Business Relationships to Cherish

Building good business relationships is not something that can be done overnight. It takes more than exchanging a few tweets on Twitter or ‘nudges’ on Facebook, and much more than sending regular (especially self-promotional) emails.

How often do you tell your current and past customers that you appreciate them? What could you do to show them? Well, everyone loves to receive unexpected gifts. Even on a tight budget, these don’t have to cost the earth; How about vouchers to Amazon or Starbucks, tickets to the movies or theater (or to an event you know they’ll enjoy). You can set reminders to send such gifts at intervals throughout the year – what a great way to keep in touch!

With new contacts and potential clients, it would be overkill to woo them with gifts in the same way. But you can give them something of value that would be useful to their business, perhaps a special report or short e-book you’ve written; access to an audio or video that is generally not available. It’s important to disassociate yourself from automatically expecting business in return, people can sense ulterior motives from miles away!

You may believe that suppliers should be the ones to build a good relationship with you, and in fact, that is true. But relationships work both ways! If you’ve ever had a demanding or unreasonable customer, you know the gut-wrenching feeling you get when you call or send an email. If you put your shoe on the other foot, being a considerate and courteous customer will earn you points for when you really need to place a rush order.

Now, your initial reaction when engaging with your competitors may be to keep a safe distance from each other! And yet, building a relationship based on mutual respect can pay off. My personal take on the competition is that it exists mostly in our own moments of doubt, although it’s taken quite a while for that penny to drop! There is no reason why you can’t learn from each other and maybe even work together, once your relationship is solid.

If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll have made a lot of contacts at the ubiquitous networking events. Life as a small business owner can be extremely lonely, so when you meet like-minded people who you enjoy chatting with over coffee, it’s only natural to develop that relationship. Whether they offer the benefit of experience or provide the occasional supportive ear, these colleagues are worth their weight in gold.

Just as personal relationships are built on sympathy, mutual respect, and trust, so are our best business relationships. Liking tends to be instinctive, but you have to earn respect and trust.