Three Tips
to Building Successful Business Relationships
If you’re
the CEO of your business, you already encounter numerous relationships on a
daily basis: with your business vendors or partners; with your employees; with
your customers; with your prospective customers; and with your local community.
In fact, it’s nearly impossible to run any kind of profitable business without
forming a variety of relationships.
1. Always Be
Authentic
Have you
heard the phrase, “Fake it till you make it”? Some believe that you need to
replicate a certain style or mindset before you actually reach that level of
success, but can you do that and still show your authentic self?
People want
to connect with you. They want to know what your life is like. They want and
need to relate to you on a personal level so that you become more real to them.
If you are authentic with your image and what you post, they in turn will give
you their trust and, likely their money.
If you fake
it too much or are caught in a lie on social media, your image can come
crashing down. Instead of being a likeable coach, you’ll have a reputation as
being a fake or not walking the walk. If you want to be trustworthy, earn that
trust by building your relationships based on integrity and honesty.
2. Listen
Carefully
When
building these relationships, remember that you are not the center of the
universe. Even though you ultimately want people to purchase from you, new
prospects will be leery of you until they get to know you. So, preparing a sales
pitch for any kind of networking event is a fruitless effort that will likely
make people run from you.
Instead,
show an interest in THEIR business or THEIR life. Once you ask one question,
people naturally want to keep talking, especially if they are passionate about
their industry and mission. Listen to them speak, tuck away interesting nuggets
for a later time, and remember to send a follow up email the next business day,
simply commenting how nice it was to meet them. At the next event, make a point
of acknowledging them and start a new conversation.
This also
applies to coaches who create products. Listen to what your audience wants and
needs. What are they struggling with right now and how can you help them?
Listening is a very important skill when it comes to business relationships as
well as creating loyal customers.
3. Share, Share,
Share
Be
careful…this does NOT mean to share too much information of a personal sort.
This simply means keep sharing your knowledge, resources, free articles, and ebook
chapters; anything that will be of value to your audience. By sharing
information, you are building yourself up as an authority in that area of
expertise and also showing what a kind and generous person, you are. This evokes
good emotions of happiness and kindness which, hopefully, meld with your online
image and will endear you to many more prospects.
Get the
Action Steps You Need to Build Great Relationships