In keeping with my last post about the quality of your Business Relationships determining the quality of your success in 2009, there could be no better way to launch the new business year than with a quick grounding in the Top 10 Traits of successful business relationships and business networking.
Networking is more than just shaking hands and passing out business cards. Remember, successful business rests on the foundation of successful relationships. What follows are the Top Traits to build and maintain good business relationships:
These relationships are forged in value and trust. Those who only fleece their customers like sheep without shepherding them, soon lose them.
1. Follow Up On Referrals. Every successful networker does this. Because personableness will make you stand out, online videos and phone calls are often more effective relationship-building tools than a voicemail or text or email. Those who do not follow up on communication lost the momentum of their first impression and your prospects will stop wasting their time trying to deal with you for greener pastures.
2. Positive Attitude. No one likes to be brought down. Negativity drives away referrals but a positive attitude makes people want to associate and cooperate with you. Positive business professionals are like magnets. Others want to be around them and will send their friends, family and associates to them. This is more than an inauthentic smile and chipper platitudes, a truly positive way of being comes from the inside out.
3. Enthusiasm / Motivation. This follows on the heels of the above success attitude. When you think about it, you can see that people who show the most motivation, close the most deals and get the most referrals. When you truly want to serve your customer, your customer gets excited about being served and wants to do business with you. Give what you want to get -- it's the timeless golden rule.
4. Trustworthy. When you refer one person to another, you’re putting your reputation on the line. You have to be able to trust your referral partner and be trusted in return. Neither you nor anyone else will refer a contact or valuable information to someone who can’t be trusted to handle it well. Likewise, when you commit to doing business, large or small, with someone, the other party has a large say in how it goes and you need trust to make the outcome a smooth success. Trust has to be repeatedly demonstrated. A business relationship is not a thing like a pencil you can leave sitting on a shelf for months and expect it to be right where you left it; it is a living organism that requires nurturance.
5. Good listening skills. Listening shows you care -- its that simple. Our success in business depends on how well we can listen and learn. The faster you and your customer learn what you need to know about each other, the faster you’ll establish a valuable relationship. Communicate well, and listen well.
6. Continuous improvement. Those at the top of their game, like Michael Jordan, are never too good to practice the basics. Always look for areas to improve and the customers you will want the most will appreciate where you go the extra mile for them.
7. Thanksgiving & Appreciation. Gratitude is sorely lacking in today’s business world. Expressing gratitude to business associates and clients is just another building block in the cultivation of relationships that will lead to increased referrals. People like to refer others to business professionals that go above and beyond. Thanking others at every opportunity will help you stand out from the crowd.
8. Enjoy helping. Desire the best for your customer in tangible ways. That is called "service." Helping others can be done in a variety of ways, from literally showing up to help with an office move to clipping a helpful and interesting article and mailing it to an associate or client. Those who have mastered good business relationship maintenance keep their eyes and ears open for opportunities to advance other people’s interests whenever they can.
9. Be Sincere. Insincerity is like sand in your salad. You can offer the help, the thanks, the listening ear, but if you aren’t sincerely interested in the other person, they’ll know it! Sincerity comes from the heart. Those who have developed successful networking skills convey their sincerity at every turn. One of the best ways to develop this trait is to give the individual with whom you’re developing a referral relationship your undivided attention. That leads to authentic appreciation.
10. Work your network. The word "work" is in network; master networkers don’t let any opportunity to work their networks pass them by. They manage their contacts with contact management software, organize their e-mail address files and carry their referral partners’ business cards as well as their own. Don't wait for the other party to follow up with you. Set up appointments to get better acquainted with new contacts so that they can learn as much about them as possible so that they can truly become part of each other’s networks.
What is the common thread in successful business relationships and in profitable networking? It is to value long-term relationship building as opposed to making a quick buck and then dropping them.Are you serving or using your customers? Do you want to be served or to be used? Businesspeople who take the time to build their social capital are the ones who will have new business referred to them over and over. The key is to build mutually beneficial business relationships.
If you want a business relationship with Promise Productions and our profitability strategies to go to work for your business, call us today at 972-822-3587.
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