Belief must be translated into behavior. The Christian faith is 2000 plus years old due to the exceptional and effective relationships its founder-Jesus Christ of Nazareth formed. This makes Jesus Christ a supreme relationship builder. From picking twelve out of the lot to be His disciples and also forming long lasting relationships which helped Him from the beginning of His ministry till He was crucified. In this day and age of social media, relationships are built in a split second, businesses seek to build relationships to increase profitability for growth and people build relationships for professional and career growth and development. But in the attempt to build effective relationships, there are some instructive nuggets to abide by to make the best out of your relationships; be it for business or career and professional growth.
Matt Bird is a British national who has pioneered a concept on human relationships known as- Relationology. Relationology is a unique approach to driving business growth through the power of your customer/client relationships. It began in 2010 when Matt Bird was invited to speak at a business conference on the subject of ‘networking’.
Matt explained to the conference organiser that he hated ‘networking’ because he found it contrived and manipulative but believed in building long term authentic relationships that drive business growth. The conference organiser immediately asked Matt if he would speak on that subject and he agreed. Relationology was born.
So how do you go about building effective relationships?
1. Treat everyone as VIP– You never know who a person is…, you never know who a person knows…, and you never know who a person would become. In our daily interactions with clients/customers, colleagues in professional circles, and even competitors, we come across a diverse stream of potential clients and professionals who can help our business attain profitability. But being quick to judge and not treating people nicely will eventually ruin our chances of meeting our next big buyer, supplier, partner or shareholder. Most people believe that authentic relationships both internally with colleagues and externally with clients and suppliers drive business performance. It pays in ethical business sense to treat all we meet in our line of duty with care.
2. Filter relationships with integrity– Use the 80/20 rule in relationships with absolute integrity. This rule is called the Pareto Principle, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity. It states that, for many events, roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. It is a common rule of thumb in business; for example, “80 percent of your sales come from 20 percent of your clients.” To effectively maximize profitability in the relationships with clients/customers, businesses must understand this principle, that 80 percent of our business growth is derived from 20 percent of our clients/customers and all other stakeholders positioned to contribute to our profitability. Identify and spend much efforts and resources on these 20 percent who will eventually contribute to the business’s growth.
3. Build relationships through referrals and recommendations– doing this depends highly on trust. In your circles build trust which can transcend into referrals and recommendations from partners and stakeholders. Everyone is more comfortable working with people they know and trust. Don’t go around building relationships for its sake, build trust in your relationships, the benefits will come in handy when you need them. Your suppliers’ trust in you will help you to receive raw materials for production when you are cash strapped and finding difficulties raising the needed funds to purchase raw materials. Build key relationships through referrals. It is common practice that many jobs are opened to people who recruiters know and trust to deliver on the responsibilities which will be assigned to them. Be on the lookout to build relationships built on trust.
4. Be proactive not reactive– relationships are too important to leave to chance. Be deliberate in building relationships. The story is told of an HR manager who when faced with the dilemma of picking from two equally-qualified candidates went to the front desk executive to ask, who among these two treated her nicely on their way to the interview. It’s natural that the candidate who treated the front desk executive nicely will have a go at the job on offer.
5. Befriend diverse people- build diverse relationships. The world is evolving by the day and you may not know who your next big supplier or distributor or client would be. Build relationships with people who you “think” may not be of help to you now. Chances are they may be your star clients tomorrow, or may know someone who will be your star partner/client tomorrow. Deliberate relationship building is key and should be your focus. When we build relationships with people unlike us, we tend to get diverse opportunities. Diversity in the right sense breeds innovation, creativity, and profitability.
6. Appreciate and adapt– appreciate other personalities. Understand their temperaments. Learn to appreciate how others behave and adapt to build good relationships. And learn to know and appreciate how others would like to communicate. Some partners/clients are not so much tech geeks and would love to be called on phone rather than being sent facebook messages or emails. Learn to appreciate it and adapt accordingly. Daniel in the good book- Bible is a perfect example of somebody who learnt to appreciate and adapt in a new culture.
7. Give to grow– always be on the lookout to give. Life is meaningful by what we give rather than what we receive. A day’s workshop for distributors on effective handling of your products will go a long way to benefit them, but overall, make your business profitable as well. The training may be costly but in the long run your products get to the final consumer in good form and shape. Hold on to these 7 nuggets and see your relationships yield value for your life and business.
