Building a Strong Business Relationship

When it comes to business and sales, building a strong relationship is critical. The stronger your relationship is with your customer, the more likely they will be to refer you business.

Make an everyday attempt to build on the relationships you have with your customer. Don’t just say hi as they walk in and goodbye as they leave.

The last thing you want to do is make your customers feel like a statistic. Let them know that their business with you is appreciated. Talk to them, strike up a non-business conversation with them. It could involve just about anything such as the weather, sports, a movie, pets, etc.

Non-business conversation puts your customers at ease and gets them talking. The more they talk to you, the more they will open up to you, thus opening the door for more sales opportunities.

Or, you can keep it simple. For starters, get to know you customers by name, than address them by name. Say things such as, “How’s it going today?” or “How was your weekend?” or “Is there anything I can help you with today?” Make your presence known and felt.

Your customers want to be appreciated, so take a few minutes of your time to show them that you care about them.

Another way to strengthen your relationship with your customer is to keep a Rolodex handy with a list of all of your customers’ birthdays, anniversaries, and special events. Keep your eyes and ears open for when customers talk about upcoming events in their lives such as children’s birthdays and graduations.

When the appropriate date approaches, send your customer a card, whether it is a holiday card, a birthday card, a graduation card, or a congratulatory card. Just send it.

Your customers will appreciate the fact that you remembered them on their special day. This will only strengthen the relationship you already have with them.

There are many reasons to build a strong relationship with your customer, but two of the reasons remain to be key.

One main reason is that customers value and appreciate good customer service. They want the peace of mind of knowing that if something ever happened with their product or service, that they would have you to turn to as their go-to person.

This is extremely important because your customer will have this in mind when your competition moves in to take them away.

And believe me, your competition will try to take them away. As long as you provide excellent customer service, your customer will stick with you.

There is no substitute for excellent customer service. Customer service is the most important thing to a customer, even more important than fees.

The second reason building relationships is so important is because of the referral process.

Customers that are treated with respect and provided excellent customer service will most assuredly refer their family and friends to you. Why wouldn’t they?

Your most important asset is your customer, so build and strengthen the foundations you have with each of them. By building strong relationships, you will be building your sales. Good luck.

Do You Have A Concept of Leadership?

Throughout the years, volumes have been written which list and elaborate upon the characteristics of leaders. You need only check the literature on the subject to discover that there are many characteristics and combinations of characteristics as there are leaders. With all of their differences, however, leaders do have some fundamental similarities.

 §  Successful leaders have mastered the art of self leadership and authenticity. Authenticity implies genuineness, reliability, and trustworthiness.

§  Successful leaders have taken time to crystallize a personal vision of the future which will become the foundation or cornerstone for a shared vision. They are able to attract as well as inspire commitment among the people whose collective effort will make this vision a reality. 

§  Successful leaders understand how to align and maximize resources to realize a vision. The leader’s role is to create alignment between vision, strategy, structure, processes, and people with focus on attracting and maintaining a loyal customer base.

As a leader, you must be many things to many people. First, you must have the capacity to create a compelling vision. If your vision is to excite people, it must take them to new levels of achievement. Then, you must be able to develop and implement the strategies that will guide people toward the vision, analyze the alternatives and possibilities, and set goals that will drive the organization to sustained success. To do this will require that you are able to function successfully in several areas. The first is your role as a visionary.

Leaders who are able to involve people in realizing a compelling vision provide a beacon for the future and a standard of excellence. Vision plays an important role in developing a winning organization. A compelling vision can play an important role in developing a winning organization. A compelling vision can motivate and empower everyone in an organization to seek higher levels of performance and achievement. People want to do a good job because realizing the vision is important to them. A compelling vision is inspiring and it is energizing. It provides an image of a better future that causes people to drive themselves to higher levels of achievement.

In the final analysis, you can’t really force people to be motivated. You can only create an environment in which people are motivated. A vision will release creative energies to successfully attain the desired results. It provides a reason for change and exploring possible uncharted waters with enthusiasm. It gives meaning to work and it encourages innovation. Individuals recognize the importance of their personal contribution to the overall whole. Vision helps everyone realize that their best interests are served by the success of the entire organization.