One of the most important things you need when scaling your business is how to engage with people. For a company to grow and outlast the competition they’ll need allies - other companies they can team up with in order to gain mutual benefit.
It’s not just relationships with other businesses that count. Business relationships can also include having solid connections with your customers and vendors. Your goal should be to show that your business cares, and that working with yours will be good for theirs.
As an entrepreneur, understanding how to build business relationships is key to not only ongoing growth but also to profitability and consistency. Want to know the secret to a good business relationship strategy? Keep reading for our top tips below:
Identify The Value You Offer
When meeting other businesses or connections that you consider key to gaining ground as an entrepreneur, you’ll need to be armed with the knowledge of what your company has to offer.
Your goal is to identify complementary businesses or vendors to yours and then to understand how your business could be aided and aid theirs in turn.
Having this information ready means that you’ll never be caught off guard if you come across a potentially valuable connection and you need to prove to them why your business will be important to them.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Once you’ve found other connections who are willing to come to the party business-wise, you need to establish a clear line of communication between you. There is no such thing as over-communication here - if these individuals are to be of use to you and vice versa, you’ll need to agree to keep each other informed.
This type of communication can look like providing regular and consistent status updates or information that can save your collaborators time or effort. This helps assure them that this relationship is beneficial to them.
If you go the opposite way and choose not to disclose important aspects to your partners, you can expect the relationship to sour and even become detrimental. Being more open encourages trust and helps to minimize any potential mishaps that come up before they become massive problems.
Promise? Promise.
Trust is the most important part of these business relationships. Part of building that trust is to not just make commitments but to really stick to them too.
By commitments, I mean things like delivery dates and other promises you make to keep your business and partnerships in motion. If you give an estimated date of delivery, for example, it’s essential that you stick to it and deliver on time.
People notice this kind of dedication, and it will help them feel like they can really rely on you and your business to get things done. It also builds a bit of a buffer in case any issues occur in the future.
In short, do your best as often as you can. It’s good for your business reputation and buys you goodwill with your partners.
Honesty Is The Best Policy
Honesty is essential to many different types of relationships, and that includes businesses. This point connects to the idea of communicating effectively - if your communications are honest and open, people will be more inclined to trust you and your company.
More often than not, vendors, other businesses, and even clients can tell when you are bluffing or keeping something hidden up your sleeve. Even if they are not exactly sure what you are trying to hide, they’ll be put off by the idea that you are hiding anything in the first place.
Remember that impressions of your business are lasting. If you leave a negative impression, such as being dishonest, it can come back to haunt you for years to come.
Nurture Those Relationships
Once you have established some partnerships and business relationships, you’ll need to work on maintaining them. If you don’t, these wells of opportunity will quickly dry up!
Making sure you keep in touch with your partnering businesses, vendors and clients regularly helps keep your company at the front of their minds and makes them more likely to bring more opportunities to you when they come up.
It can be something as simple as a quick email check-in or something thoughtful and considerate like a personalized greeting card. The point is to keep these relationships ongoing, so make sure that you factor this in regularly to keep them alive.
Share Useful Resources
The main draw behind building a business relationship is to be able to gain mutual advantages. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to sharing resources between partners.
Say that you are partnered with a business that is in need of legal advice or assistance, and you happen to have the details of a good lawyer that will offer them an affordable rate - this is the type of sharing that helps strengthen both businesses and the relationships between them. Be a connector and your relationships will thrive.
Business Relationship Strategy And More Through Coaching With Jules
Whether you're wanting to grow your network marketing skills, need guidance in your dating relationships, or need help in your business relationship strategies, Jules can take you to the next level.
Jules is a multi-talented coach and business entrepreneur with experience from Broadway and voiceover work to a substantial career in building and connecting new businesses.