5 Keys to Building Business Relationships

By Sean McVey

 

 

 

Building business relationships is critical in the professional services, yet for some reason this task is often neglected.  Many business owners and marketers spend precious time tweaking their service offerings and pricing and touting their competitive advantages — when their real advantage lies in the strength of their relationships.

 
Hinge’s latest research, How Buyers Buy, describes how most buyers who are trying to select a firm rely heavily on a firm’s reputation and the buyer’s existing relationships. These factors are represented by the top two green bars in the chart below. If buyers know you and trust you, they are likely to buy from you.

Just like any personal relationship, business relationships require continual maintenance.  A mutual benefit and ongoing communication are important ingredients to success. In the long run, having close and trusting contacts will give you an edge, especially when other marketing tactics aren’t working.  Here are 5 keys to building and maintaining business relationships:

1. Routinely Reach Out to Important Contacts

It is impossible to have weekly or monthly conversations with all of the contacts in your CRM system.  But you can focus on the valuable ones.  Pinpoint your best clients, partners, and vendors and continually check up on them. Express your interest in their business and let them know that you are here to help. If you want to keep the relationship alive make this outreach routine.  If you let too much time go by, your eventual contact will seem less genuine. 

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How to Increase Professional Services Referrals

By Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D.

 

In this video blog post, I explain why referrals professional services firms get referrals and what you can do to increase referrals in your own firm. Let me know what you think!

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