Building Business Relationships

Well, now that DBS has officially entered the relationship business, its time to put some theory into practice. Here goes the first post on my sales blog. But what really is it that builds successful relationships?? Here is the DBS way of thinking, which partly came from his experience at IIM Kozhikode and partly through readings here and there. Bottom line is that there is no silver bullet which will get you there!!

But some ground rules do exist.

Rule 1: Set the targets! Prepare a network map for yourself. Say set a target that within the coming week/10 days, I am going to touch base and start a business relationship with X/Y/Z. Have a list of people ready. People whom you need to target.

Rule 2: Be visible. Now, if you are not visible in the first place, how will a relationship start? Simple, but holds true everywhere right? Be it a professional or a personal relationship, if the person is not visible, how will the conversation begin!!

Rule 3: Don’t be shy! It won’t lead you anywhere. So even if the correspondence starts off by writing an email to the person asking about what work is being done in his/her division or an innocuous question like. I have just joined and would like to learn how to do XYZ. Now, I know that your division does it. Please guide me to the requisite person who can help me attain that skill.

Rule 4: Be Well Prepared! Now when you do such a thing, make sure that you are well prepared and clear about what you want to do. Credibility is what drives relationships. Remember, you may interact with a person for long without meeting him/her. In these cases, it is the professionalism and the way you conduct yourself with that person that will matter the most. Make it a point to “give superior performance” any and every time you interact with anyone!

Rule 5: Tit for Tat: Now if the other person does not see how this relationship will profit him in short / long term, why should he/she be interested! So, always have a value proposition in mind before you start.

Rule 6: TOMR has to be present. Unless you have a top of the mind recall, how on earth do you expect to cash in on a relationship? Now, if the communication is infrequent, how do you intend to go ahead and get some work done? Hence, the communication must continue.

By the way, have you started to build relationships? Do you have a network map? Do you have a rolodex? Are you working on building new ones? Are the old relationships there? Do you nurture them? Answer these and you will know where you stand!Ladies and Gentlemen, the rules stop here for now, but the list of rules is only going to grow. Next up is going to be how to implement the strategy. Simple formulae which will help you build relationships. Keep a watch!

Cheers
DBS