In business, relationships matter. In fact, your relationships, a.k.a. Social Capital, could arguably be your most important business asset. And we’re not talking about your virtual network here – we’re talking about real, genuine relationships. You know, with real people. Remember those?
So why are relationships so important to business? New York Times #1 bestselling author and renowned speaker, Keith Ferrazzi, has demonstrated through research that the number-one predictor of an individual’s success is the number, quality, and the depth of their social capital.
At an even more basic level, when you consider how you conduct business: each transaction ultimately takes place between two human beings. The world is filled with people, and in their nature, these people desire a connection with other people.
If our social capital is such a critical element to our business success, why is it rarely considered among our key business practices and processes? For example, we have so many applied processes for other facets of our businesses, finance, budgets, tasks etc, but why do we not have relationship action plans? We may consider the effective management of risk as a guiding principle for business success, yet we rarely include our relationships among our risks, despite their value, importance and potential fragility.
So how then do we build better relationships in business? Well we can start by remembering that in business or not, relationships exist between people, so a little empathy can do a long way. Demonstrating an understanding of where people are coming from, or understanding the points of pain they have in dealing with a particular issue, can work wonders for building and strengthening a relationship.
Effective relationships of genuine value don’t just happen because we want them to however, they take time to nurture and require ongoing management. Ferrazzi suggests there are three components in effectively managing business relationships – mindsets, processes and skills. The skills are the easy bit. These can be easily learned, and there are ample tips and tricks readily available for us to improve ourselves here. Processes likewise, can easily be applied, although as discussed above, we rarely seem to apply these to the management of our relationships as regularly as we should.
It’s the mindsets however, which are the trickier part of this equation. In order for a truly effective and ‘personal’ relationship to develop, it needs to be built in a very authentic way. By remaining conscious of what you can do for others and how you can help them in their pursuits, a symbiotic relationship of true value can develop. Business as a result, becomes easier.
Ziz Ziglar says “if they like you, they will listen to you. If they trust you, they will do business with you.” Trust takes time to earn, but can be lost in minutes, so be selective and strategic of the relationships which are working and those which are not. Sometimes it’s simply a case of the other party not seeing eye to eye with you on an issue – and that’s fine.
Next up: ‘Seven Reasons why Business Relationships are Important’
Jadeja Partners – Call for an obligation free discussion
Phone: 1300 523 352
Web: www.jadejapartners.com
Magnus Yoshikawa
Mobile: 0408 885 944
Email: magnus@jadejapartners.com
