Organizations with the effort of maintaining successful business-to-business (B2B) relationships are often rewarded with benefits in both their offline and online businesses and social networking process.
With some, quite a lot of time is spent in building relationships with business counterparts in other organization.
From listening attentively, to carefully written notes, are effective ways of strengthening old and current business ties.
This can be explored through the implementation of the following strategies:
Adding a Personal Touch
Nothing comes more genuine in a relationship than a touch of humanity.
In as much as business transactions must be carried out, without much emotional attachment, the human phase of the relationship must not, also, be neglected.
You could ensure maintaining your B2B relationship, by doing the following:
- Having a one-on-one meeting with the other party
- Sending emails at the appropriate time with the other party
- Picking and returning calls
The above ways, may appear insignificant, but have you wondered what a face to face interaction can do your business?
It helps you to interpret the body language of your client that, could otherwise, have been difficult for you to notice on the phone.
Sending emails serves as a reminder of whatever has been previously agreed upon.
It is not all the time that you would have the luxury of attending to emails.
Your correspondence, via the phone, also matters.
When you gain a new client, through referral, making a quick phone call to the client to show appreciation, matters for a business relationship to thrive.
Engaging With Your Business Associates
More than the business angle to your corporate relationship, you need to maintain a close form of engagement with your business associates through:
- Listening more often: Giving a responsive head nod, making eye contact with short responses, shows how engaging you can be and how the opinion of your business associate matters
- Nurture relationships: Casual relationships are difficult to maintain, let alone a business relationship. Sufficient time is required, to build one and you must be willing to put in that time for the relationship to grow and thrive, no matter how inconvenient
- Paying attention: Do not wait for your business associates to contact you. Have a routine of checking in on them. Ask questions and visit them. Simple things like these, have always been adding value to your business and enhancing your business relationships
