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Being an Advocate. These are the individual members of The Business Advocates Partnership (BAP) who operate an advocating business as part of what they do. This may be a full time occupation or perhaps just something done on a part time basis with just one or two products or services. Full time Advocate will probably have around half a dozen products or services that they advocate, earning a respectable income from connecting real potential clients with suppliers, and helping individuals or businesses find the resources that they need to enable them to grow and stand out above the crowd. Advocates have the advantage that they are very familiar with both the products and services being offered and the people who operate the businesses that provide them. Advocates will be approved by the The Business Advocates Partnership (BAP) team to recommend the products and services that they represent and are able to prove that they are familiar with those products and services and understand the value that such products and services can provide to potential users. They will be able to use the Business Advocates Partnership (BAP) name. Anyone can apply to become an Advocate, and subject to approval and signing an agreement they will be accepted into the organisation and be allowed to use the Business Advocates name, make use of the facilities available, record all their details and the details of the products and services they advocates, so other members can find them and ask for help in introducing them to others. The Principles of Advocating The basic principle of The Business Advocates Partnership is that businesses need a constant flow of good quality referrals, and this system is designed to do just that. Firstly we need as many products and services as possible. Each Business Advocate will focus on up to six products or services of which they will be very familiar and have built a real relationship with the provider of those services or products. Secondly we need people who identify needs for both products and services and record them on our system. They find these as they go about their normal business. This is like a funnel of business needs that are then passed to the appropriate Advocate to clarify, follow up and if appropriate to make the connection. These people who fill this funnel are the Introducers, and although they are unlikely to have much more to do than record the need and perhaps liaise with the Advocate, they receive a good reward for what they do. Without the Introducer, the system will not work. Finally, we need to find as many Introducers as we can. The more the better. Now the easiest way to do this is to ask all the existing Introducers to encourage people they know to signup and receive the newsletter as well. They then become Introducers as well. When any member introduces another member they become that new members Sponsor. We also reward Sponsors as well. So, the principle is simple. Thousands of people search out new business for our advocates clients to do. The Advocate, the Introducer and the Sponsor all receive a share of the commissions earned. How Will the Business Advocates System Work? Without getting into to much detail we will try and describe out it works, followed by an example. Each Advocate is registered on the system along with a detailed description of themselves and also a detailed profile for each of the products and services they represent. The system holds details of each agreement between BAP and the client. So if we had five hundred advocates each with five products or services we would have a database of 2,500 unique products or services. An Advocate can also be an Introducer and a Sponsor. Introducers are registered on the system and each have a detailed profile. They cannot advocate products without upgrading. When they join up they are subject to a training programme which will help them identify potential introduction. Whilst they are out and about, carrying out their normal jobs, they will come across individuals or people who have a need for a service or product. Using the training they have received they will know how to ask further questions and how to offer to introduce someone who may be able to resolve the need. They then complete an Introduction Lead Form (ILF) on the system which defines the details of the problem, who, when, how etc. Using a sophisticated software technique an appropriate solution is identified and the Advocate for that product or service is notified. The Advocate will speak with the Introducer and perhaps the potential client for any further information or background. If and when the Advocate feels that a product or service they represent is suitable they will make the introduction and act as an ambassador for both parties. Introducers can also be a Sponsor. Eventually, the deal is done and BAP raises and invoice for the fee due, according to the agreement. Once the invoice has been paid the Advocate, Introducer and Sponsor all receive their share of the fee automatically. Currently that is expected to be:-
Of course if the Advocate is also the Introducer he or she will receive both fees. A formal agreement exists between BAP and each client for each service or product represented. A tracking system will show all interested parties what the state of the introduction is. Clients, Advocates and Introducers all pay a small annual fee to belong to The Business Advocates Partnership. Initially these fees will be waived but it is anticipated that they will be as follows:-
The purpose of these fee’s is to cover the cost of producing the legal agreements and also to ensure that we only have active Advocates, Introducers and of course current products and services from the clients. This also insures that all members banking details are correct and that there addresses etc are also up to date. In addition to the fee’s listed above, support material such as personalised business cards will be available at cost to all members. Each Advocate is in effect a mini franchise holder or partner in The Business Advocates Partnership.
Here is an example:-Let’s say that Peter Pink, a newsletter member of ours introduces his friend John Smith to the Business Advocates Newsletter. Peter is John’s Sponsor. Let’s say that John Smith is a Change Consultant and works within a major corporate business group. During his work he discovers that one of the departments responsible for customer service levels has a major problem with its record keeping systems. John asks some questions to identify what their needs really are. As he is well known within the business they are happy to discuss with him the issues they face. John, as a member of The Business Advocates Partnership (BAP) goes to our web-site and records the requirements he has discovered. We call them the Potential Client. John is acting as our Introducer to them. The Business Advocates Partnership then processes the requirement and advises Mary Brown who is a Business Advocate. She advocates for Black & Green Systems Limited who we called our Advocated Client, who have been identified as an appropriate supply for the required service, located in the right area and with a record of producing similar systems. Mary carries out here role, arranging to meet the potential client to see if she can assist them. After the meeting she arranges for the Advocated Client to meet with the Potential Client. This happens and after some period of time a deal is struck for a software solution that is valued at £150,000. Now the Advocated Client has an agreement with The Business Advocates Partnership to pay an introductory fee of 10% on all new business, and 5% on any subsequent business. Once the deal has been struck, and subject to the agreement with the Advocated Client, BAP invoices the Advocated Client for the agreed fee. In this example it amounts to £15,000 plus VAT. Once the invoice is paid by the Advocated Client the individual members involved each receive their payment. In the above example is was as follows:-
The above figures are purely examples and the percentages may vary depending upon the individual agreements, but the example demonstrates what can be achieved. The Advocated Client had £150,000 worth of business, which involved no marketing or financial risk to them to obtain. In fact they did such a good job, they won further work from this client. They were happy to pay the introductory fees as otherwise they would probably have never heard of this business. The Potential Client got a solution that was within their budget, and which worked better than they expected, resulting in the placing of further contracts with our Advocated Client. They also had a great relationship with our Advocate who had been involved in the process from start to finish acting as an arbitrator where necessary. Our Advocate had earned a good return for a reasonable level of work. She had not spend any of her time finding the Potential Client, and was able to build a great relationship with them, that resulted in her helping them in other ways, earning even more. She also received further payments from the initial Advocated Client as a result of the additional work. In another area she identified a problem needing specialist help. She then acted as an Introducer, recording the need on our system and standing back as a different advocate dealt with it. The Introducer had just been doing his job but was always alert to finding issues or problems that he might be able to solve for the Potential Client. He received a generous thank you for passing on the lead to us, and was seen as being a real friend of the Potential Client as he had resolved an annoying problem for them. The Sponsor, was happy because he received a thank you gift of £750 for doing little more than sponsoring John in the first place. In fact this prompted him to introduce others, and as a result he received further cheques on a regular basis. The Business Advocates Partnership is delighted to continue working with all the above, as it is proving to be a beneficial arrangement for all. Outcome and the future.This example is just that, but I'm sure you get the gist of where this is going. Imagine a network of tens of thousands of people all busy at their jobs, wherever it might be, but ready to act when they identify a potential problem or need. By simply recording the information on our database, means we can find potential advocates to help resolve those needs. It takes little imagination, before you come to a further conclusion. As The Business Advocates Partnership gets known around the country and world, as its reputation gets known to business executives they will step forward and start recording information about their needs on our database themselves. “Please help us find a solution!” - they are shouting. The future for small businesses who focus on specialist skills is definitely getting brighter. Larger companies no longer want or indeed can afford to employ these type of people. The reasons are simple:-
So if you operate a small business, and you understand the need to be, not just Good or even Excellent at what you do, but to stand above the crowd and be REMARKABLE, then your future is bright ... but only if you can ensure that you are being seen and noticed.
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Copyright 2008-2009 The Business Advocates Partnership, 23 The Croft, Calmore, Southampton. SO40 2GN. |
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