.  Here are 7 brilliant applications of the idea …

1.                  Introduce yourself to the database of another business …

This is the easiest way to join forces, and something almost any business can do. 

It’s probably best explained with an example.  Let’s imagine you run a small hairdressing business.  You have a slew of regulars, but rarely see any new business, owing to a poor location and dull advertising.

No problem – for less than the cost of one ad, you can have 300 customers personally recommended to you.

Here’s how it works.  You arrange to meet with the owner of a non-competitive, yet related business.  For a hairdresser, a beauty salon would be ideal.  Dependent on the target market of the hairdresser, a ladies gym might also be a winner.

Tell the business owner you are willing to give every one of their customers a free haircut, valued at $18.95.  The trick is, you’re going to set it up so it looks as though the owner of the beauty salon has personally paid for this gift.

You write a letter, signed by the other business owner, that says ‘ Thanks for being a customer – I appreciate it immensely.  Just to show that I truly am grateful, I’ve arranged a special gift for you … a complimentary stylecut with Julia’s Hairdressing.  I recommend Julia and her team highly – and I’m certain you’ll appreciate the difference too.’

You mail this letter to the beauty salon’s entire database.  To sweeten the deal, you might offer to pay for the postage and printing.

The benefit to the beauty salon is clear – they get to mail their customers an $18 gift without paying a cent for it.  They get all the good feelings, referrals and repeat business and they didn’t have to do a thing.

But the real benefits are yours.  Hundreds of qualified people will receive a personal recommendation to see you for a haircut.  They’ll also get an almost irresistible offer.

Compare this with a traditional ad.  You spend $400, get 10 calls, and maybe 5 sales.  Cost per sale: $80.  That’s pretty steep. 

With the joining forces concept, the stats are a lot more appealing.  A mail out to 200 people might cost you $150 all up.  Let’s imagine you get 10% (a pretty conservative estimate) – that’s 20 new qualified customers.  Cost per sale: $7.50.  Hmmmm, now it’s starting to make sense.

2.                  Join forces with 4 or 5 related businesses, and form a ‘collective’ ...

This idea especially applies to people in the service industry.

Here’s a great example …

Let’s say you’re an auto electrician.  You’re doing ok, but most of the work is going elsewhere.  The main mechanics in town are referring the work to other guys, and you’re getting killed in Yellow Pages.

What can you do?  It’s a tough one – although everyone who has a car may one day need your service, you never know when. 

The answer is to join forces.  Get on the phone to a mechanic, a car detailer, a tyre retailer and car tinter.  Tell them of your brilliant idea – ‘let’s join forces!!’.

Here’s how it works.  You’ll advertise yourselves under the one name – let’s say ‘Guaranteed Car Services’ (you’ll probably need to be a bit more creative than that).  You have one number (a Freecall number), one guarantee (either you’re delighted or you get the job for half price) and one policy – everyone helps everyone else out.

If the mechanic, car tinter, car detailer or tyre seller becomes aware of a car that needs an auto electrician, you get the name and details.  If you see a mechanical problem, you pass on the customer to the mechanic.  If the car detailer overhears the customer talking about tinting, they refer them to the car tinter.

At the end of every job, you run the customer through a checklist – ‘Ok, that’s you’re electrical problem sorted out.  Now, when was the last time you had the car serviced?  Right, I could arrange a service for you.  Here’s a $25 voucher towards that – I know the mechanic, Paul, and he does a top notch job.  Oh, by the way, summer’s coming – have you thought about tinting?  No, you should – I’ve got this card here from John’s Auto Tinting.  He said if I gave it to any of my customers, he’d do two windows for free when you book your whole car in.  And in case you didn’t know, both of those guys are covered by Guaranteed Car Services.  If you’re not delighted you get your money back.’

You run through your checklist, until each business has been covered.  Any ‘hot’ leads get passed on to the relevant business, and they return the favour for you.

It takes a bit of organisation, but it’s certainly worth it.  Here are 3 more interesting combinations …

a)     Guaranteed Home Services – a lawn mower, water blaster, painter, roof restorer and tree stump removalist.

b)     Guaranteed Beauty – a beauty salon, hairdresser, masseuse, psychic and gym.

c)     Guaranteed Fashion – a clothes store, shoe shop, hat store, tie store and image consultant.

Open your mind to the possibilities – who could YOU join forces with? 

3.                  Arrange free gifts to give to your customers …

A great one for businesses where there’s a long interval between purchases.

Let’s think about a car salesperson.  The hardest thing about selling cars is getting people to remember who you are next time.  Because they go 2-3 years without buying a car, there’s very little loyalty.

That problem is easily solved – just keep in regular contact.  Mail your customers cards, letters and communication, just keep the relationship going.

But if you’re going to mail them something, why not make it extra special.  Drop down to the local clothes stores and say ‘you know, most of my customers are young trendy women – they’d love to know more about your store.  If you give me a $20 gift voucher for every one of my customers, I’ll write a personal recommendation that they come and visit you’.

Once you’ve got that out of the way, go onto the next target business – a massage therapist.  Say ‘most of my customers have the money to spend on a monthly massage, and if they were shown how good it really is, I’m certain they’d be more than willing to come back regularly.  If you give me a voucher for every one my customers, I’ll mail it direct to them, and recommend that they see you every 4 weeks’.

Ok, that should take care of your customers for a few months.

Imagine that – you buy a car from someone, then start getting all these great gifts in the mail.  How would that make you feel?

You can arrange gifts from almost any other business – either in the form of a gift voucher, a free service, a trial product, a 2 for 1 coupon, a free consultation, an in-home design service.  The possibilities are endless.

Best of all, you won’t have to pay a cent for any of it.  And because it’s off your own back (and not the dealership), you take the list of names with you when you leave for another yard. 

People buy off people, so if you’ve built the relationship, you get the sales.  

4.                  Join forces with the suppliers of businesses you’d like to sell to … this is an extension on idea 1.

Let’s say you’re a management consultant – you specialise in helping mangers reach a state of peak performance.  Simply introducing yourself directly could work – but it’s really only you saying ‘hey, I’m good’.

People expect you to toot your own horn.  It’s when someone else toots it for you that they get excited.

So how do you do that?  Easy – hit the suppliers of the businesses you’d like to deal with.  For example, their stationery supplier.  You say to them ‘I’d like to give you a gift which you can them pass on to your top clients.  It’ll make them love you, and give them some genuine benefits.  I’m a management consultant, and I charge $456 an hour.  For your clients, I’ll do a full 1 hour appraisal and performance evaluation free of charge.  This will be your gift to them.’

To understand why this idea will work, you first need to understand the plight of the poor old stationery supplier.  They’re aware that almost anyone with better prices can come along and knock them off their perch.  There’s so little differentiation between service, price is often the only factor.

Doing something out of the ordinary for their customers will give them the edge.  They’ve introduced emotion into a very bland, price driven business.

The benefit to you is also massive – you get a personal recommendation from someone the prospect already knows and trusts.  For something as intangible as management consultancy and personal performance coaching, that’s essential.

5.                  Sell someone else’s product … probably the most straightforward joining forces concept of them all.  The trick is to be constantly scanning for hot products related to your business. 

Getting back to our hairdresser example, there are plenty of opportunities – a new quick –setting hairspray that you spray just once, a hair dryer that runs on solar power yet generates more hot air than any on the market, a new hair colour that changes with the weather.

You simply write your customers a letter that explains the benefits of the new product and ends with ‘Of course, I’ve arranged a special price for you.  To order, simply call me now with your credit card details.  I’ll arrange postage within 2 days.  And your purchase is guaranteed – if you’re not delighted, simply phone me and I’ll drop by and pick it up.’

Suppliers generally won’t mind, even if they’re dealing direct with retail stores – it’s another opportunity to sell the product after all.

You can also do this with service businesses – simply take a commission of their first sale to the customer.  For instance, a gym might sell a massage therapist in a mail-out to the their customers.  They do this, on the condition they get half of the first sale.  If the massage therapist is smart, they’ll understand the lifetime value of the customer, and jump at the chance.

So put your thinking cap on – who can you join forces with?  There’s thousands of businesses out there.  Why not make some of them your allies?