Relationship In Business
Tony Ajah
How we are perceived as human beings is becoming increasingly important in business. Relating with people is one of the biggest challenges of most businesses. ‘All of us’, Malcolm Gladwell once taught, ‘gravitate towards things that mean something to us and for most of us, that is people’. Developing relationships is the starting point for business success. I have come to the awareness that where there is no relationship, there is no business. Better still; the closing of the first sales is the beginning of a relationship.
You are in a people business, no matter what you do and where you do it. ‘Success in any business is based on effective interdependence.’ So, said Michael LeBouef. All business operations can be reduced to three Ps: people, products and profits. People come first; except you have them, the other two are nothing. Our success in business nowadays is based on how well we relate with people who do business with us. And relationship is the real measure of how good you are doing as a human being; its your relationship with others that make you truly human. This basic human need shouldn’t be overlooked in every business. Those who have are still crying sore for more.
Connection with one another is what life is all about, whether at home, at work and in business. The ability to connect is paramount to human beings in every situation, and the need increases everyday. In 1920s, Kanosuke Matsushita insisted that you treat the people you do business with as if they were part of your family. He used that principle and later founded the mighty Panasonic.
In every transaction, people are hungry for relationship. Without a relationship, a business is dead. People don’t make purchases or use the services of a certain establishment; they establish relationships. ‘Businessing’ in the new economy has shifted from just ‘customer-satisfaction’ to ‘customer-relationship’, and the more of them you have, the greater your chance of succeeding. The closer you are to the customer, the richer your purse will be.
People are so grateful whenever you make them feel special through your ‘product/service’; they never get tired showing their gratitude. The moment people know that you care about them, the way they feel about you changes. Customers are made to be taken care of, those who look after them the most win and keep them for life. As human beings, whenever we perceive that we are in safe hands, we naturally relax and literally surrender ourselves to those hands; it’s so natural to all of us.
We are now in a relationship-business-world, and this demands that we build and nurture our connections with key ‘buyers’. By relationship I don’t mean playing golf together, or exchanging pictures of children but one that both parties benefit from something very substantial. No relationship works unless there’s something in it for both parties involved that is symbiotic and mutually beneficial. Business relationships not hinged in value will collapse. Quote me!
Trust is the key to strong and healthy relationships, and the foundation of all interactions with people. It is the honest-to-goodness belief that the other person has your best interest in mind. Build this relationship with a deep level of trust. Effective relationships have got some attributes, which include: mutual enjoyment, respect, shared experience, reciprocity and trust, honesty and candor. And you do yourself a lot of good if you make them part of your business.
The best way to build a relationship is by placing yourself in the buyer’s shoes and thinking from outside in. The buyer doesn’t care how good you are but what’s in it for him or her. You must focus on business outcomes that deliver superior gain to your customer in your ‘product/service’. Imagine yourself on the receiving end. Deal with them individually as if you are dealing with your favorite pal.
Relationship in business is a valuable asset. You must be careful not to let it grow fallow. It requires continuous cultivation through love, care, compassion, respect, value-service, and warmth. The process requires that you be proactive and calculative. Match people against their ’social velocity’ and personality. The best way to convince people that we value their worth is to treat them according to the needs and wants suitable to their personal styles. The more you can show your clients that you understand their unspoken concerns and that you have similar values and attributes, the more they will bond to you.
Relationship in business is the core of all business skills. ‘The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and influence their actions’. Those were the words of John Hancock. Where there is no relationship, there is no business. People do business with you not because you are the best, but the preferred. They like you and enjoy the rapport they have with you. The future of every business anchors on relationship. According to John Maxwell, a relationship expert, “the highest level of relationships is reached when people like your business, but more importantly, when they like you.”
We are relational beings and possess a need to connect in order to feel life’s satisfaction. The bottom line of every business transaction is for both parties to become mutually interdependent, that is, I have you what you need and can reciprocate the gesture by patronizing me, and thereby guaranteeing my business future.
With relationships you create a memory which you will live to enjoy afterwards. Most enterprises we admire have large networks of healthy relationships that support their course. Let your relationship grow into a network to the extent that it will be difficult for your competition to penetrate it. Relate with them so well that they will be embarrassed to go elsewhere. I have come to realize that in human networks, the larger and stronger, the better for you. In other words, the bigger the network, the better your net-worth.
The ultimate value of every business is measured by the quality it has with its buyers. The more you connect to your customers, the more devoted they become. Let me say it again; connect to them to the extent that you get into their heads. A horse is stronger, and a dog is friendlier, which gets rewarded most? Your answer is as good as mine.
Nothing shapes the face of our business today like a great business bond with you and your customers. Look at the way you related to your clients last year, and the results you got. Won’t it be wisdom for you to do something differently or improve on what you have done; the result would astonish you. I don’t just have business transactions, I build relationships, and it’s paying me big time. What are you waiting for to start tapping from this goldmine? It’s up to you to make your business happen!
Tony Ajah is a business growth strategist, and the Principal Strategist, TA Strategic Solutions, a Lagos-based firm into business growth and development. He is available at tony@ta-strategies.com ajahxt@yahoo.co.uk. 01 958 7802
