What is one tip to developing long-lasting relationships in the business world?
To help business owners develop lasting relationships, we asked CEOs and business professionals this question for their best tips. From finding mentors for yourself to being authentic and genuine in interactions, there are several ways that may help you develop and maintain long lasting relationships for years to come.
Here are 11 tips to develop long lasting relationships:
- Consistently Keep Up With People
- Actively Listen for Other Person’s Needs
- Give to Others as You Can
- Forefronting Professionalism
- Build the Trust for Lasting Relationships
- Offer Something Before Asking for Anything
- Find Mentors for Yourself
- Be Authentic and Genuine in Interactions
- Continue with Innovation and Creativity
- Set Transparency as an Expectation
- Maintain Mutual Respect for Each Other
Consistently Keep Up With People
A long-lasting relationship requires time and effort. Keep up with people and make sure you are consistently reaching out to the people in your network to check-in. If you don’t talk to someone for months on end, you’ll fall off their radar, or they may not immediately jump at the chance to help you when you finally reach out to them. Keep some kind of schedule of when you check-in with people and stick to it. Don’t let too much time go by without asking people how they are and reminding them that you want to continue the business relationship.
Jon Schneider, Recruiterie
Actively Listen for Other Person’s Needs
Relationships are important in business no matter what industry you are in. One of the most valuable relationships is your relationship with your clients. The best way to develop a long-lasting client relationship is through customer service. The best way to harness this relationship is by listening to your client’s needs. By listening you can more effectively address their issues and concerns while also providing the best possible service.
Brandon K. Berglund, Berglund Insurance
Give to Others as You Can
Give, don’t take. It’s simple, but true. If you focus your energy on adding value to the people you serve, you build trust — and those people often return the favor. It sounds obvious, but I see the vast majority of people try to build relationships with a take-first mentality. They ask for help before they’ve developed any credibility or taken the time to truly understand the people they’re building the relationship with. Start with smart questions. Exhibit genuine curiosity. And help before you ask for help.
Josh Zywien, Paradox
Forefronting Professionalism
A cornerstone of building lasting relationships is the professionalism you consistently display to your peers. We take this to heart at Lightkey and deliver AI-powered text prediction and real-time grammar correction software so business leaders can quickly craft professional communication and worry less about typos. Lightkey’s multi-word prediction technology also enables business professionals a greater ability to build their companies by improving productivity on repetitive tasks such as email.
Guy Katabi, Lightkey
Build the Trust for Lasting Relationships
We have worked with large and very large multinational corporations. As a company, we dedicate ourselves to providing solutions to our clients’ pain points with our Low-Code automation platform. Lasting relationships with our clients start with developing trust. We do this by delivering on the promise of automating core business processes that impact their customer experience and bottom line. We believe that every business can make a difference through disrupting automation technologies that support sustainable development and build trust.
Spiros Skolarikis, Comidor
Offer Something Before Asking for Anything
To establish a business relationship that endures the test of time, you have to be willing to put in the work. Serving and helping someone with their business before you ever ask for something for yourself is imperative to creating authentic and lasting business relationships. So many times people connect on LinkedIn, ask for something that serves them, and then never reach out again! This kind of behavior will never help you build a network that trusts and cares about you. When we use our expertise and experience to build the foundation for business relationships, they will flourish and grow stronger and stronger for years to come.
Bailey Mills, Markitors
Find Mentors for Yourself
Networking in today’s world often means being connected on a site like LinkedIn and pressing “like” on a new job update. But in order to develop a long-lasting relationship, it’s important to take it a step further and connect with others in person as well! It’s always a great idea to find a mentor or someone with a higher position at a comparable company to yours so you can seek guidance on career growth or advancements in your field of choice! It’s important to not solely reach out when you need something, advice, a reference, etc. but also check in throughout the year to continue building a true lasting relationship.
Jonathan Finegold, Medcline
Be Authentic and Genuine in Interactions
Any relationship, business or not, depends on honesty, authenticity, and good vibes. To build long lasting, meaningful, solid relationships in the business world it’s important to deliver those qualities to anyone we come in contact with, whether it’s customers, business partners, or even competitors. Being heard makes people feel good so listen and do it well. Getting needs met is important as that is the foundation of good business. So know your audience and its needs and build your practice on that. And, most importantly, be real. Be you. Be authentic. Don’t fake it. Be real, so you can have it now.
Natalya Bucuy, LiveHelpNow
Continue with Innovation and Creativity
In order to keep your business relationships going long-term you need to ensure that both you and your business are dynamic. Be an engaging person and maintain an engaging business. Create innovation within your business. Even if things are going well, you can still try new marketing methods or you could even add additional products to your selection. People admire creativity and innovation, and these qualities will make your business connections want to stay in touch with you because they’ll be able to sense your energy and intelligence.
Chris Caouette, Gorilla Bow
Set Transparency as an Expectation
Transparency gains trust. Don’t be vague. Honest, sincere conversations save time. Be clear about the compelling need to grow their support from the very start, but make sure it is focused on how they can achieve their goals through your business. Approach your business constituents on their terms, in their language, and put their motivations at the core of the message. The level of their support will be a reflection of your ability to listen to their wants, needs, and suggestions.
Michele Rebeor, Michele M Rebeor Consulting, LLC
Maintain Mutual Respect for Each Other
It certainly takes a dedicated amount of time and energy to build solid and long-lasting relationships in the business world. One tip to developing business relationships is having mutual respect. Demonstrating mutual respect is key to letting others know that you not only care about yourself, but that you care about them as well. Beyond that, maintaining mutual respect allows you and the other party to value each other’s significant contributions.
Maegan Griffin, Skin Pharm
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