No matter the industry, successful professionals know how
important it is to establish and grow relationships. Ideally, one should
develop strong relationships with customers, vendors, employees, and
even competitors. Just like other kinds of relationships, business
relationships need to be nurtured and maintained so that they work for
both parties.
Here are five tips for success in nurturing business relationships:
1.
Identify the person’s communication style. Understanding it can help
you avoid conflict. Watch for non-verbal communication like body language and tone to help you understand what is really being
communicated.
2. Recognize individual learning styles and design
your communications around them for greater effectiveness. Be equally
aware of your own styles and needs in the relationship.
3. Respect the values and the boundaries of others. Respect builds trust and strengthens relationships.
4.
Listen to ensure that you understand the needs of your customers.
Sometimes clients want you to be an expert; sometimes they just need a
sounding board. Use a contact system to keep track of what you know.
5.
Communicate when you do not want or need something. Be proactive by
forwarding articles, links, and other information of interest. Make
referrals that create opportunities without needing something in return.
Be honest, be diligent, and remember that you can never say “thank you” enough.
A
recognized business development professional, Anthony Sinisgalli
possesses more than a decade of experience in sales, marketing, and
managing relationships.
As the Director of Business Development for HCA, Inc., Anthony
Sinisgalli stresses the importance of knowing his market. He works with
surgeons in a variety of specialties and strives to convince them to use
his company’s Free Standing Surgical Centers for outpatient operations.
He realizes that his success requires that he understand how the
offices of his more than 200 clients operate on a daily basis. In
addition, Sinisgalli strives to learn as much as possible about the
various surgical procedures that his clients perform. Without this
knowledge, he would not be able to effectively communicate with clients
and explain to them the benefits of using his company’s services.
Becoming
an effective sales professional requires dedicating significant time to
research and learning about the market in which you operate. With a
comprehensive understanding of the market, sales professionals gain a
degree of authority and the trust of potential clients, a key to
developing lasting business relationships.
