8 Great Ways to Help Build Business Relationships
What Are the Keys to Building Business Relationships?
The business relationships you build are invaluable to your enterprise’s growth.
Business relationships include the clients, suppliers, buyers, and organizations invested in your company’s vision and support your operations. Without this network, your business won’t run as smoothly, and expansion will be complex.
Professionals in charge of outreach foster trust through frequent engagement. These professionals tend to include business executives, marketers, and sales teams.
Entrepreneurs and business owners should focus on relationship building. By creating the right connections, decision-makers can improve their brand presence and develop long-lasting partnerships with customers and suppliers.
The first step in building business relationships is to stay informed using research tools, such as Owler Max. The second step is to reach out and maintain meaningful connections. We’ll be covering the latter in this article.
Whether you’re a part of a startup or run a more seasoned company, here are eight simple ways to build stronger business relationships:
Have confidence as a service provider
Establish a good cadence with check-ins
Make your customer relationships a priority
Maintain open communication
Build as much trust as possible
Focus on personal relationships
Stay true to your values
Understand the business owners’ goals
Do you want to give your sales team an edge on companies that you’ve got your eyes on? Check out the prospecting feature on Owler Max to stay up-to-date on companies that are on your radar!
1. Have Confidence as a Service Provider
Service providers should never come off as inexperienced or apprehensive, no matter the industry you're in. Even if your business is just starting, forging a professional connection requires conviction.
It’s not enough to know your business—you need to show it.
To sharpen your introduction topic, thoroughly study potential customers and partners with the appropriate research tools. As you do, focus on the people and organizations who feel like a natural fit for your business. If they share similar goals and values, they may be more receptive to engaging with you.
Be friendly, self-assured, and authentic when reaching out. Since your goal is to help people through your products and services, being confident will help establish your credibility and build trust faster.
2. Establish a Good Cadence with Check-ins
Just as with a personal relationship, business relationships will deteriorate if not maintained.
Once you’ve got your foot through the door, regularly check in to develop a rapport and reaffirm your authority as a service provider.
When and how often you should reach out depends on your goals and your touchpoints (e.g., social media, email, in-person meetings, etc.). You don’t have to reach out every week, but monthly or semi-monthly check-ins will keep you in their orbit and encourage a long-lasting relationship.
To stay in the loop, you can use Owler Max to catch the latest news and events affecting your business contacts. We also recommend personalizing your outreach strategies to improve your response rates.
3. Make Your Customer Relationships a Priority
Excellent customer service adds value to budding relationships. According to Hubspot, 68% of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services if companies have good customer service.
You can perfect your interactions and address new clients’ pain points early on by refining your customer management strategy. This will help them feel valued and streamline the purchasing or onboarding process.
Use a customer relationship management (CRM) system to maintain your business relationships.
With a CRM platform, you can manage routine engagement, automate your outreach campaigns, and prioritize your best clients and any new businesses on your radar.
4. Maintain Open Communication
Strong business relationships are built on open communication. You should strive to be honest and direct during your interactions and avoid delayed or cryptic responses.
By valuing your contacts’ time and energy, your brand will feel more authentic while encouraging others to be honest with you.
If possible, try to make time for face-to-face interactions.
Solely interacting over text can feel very impersonal and potentially cause misunderstandings. Interacting face-to-face also encourages open dialogue and helps foster a stronger emotional connection to your brand.
5. Build as Much Trust as Possible
By cultivating positive customer relationships, your clients can become your biggest supporters and pass on their experiences to others. According to Vonage, 69% of Americans would suggest a brand after a great customer experience.
New contacts gained from referrals enter the relationship with a positive perception. As a result, building trust with them will be easier. They’ll know what to expect from your services and engage more frequently.
Networking events can also help you forge new relationships. By interacting in person, you can position yourself as an authority in your industry and create a more human connection.
6. Focus on Personal Relationships
Remember that your business contacts aren’t numbers on a spreadsheet. They’re real people, and reaching out only when it benefits you will harm the relationship.
While interacting, try and find common ground. This can make future exchanges feel less formal and allow you to add value to the relationship.
Offering new opportunities to your contact, such as additional resources or services, promotes both professional and personal relationships.
Once you’ve connected, keep in touch via social media (LinkedIn is an excellent place to start). Comment on their posts and congratulate them on significant events, such as a promotion or an acquisition. By expressing a personal interest in their business, they may be willing to answer questions and put you in contact with key stakeholders.
7. Stay True to Your Values
Going above and beyond for a customer will indeed leave a lasting impression—but promising things you cannot deliver only serves to harm your brand.
Customers appreciate companies who are honest about their services. Instead of what you may be able to achieve, focus on what you know you can.
After all, mutual success and trust are critical to any good relationship. If you express your capabilities and align your actions with your values, you’re more likely to prosper.
8. Understand the Business Owners’ Goals
Prospects will be more comfortable working with you if you understand their goals. When building client relationships, take the time to learn more about their company than your initial research revealed.
Consider bringing up their business leaders’ objectives. For example, what do they hope to gain from your services?
Though your contact person is unlikely to reveal any company secrets, they may be interested in discussing ongoing projects.
Express a genuine interest and ask how you can help. Any information they provide may offer insight into major business developments, improve your current customer profile, and shed light on the relationship’s future.
Are you looking to stay informed on your competitors, customers, and partners? Owler Max can provide you and your team with the competitive intelligence you need to stay one step ahead of the competition!
Build Better Business Relationships with Large & Small Businesses with Owler
Building business relationships is pivotal to expanding your brand. Your connections will help you develop a successful brand known for putting its customers first.
To forge a strong professional connection, you need the correct information on your contacts’ goals and needs. This can be difficult to find, especially if you’re just starting and have limited resources.
Owler Max simplifies prospecting by providing accurate and timely sales intelligence on your industry. Owler sources company data from the very professionals you’re connecting with and delivers important updates via a personalized Newsfeed.
To learn more, contact us or sign up for free today.