Build Long Lasting Business Relationships.

The advent of internet has been extremely helpful in the development of this world, and social media has made stars out of many struggling artists, authors, business owners and actors. But the other side of the prism is that there has been a major loss to personal touch in our environment because of the easy access created by internet. The important questions that we need to ask ourselves are- has our bottom line increased because of the likes? Did the Instagram followers write us a million-dollar check? If the answer is no, I want to challenge all of you to work on building stronger personal relationships within your business. Read about this in detail in my previous post.

Good, strong, lasting business relationships take a dedicated amount of time and energy to build. Today people don’t seem to want to put in the time and effort it takes to form those relationships, in spite of knowing that these are an integral part of success. Lasting business relationships don’t happen or develop without dedicated, consistent work. A business network comprising of selective and qualified people that you can count on, tap into and rely on for support, direction and insight is much better than a thousand followers on a social networking website. While I do not deny the importance of social media in the success of a business, I intend to bring the attention of small business owners to the importance of finding the balance of being givers and takers. We can’t just give or take, we need both. A small business owner must invest some time in personal engagement with prospective clients, partners, or customers, in order to form a lasting and beneficial business relationship. Engagement, selectivity and consistency are essential in finding great people and growing relationships with them.

Here are a few ways to build lasting business relationships in today’s professional world.

Mutual Respect

It takes time to build mutual respect, unless someone is referred to you by a trusted connection. With time, activities and experiences you form mutual respect. Joining an online community or a professional group form a great environment to develop relationships. Getting a website for your business and bringing people together on your website also makes a healthy platform for individuals to watch people relevant to their business in action. Building mutual respect is essential for growing relationships.

Authenticity

Be who you are and accept others as they are. It’s easy to create a fancy Facebook profile, but relationships formed on such platforms are usually short lived when we start qualifying people and companies. Make others feel a natural connection with yourself and your company with ease of communication and things you both have in common. The authenticity of connecting personality, beliefs and point of view can accelerate relationships.

Personal Connection

If you really want to get to know people, ask them to go for coffee so that you can talk more personally, one on one. Be willing to share experiences, ideas, points of view and simply learn more about each other’s story, family and professional history.

Increase Your Bottom Line

People do business with who they know, like, and trust. To attract new clients in your business you must build a relationship. The brutal truth is that nobody will invest in you until they know you. I’m not saying a dinner date with your client is a must, but you do have to allow them to enter your world. Start with connecting with people on your website. Daily updates, responses, feedbacks etc. are a good way to manage and maintain contacts. We, at HyperEffects, offer a one-hour free consultation session to all business owners to help them understand ways to grow their business relationships. We also work with your specific needs to create a website that may help you connect with your desired audience at a personal level.

You must nurture and communicate with your preferred business associates if you want them to do business with you. A friend of mine who is a successful entrepreneur once shared with me how his business income began to shift when he shared his story with others. To grow and get to the next level you must be open to building new, powerful, and meaningful relationships and use the right way to do this. Building a relationship with others not only builds trust and creates opportunity, it also increases your bottom line.