Relationship 3: Power Group

The third of the 6 business relationships is the third of the individual business networking relationships. This relationship is called a power group. Power groups are typically comprised of individuals who sell complementary, and sometimes competitive, offerings to similar decision makers. A power group is stronger and more predictable than a power partnership because it is more structured. This type of relationship also tends to produce leads of a higher quality than the average casual referral relationship.

Power groups are usually made up of several power partners who have chosen to get together on a regular basis. Sometimes the frequency can be weekly, but in a business-to-business sales environment, bi-weekly, monthly or less frequent meetings may be adequate. Power groups may also set objectives such as bringing client lists or being prepared to discuss a set number of opportunities at each meeting.

Since these groups meet so often, their participants tend to learn one another’s pitches extremely well – to the point that participants can do each other’s pitches on their behalf. This level of understanding leads to being very capable of pre-selling opportunities for the others.

It is important to note that this type of relationship is still considered one of the individual business networking relationships because the ultimate responsibility for closing and delivering the product or service is left to the individual business developer; it is not necessarily a group sale. But the line can be blurry depending on how actively the partner pre-sells the prospect.