You: Conduit!

Your role in alliances should be that of an enabler, and not simply as one who hands off items from one place to another.  You ought to the conduit through which things happen, not merely a link from one person to another.

Allow me to explain.

So often in alliances, and especially in more traditional channel roles, we believe that if we are getting one person connected to where they want to go that we have been successful.  It is not unlike taking an order as a salesperson in a high-volume business.  There's a customer that reaches out to you looking for something specific and you provide that thing as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Why gum up the works with anything additional, right?  If you provide rapid service than you are assured of high marks from your customer and will get the repeat business, right?

Unfortunately, no.  It doesn't work that way.  There has to be a way that you can provide a lasting, meaningful relationship with your constituents without gumming up the works.  If you are just passing a person off to the resource or contact to which they want to go, then you are missing out on a few critical things that should be central to your role:

1. You aren't providing any real value
2. You aren't strengthening the relationship
3. You aren't ensuring future business

Let's tackle these one at a time and break down the impact.

Number One - You aren't providing any real value.  The fact is that, yes, you are providing some level of service for your constituents when you introduce them to the person or resource that they are looking for.  You are sharing knowledge that you have that they want to have, and that has value.  But listen, you're not really providing anything of extra value to the other party and they aren't likely to view you any differently or assign any real worth or credibility to you based on this interaction.  Therefore effort should be made to understand the reasons why your colleague is asking for assistance and to become a real conduit.  Your response may be something like this, "Sure thing, Bob.  Happy to help.  I can schedule a call for you later this week.  Help me out a bit and give me one or two reasons for the call so I can let Susie know what it's all about when I reach out.  Then I'll forward a meeting request when it's all set." 

That sort of response is vastly better than this: "No problem, Bob... Happy to help.  You can reach Susie at 800-555-1212.  Or, if you want to email, go ahead and shoot one to her at ssmith@hercompany.co."  It is true that that response is helpful to Bob and very efficient.  He'll be grateful that you helped him to get in touch with Susie, but it won't have any long-lasting impact for you.  It is much more effective to become a conduit for Bob to get to Susie, and will be seen as more valuable.  Which leads me to...

Number Two:  The preferred response outlined above also improves your relationship with both parties.  Susie will appreciate that you found out what it was all about before setting up the meeting.  She'll feel like you were concerned about the value of her time and took into account the value of your relationship.  At the same time, Bob will love the fact that he doesn't have to do anything more to get the meeting.  He doesn't have to set it up and he doesn't have to have an awkward introduction to Susie.  You will take care of setting up the meeting and introducing both parties, and when you do you can also set the ground rules for the meeting and inform everyone involved about the purpose of the call.  And, in so doing, you take care of...

Number Three:  With this kind of care and attention to detail you are ensuring that both parties will think of you in the future as the person who makes things happen.  They will remember the focus you brought to the table for them and the way you helped facilitate the meeting between Bob and Susie.  This gives you a great head start in the trust department when it comes to getting any future business.