Tags – Develop Professional Relationships

Although tightly connected, there is a major difference between sales and marketing.

For example, sales is a one-to-one engagement, whereas marketing is a one-to-many line of communication.

Similarly, while sales is about trying to close a deal with a customer who is in need of your product or service, marketing is the function which drives sales.

Therefore, marketing is a longer but invaluable process in developing and growing a business.

So, when building a network of business connections, it’s especially important to remember this difference. Marketing should be the main focus, particularly in building relationships. 

Here are our 3 top tips on how best to successfully develop professional relationships:

1. COLLABORATION

Collaboration is an excellent way in which to develop a long-lasting support network.

For instance, collaborating within your own industry can be hugely useful for learning from others’ experiences.

Equally, collaborating with like minded businesses can be quite fruitful too.

For example, if you’re a one-man band, sharing experiences with others in a similar situation proves a massive support. Anything from sharing useful business apps and tools to stories of disappointment and success is inspiring and makes you feel so much less alone.

Similarly, projects can be undertaken together. For example, if an Accountant and Digital Marketeer were both targeting independent gyms, collecting and sharing data means doing the same job in half the time. Success! 

2. COMMUNITY FOCUS

Joining, or even starting, community led groups are also ways to benefit from networking.

Another form of collaboration with little focus on selling, a geographical or online community orientated group is an amazing platform to build and develop very close relationships.

As in building friendships in other areas of your life, a good community group will share your values and hopes. They will also share in your successes and disappointments equally, giving honest insightful advice and support.

At one point, the groups become mutually mentoring and for those developing small businesses, they are incredibly useful. 

3. SHARING THE RIGHT MESSAGE AND TAKING IT SLOW

It’s important to set out your core message and fully understand the needs and interests of your audience.

In short, by ensuring you’re connecting to your ideal market and sharing your insights, you’ll be more likely to meet your goals.

Here, it is important to understand that relationships of any sort need nurturing.

For example, if you met someone you liked the look of in a bar, you wouldn’t get far if you opened with ‘Will you marry me?’! A relationship of any sort has to develop and evolve into a trusting, open and reliable source of support.

Whether a business relationship turns into a mutual support system; a partnership; or a customer-supplier scenario, they all need to start in the same way. By starting with less emphasis on sales, sharing ideas and advice, who knows what it can grow into!

To learn more, get in touch with us today. As a starting point, we use LinkedIn to develop our professional relationships and you can learn all about it on our page: LinkedIn Training Masterclass