The best joint ventures are with people in your own network those that already know, like and trust you. However, theres nothing to stop you from partnering with cold contacts those youve never associated with before, and you would therefore need to build a relationship with. This simply means it will take a bit more time to execute the joint venture because any cold contact would need time to evaluate your character and your business before committing to a partnership with you.

One of the skills you need to acquire if you choose to joint venture with a cold contact is this... getting past the gatekeeper!

Your potential joint venture partners may not pick up the phone themselves. They may have a secretary, or an assistant, or a receptionist that screens calls before putting the calls through to them, or someone that screens letters before putting the letters in front of them. These people are known as gatekeepers. Your potential partners may even have a permanent voicemail kind of set up. In this case, the voicemail is the gatekeeper.

Here are some tips for getting past the gatekeeper:

When you call the office, treat the gatekeeper with the same respect that you would treat the potential partner. This will make them warm up to you. Sound important, but courteous e.g. Hello there, please put me through to Joe Smith.

Develop a relationship with a source that knows your potential partner, and then receive an introduction from that source so that you go in with the introduction from the source. So, when you call the potential partners office and the gatekeeper asks what your call is regarding, you can say His good friend, Jim Benson asked me to call him.

Adopt the gatekeeper i.e. develop a relationship with them. Do this by engaging in a conversation with them whenever you call. Developing a relationship with the gatekeeper comes in handy when youve been unable to reach your potential partner because theyre often out of the office.

If youre calling from an international destination, say Hello there, please put me through to Joe Smith, and let him know its Tom from Italy. As a result of the time zone difference and the cost of the call, an international phone call immediately gives the impression that the call is very important. The gatekeeper is likely to put you through without asking why youre calling.

Send a letter first. In the letter, ask the potential partner to expect your call on a certain date. This way you can say Hes expecting my call, when the gatekeeper asks what your call is regarding.

Another approach is to email your potential partner to check if theyve received your letter, and then ask for the best time to call them. In this instance, its likely that your potential partner will let their gatekeeper know that your phone call is expected.

If a voicemail is the gatekeeper, its best to send in a letter first, and then follow up by leaving a voicemail message. However, if you choose not to send a letter first, then simply introduce yourself and let your potential partner know why youre calling. Dont go into detail about your proposal - just give sufficient information to get them curious enough to return your call, or email you.

Copyright 2005 by Habiba Abubakar and Emprez. All rights reserved.

Note: You are welcome to republish this article as long as the resource box at the end is included fully and unaltered.