One of the worst things you can do at the beginning of a partnerships conversation is, after a few minutes of talking about the weather, ask the partner on the other side of Zoom,

So, what can we expect from a referrals perspective?

This has played out thousands of times, and the result is always the same: a general sense of discomfort and a noticeable decrease in that partner’s responsiveness.

Partners will run from you like Usain Bolt if you are a leads vampire and only think about yourself. Instead, you need to genuinely care about the person on the other side of the call.

Here’s the secret: learn your partner’s love language.

Yeah, you heard that right.

A business partnership is a relationship. All relationships are made up of individuals, and all individuals have a love language - a primary form of expression through which they prefer to give and receive love and connection.

Once you learn it, everything starts working better.

Finding your partner’s love language

It sounds weird, but all you need to do is ask. If you want to connect on a deeper level, you’ll need to speak the same language.

Starting conversations off with questions about them will help you identify their love language.

Listen closely.

You’ve got two ears and one mouth, so listen up. Partnerships are a two-way street. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise (not even your CEO).

Once you figure out your partner’s love language, you can talk to them in a way that they understand.

You can start talking about KPIs that immediately resonate. It is your job to help them succeed, because when you do, they help you succeed.

It is incredible how nuanced a love language can be. You need to figure out which is the dominant language for each partner and communicate accordingly.

Here are the three most common Partnerships Love Languages:

• Business development (most common)
• KPIs might include
• Voicemaker.in.