People do business with people.

In today’s busy world of running a small business, it is easy to forget that people do business with people. In fact, in our current fast-paced and digital way of life, the need to have more real, genuine and rich relationships with people has become even more of a priority. 

As a small business owner, you know that the reputation of your small business depends primarily on what your organisation does, says and what others say about it. (cipr.co.uk) Which means that ultimately how you communicate, interact and behave towards other people, key groups and organisations is key to the success or failure of your business. 

So, what does this mean for your small business? How can you prepare for and make sure that you are building the right kind of relationships with the right stakeholders? 

Getting this right can make the difference between you and your competition, ensuring that you stand out from the crowd. Managing your stakeholders effectively means really getting to know them inside out and then communicating with them in the right way, at the right time and in the right place. 

Here are my 5 simple steps to help you to work out who your small business needs to communicate with and how:

1) Build a map.

Take the time to build a stakeholder map. Put your small business at the centre of your mind map and capture the people, groups, organisations / associations and communities around it. To get you started, the primary ones would be your customers, employees, suppliers, competition, then think about others such as journalists, partners, local schools, trade bodies or associations, shareholders, investors. Note down all those that could impact you or equally could be impacted by your small business.

2) Get to know them.

Take the time to really understand them. Get under their skin, what is important to them? What are they looking for from you and your business? What are their goals and objectives?How could your business help them to achieve their goals? But equally, how can they help you? If they were your biggest advocate, how would that help your business?If they were unhappy how could this jeopardise your business? What are the risks?Then give each of them a score – ‘high, medium or low’ based on their potential impact, either positive or negative.

3) Prioritise them.

In an ideal world we would be able to look after every single one of them with as much time and effort, but as small business owners our time is precious. You need to work out which are your key stakeholders, those who are the most important to your business based on the score you gave them. You will probably have 4 or 5 different groups that come out tops, this is where you start. As you get organised and more efficient you can then move on to the next 4 or 5 groups in the list and work out how to best manage your relationship with them too and so on and so forth. NB: the list will need to be reviewed on a regular basis, at least quarterly, as your business evolves and those key players in your environment move, change or develop.

4) Get planning.  

With your top 5 stakeholders identified, you need to work out what they need to know, how, where and when? For example, your customers will need to be kept informed about key expectations and deliverables, deadlines and results. Map out this information into your comms plan and get clear on what you need to communicate, when, how and by who. Employees may need to know about your vision, goals and key targets and they should definitely be the first to know about any internal changes, updates or company news before you communicate to any external parties. Key trade associations or journalists might need to be informed about any new product or service launches, new contracts signed or key personnel changes ahead of time or have an opportunity to ask questions. 

5) Remember great relationships are 2-way.

Don’t forget to make each stakeholder feel valued, relationships work both ways, so think about how you can help them, engage with them and reciprocate. 

Have the conversation. Think about the personal touch. Pick up the phone, take time out to go and see them and let them have their say. Ask them for feedback, for their opinion and how you can help them to get where they want to be. What are they working towards? If you can nurture this approach and create an environment that allows for honest and transparent feedback, building long term relationships with your key stakeholders could be priceless for the future development and survival of your business. 

In step 2, we looked at working out what matters to them, what they are looking for from your business, so by working collaboratively, creating partnerships or by supporting their business or organisation, you can start to build real, solid and sustainable relationships. Can you promote their business through a collaborative case study or blog post? Could you share their latest content across your channels or maybe organise an event together? 

6) Build your own fan base.

Think about creating your own unique fan base. A cluster of people and organisations who simply love what you do and are likely to shout about it from the rooftops. If they are happy, then think about how to turn them into advocates for your business, remember that people do business with people, so word of mouth referrals and recommendations are in my opinion the most effective and preferred way to get new business. 

At LR Comms, we believe that running a small business is about more than just the numbers. It's about a feeling, a determination to succeed and that tummy flip sensation when you get it right! Creating that personal touch and building strong genuine relationships is what it’s all about, this is how you can really make a difference to your business and to others and being real, creative and having fun makes it all even more enjoyable! 

Have you developed any key collaborations or partnerships with your stakeholders? I’d love to hear about them or if you'd like any help mapping out your stakeholders get in touch and I can send you some simple templates.