Best Practices to Build Relationships & Sales
So, what works when it comes to building strong business relationships, and building business through those relationships. Let’s start at the beginning. When meeting with someone for the first time or very early in the relationship, move forward with the following items in mind.
Learn through questions and listening. The questions should be open-ended. Learn about the person. Learn about their business. Your mode of listening should be to build. Understand what another is saying in order to help expand their thinking; to build on it. Listen for connections to what you know and how you may help
Be generous. As you make connections, consider how you can be helpful. And don’t limit your generosity to just your own offerings. Consider your entire network of relationships. We each have a wide array of assets we can bring to bear. Offer connections and resources, even if there is nothing in it for you. Consider these three questions:
What do they really need?
How can I be helpful?
Who can be helpful if I can’t?
Slow yourself down. Specifically, don’t sell. Without a relationship in place, selling is just transactional, and it makes the client defensive.
Other best practices for building strong business relationships include:
Make sure what you offer is phenomenal. A strong relationship does not substitute for poor products or services.
Approach each situation with integrity and authenticity.
Approach each situation with the self-confidence that you will provide value for the client, from the client’s perspective.
Finally, the best practice of all – caring. If you care the client knows. If you don’t the client knows that even faster. And caring is not a matter of degrees; you either do or you don’t. Care about what the client needs and you building a relationship and trust with them. The value of your solutions will become evident to not only you but to the client as well.