It still amazes me how often many people mistakenly focus on the number of connections they have rather than the quality of those connections. At a superficial level the number of connections you have on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc is important but quantity is no indicator of quality – as anyone who has attended a speed dating event would no doubt testify. Not a day goes passed without someone requesting a connection with me on LinkedIn never to be heard of again – seemingly lost in ‘LinkedIn World’. Business is about relationships and relationships must be started and then cultivated. Our recommended approach is to take a qualitative approach and focus on establishing fewer more qualitative relationships. How? There are six tips below.
Business Relationships – 6 tips to create better business relationships
1. Face to Face meetings
Take time to meet new people face to face and extend your circle of contacts. Approach these intro meetings with an open mind and no agenda. Do not pitch during these meetings and listen more than you speak.
2. Deliver Value
Make a point to help help out your contacts whenever you can and to connect them with people that they should meet. Do so without point scoring or expecting anything in return.
3. Surprise and Delight Your Clients & Customers
Execute all contracted projects and tasks well but make one of your objectives to surprise and delight them by delivering beyond their expectations. If you are unsure how to do this your staff and customer feedback will give you some very strong indicators.
4. Be Authentic
One of the benefits of being a business owner or entrepreneur is that you can create your own company and remain true to your values and vision. Do not lose sight of this when you are starting business relationships even if there are monetary reasons to do so. If your gut tells you that a potential relationship will be problematic – go with your gut.
5. Establish Trust
For any relationship to work there needs to be trust on both sides. Major deals and agreements need to be written down and formalised but a good relationship should be the basis. Be worthy of trust, open and and trust in others.
6. Frequency and Feedback
Regularly communicate with your contacts – this applies equally to your staff as well as contacts external to your business. Encourage the giving of and be receptive to feedback and reviews.
Implement these points and you will establish better business relationships – relationships that will help you build better business. The last word goes to Dale Carnegie
“You can close more business in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie
We hope you have found this information useful.
Need help creating better business relationships? Give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com to start the conversation.
Best regards,
Mike Pitt
Founder & CEO – Marketing Fundamentals Ltd
