I've started coaching for Keith Ferrazzi's Relationship Masters Academy, a new program that coaches people on how to completely redefine their goals in life and business. It's a pilot program right now but will be expanded after the initial 10 weeks. I'm taking the course as well as coaching it. It's a great opportunity to work through some mind-expanding ideas. Like BR=PR. Business Relationships are Personal Relationships. The most successful business relationships we have are not transactional; they're built on trust, generosity -- even love - and other attributes we usually associate with personal relationships. So I and my fellow RMA classmates are "making a choice" to connect with our business colleagues on a personal level. Sounds simple but it's easy to overlook unless you focus on it.
How do you treat your business relationships? Like a "take a number" bakery on a busy Sunday or like it has lifetime value to you? Leave a comment and let me know.
My motto is “It’s all about relationships, It’s all about love and it starts with you”
As a business owner you need to maintain your confidence and self esteem, in order to build deeper and more meaningful relationships.
Start with “Smart” Self Care and don’t stop!
I think there is risk in becoming too personally familiar with colleagues and outside business contacts because at times business decisions can be impersonal and unfriendly. When business relationships become personal to any degree, perceptions change on all sides causing expectations and obligations to become altered.
In other words, it becomes difficult to prosecute business decisions that may cause personal hurt or injury to business relationships that have crossed that fine line. I feel business professional should respect that border.
No matter what decisions you need to make those are people you deal with and if you remember that and know them well and treat them like-wise on the long run it will make you “rich” in all aspects, including aspects not related to money.
Hi Mitchell,
I agree. I think it’s entirely possible to connect with customers and business contacts in a way that builds trust and generosity, while still keeping things on a business level.
It builds customer loyalty and is a great way to generate referrals, which keeps the phone ringing. Of course, you have to deliver on your promises and deliver results, but working with current customers and new ones that have been referred to you is always much easier than converting cold calls into new business.
I have always wanted to make a people friendly business environment. I am happy to share with you that I have successfully managed to create a reasonably friendly and personal workspace for my business (Training Services).
Of course I would love it much better when it even more friendlier and enriching.
I would like to say that, yes, there are some disadvantages to having a strong personal relationships with business partners and customers. It also feels like we are making a lot of losses (or stunting the growth or having lesser profits).
It actually is true. But its true in only a short frame of time.
We also learned that by taking tough decisions we are simply building stress and distrust around us.
Instead we chose to walk the walk of trust and faith. Faith in future and faith in person that s/he will grow up, will rise up to our expectations.
This decisions has made a significant impact on the person, on us and overall business environment and thus obviously the business too. I highly recommend it.
In long run, strong personal relationships have super advantages. To list a few already experienced by us are:
Firstly, Customers are happy.
We get referrals WITHOUT asking them to give!
Our services are endorsed, and we come to know about it when the new client tells us how they got to know about us!
By the way, thanks to all of this, we save a LOT of money in advertising, branding, sales force, communication and personal visits to customers.
Secondly, our people are happy.
One of our partner was actually given a amazingly high offer to partner with another company. Needless to say, we still have this partner with us as earlier.
Our people are more relaxed, not stressed and in long run this helps tremendously to deliver consistently good quality to our customers.
Our people bring in more business just by sharing all the wonderful stuff with their friends, spouses, dear ones (which in a standard business environment does not happen frequently).
Oh not just new business, they have also got
new business opportunities for us to consider as well as their friends and family for us to consider them working with our company. Free of cost.
In one case, one of our partner’s, college teacher has referred our company name to one of the clients! Again, for free!
Well, celebrations are the icing on the cake!
We celebrate lot of stuff together, both business as well as personal stuff. Nothing can beat the joy and fun we have together, since we are like a family now.
I like BR=PR. We practically live that way.
Hope you will adopt this simple equations in your life and see your profit and productivity charts go Northwards.
best wishes
Omkar Nisal
facebook.com/omkar.nisal
There are relationships and relationships. There are good as well as bad, not to mention ugly. Relationships through the years have, like most things ‘changed, improved and evolved’, however, the core and the essentials remain and tested throughout time.
In earlier years it was agressiveness, hustle, win at any cost, deceive, cheat, greed and so on… and then came the crashes upon crashes over the last 50 years and then some…Arthur Anderson, Enron, Madoff, Lehman Brothers, sub-prime mortgages all based on the belief…Greed is good… and some others we forget..
Through out the last 40 years, I know of many deals that were built on good sincere relationships.
Yes ! it is about good business relationships, and I can write a book on my personal experiences on it, and now at retirement, I am still working on deals based on real relationships that are transparent, sincere, openness and the collaboration for everyone to challenge what is ahead and for every group and individual to win and win handsomely.
What a great position to be in!
BUT Be careful, there are still the bad and the ugly still looming out there… Don’t be fooled by their show of sincerity…
It’s an interesting subject. I approach everyone honest and true but simply get not “emotionally attached”. That allows me to think straight and not expect anything from the other side – build my business upon them. Hence, know that if they find a good opportunity they will move on and so can I.
It’s a pure and enriching relationship on time.