10 Steps To Successful Business Relationships

It's fair to say that most entrepreneurs and business persons know that forming strategic collaboration, mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships are fundamental for business growth and sustainability but are you stepping out and working on those relationships quite as often or as well as you could be.

Finding and retaining the right people for you, your team and your business can be more difficult than it appears on face value. We've all been caught out at some point and formed an alliance or used a service that hasn't quite worked out the way we'd hoped for. We learn as we go but there are some key steps to consider and take to avert the pitfalls and build better more effective business relationships.

To address those from acquiring the right service, recruiting to celebrity endorsements consider these 10 steps:

1. What's the end goal?

Firstly, take a step back and think about what you want for you and your business long-term. Don't worry about what you have or haven't got right now but form a plan for the best case scenario, full bells and whistles without limitations. Go wild and think big.

Now take a moment to write these points down and answer them at the end of this article (or perhaps compare before and after to see if you think of something new):

• What do i want to achieve?
• Why do i need this?
• Who do i want/need?
• Why do i want/need them?
• When do i need it / them by?
• How do i get them on-board?
• What can i do for them?

This is your basic start point for taking on any new service, partner or allegiance.

Now for the steps to take for identifying and forming those relationships.

2. What skills do you have?

It's important to be honest with yourself here, we all have strengths and weaknesses. When considering your skills don't be conservative, have confidence in your own abilities.

Now you know what you are good at do the same for your business. Make a list as long as you can and consider various situations and circumstances where those skills, services and the product can be of value. What does your service or product bring to the table? What do you personally have to offer within the business? Establishing these strengths means you can more easily and readily identify how you can provide value to a new business relationship.

3. What are you missing?

What is it you and/or your business is lacking. As per Step 2 make a list. Where can improvements be made and what is holding up your progress. Can you do some self-development and take a course to improve and up-skill that will improve your service or do you need to outsource or hire?

If you are motivated to improve your own skills you can turn your weaknesses in to strengths and master business tactics that will sky rocket your productivity and success using a programme called "The Wealth Workout"

4. Who has what you need?

When you identify what it is that's restricting the growth of your business then you can make a list of who or what service you need to take things to the next level. When making your list start with best option - if money and resources were no object.

Once you have that list start prioritising, which person or service will help drive the biggest return on investment in the shortest time? It could be that some of those elements are linked so workout the timeline that best serves growth and progress towards the next step or phase.

In many cases you won't necessarily be able to leap straight to the best contact but they are still your ultimate target so if you cant get to best first time out then work backwards creating a 'B' and 'C' list. Start with the lead that is most obtainable and that can link you to the next level of contact, keep working up the ladder until you have a lead and a link to your 'A' list.

For example: If you want to interview an A list sports celebrity then you will first have to develop a history as an interviewer to develop your credibility. Start with local sporting success then move to national with less high profile players, then advance to national high profile which can give you a lead in to the international players.

The same strategy can be applied for developing larger more high profile client accounts in any genre.

5. Forming the right partnerships.

It can be easy to get carried away and say yes to the wrong people because you "want it to work". If you are hiring, outsourcing, forming partnerships etc it's important to make sure that the working relationship is built on solid foundations. Be honest and upfront about what you want and what you can offer before entering into an agreement. It's better to know where all parties stand and what the expectations are right from the start, else you can easily end up with problems causing wasted time, money and energy down the line.

Consider these points:

• What are your values and your businesses core values? - Make sure they align with the people you are looking to do business with.
• Due diligence - do your research. Don't take the first thing you find on Google and call it market research, dig deeper and also ask people who have worked with that individual or company before.
• Test that alignment and any promises made. i.e do they respond promptly or within a reasonable time frame with clear information. Ambiguity and poor correspondence with potential colleagues, services providers and partners is not good for business.

6. Where do you find them?

Most individuals and services have places that they go to to develop their own networks. So conduct relevant searches that give you an insight into where they might be found, consider:

• Associations, networks and groups they may be part of.
• Do they attend fund raisers.
• Link with them on social media.
• Ask friends and other members of your network - you never know who knows someone you need to know and who can connect you.

Note: Don't be a "stalker", be relevant...

7. How do you get in front of them?

What functions, events, seminars, training, expos are they attending and then make sure you are there. If they are presenting either a talk or on a panel then make sure you ask at least one question, this helps you stand out from the crowd and also gives you an opportunity to approach them at the end of the talk on a one to one basis to begin developing a relationship. If you go with an associate who knows them, ask for the introduction.

If you know who you want to speak to then make sure you also know about them and their company. When you research check: company public records, social media, LinkedIn profiles, YouTube, Articles. The more you know the better prepared you are. You can quote and reference relevant findings in your conversations which immediately helps you standout and hold someone's attention.

Before you make contact consider what you can do to add value to them, create intrigue and form a connection.

Also, successful people like to help so don't be afraid to ask for advice. If they agree then make it easy for them and always be grateful.

8. How to maintain good relationships

Open, sincere and appropriate communication is always more warmly welcomed and always try to add value. Stay humble and grateful - confidence is key and admired, arrogance is not.

• Don't take more than is agreed - if you say 1 question stick to one. If you say 30 minutes, stick to it (if they over run that's a good sign but don't be pushy).
• If you want more from the service or partnership, then give more.
• Follow up and follow through.
• Be sincere, genuine and grateful.

9. Managing what you want with your budget

You may not have the budget you need to hire, recruit or form the partnerships you ideally want first time round. So, like i mentioned in Step 4, work from the end goal back to where you are and assess what actions you can take now.

Many options are free or inexpensive, such as;

• Utilising social media platforms.
• Using services through Fiverr, Freelancer.com and People Per Hour
• Buying their product to show commitment and allow for more conversations that will later help you obtain a larger goal.

For Example:

A little while ago i wanted to interview a professor. We had no prior contact previous to a seminar he was holding and that i attended. Throughout i asked relevant questions, approached him afterwards to discuss a topic in more detail. After the seminar i purchased his book and sent an email describing some of the key take homes i got from it. He replied and in my follow-up email i asked if he would do an interview with me as i saw how much his knowledge would be able to help my audience. He agreed.

Mutually beneficial and an exchange of value.

10. Who can help?

Figuring out what to do, when to do it, at what level, at what risk and with whom is really business in a nutshell.. but there are many resources you can use to seek advice and guidance. For instance:

Government advice - governments have advisers that offer free advise to businesses. Try the library and websites like https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support where there is a whole list of services organised by region.

Expos - do a Google search on the related industry for the upcoming year and attend. Here you get to meet in person the businesses and individuals that can help you in the area you're looking for.

Meetups and networking events - meetup groups can be hit and miss but are a good place to start when looking to form new connections without much outlay. The same goes for networking events but if you can afford to sign up to a quality network for a few hundred pounds then this will give you a full years access to a quality network that will speed up your connections and support your growth. I am part of and recommend the IMN in London - they are a global network of high quality entrepreneurs with high net worth.

Coaching - coaching is by far the best route to fast track any business success. Great coaches with solid track records are also very well connected and can enable important introductions and help you build strategies to recruit, partner and outsource with the right people.

You are the sum of the five people you associate the most with, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious or disorganised friends. If someone isn't making you stronger they're making you weaker.

If you would like to discuss anything in the post please do not hesitate to get in touch. www.lauralousiegilbert.com