How to Build Successful Business Relationships
Teaches you how to maximise your business contacts, network to make valuable connections and develop successful professional relationships. If you are new to your job or starting out in your career it is designed to help you make the most of opportunities offered.
Inspec keywords: business communication; team working; incentive schemes; personnel; strategic planning
Other keywords: strategic planning; personnel rewards; business relationship; business challenges; people management; business communication; team working; people networking
Subjects: Organisational aspects; Management issues
- Book DOI: 10.1049/PBMT027E
- Chapter DOI: 10.1049/PBMT027E
- ISBN: 9780863419560
- e-ISBN: 9781849190992
- Page count: 192
- Format: PDF
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Front Matter
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1 What is meant by business relationships?
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Whoever you are, whatever you do, if you can build healthy professional relationships, you will stand out as an impressive member of your organization. You may be newly qualified and in your first job, have recently started a new job in a more senior position or be well on your way up the ladder in your career progression. Whatever your situation, you will find things work more easily if you can get along with other people. To do this, it helps to know a little about what type of person you are. If you hold a supervisory or management position you will need to be in control, not only of yourself, but also able to manage your staff and deal with a number of other stakeholders. Being an effective networker isn't something that happens by accident. This chapter deals with some of the points you should consider about yourself, before moving on to building relationships with others in the workplace.
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2 Why do people network?
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One of the points made in the last chapter was: People do business with people. The purpose of building rapport with others is that you will be remembered favourably the next time you meet. Developing business relationships requires time, commitment and effort. You need to be focused and self-disciplined, and have patience. When people like you, they will probably be happy to do business with you it's that simple. Rapport building is about empathy and persuasion.
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3 Making connections
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This chapter presents ways on how one can turn effective networking skills and previously collected names of potential contacts into valuable business connections. Decide from those you've recently met, or those ahead in your database, with whom you want to build connections. Then you'll need to work out how to do it. Starting simply is always the best. Focus on success and the business development you will achieve. If you are going to be maintaining a database on which you will rely heavily, you must ensure it is in a healthy state. Now is an ideal opportunity to create some space. Remove any contacts who are out of date or incorrect. Add potentially new and exciting contacts to a database full of inaccuracies, and they will get swamped by the old material and will sink without trace within a short space of tune.
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4 Where to make a start
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Now we look in more detail at the third stage of the three-stage plan: relationships. Let's consider for a moment developing relationships internally. Within your or ganization there are probably a number of different types of people. Some of these are likely to be easier to get on with than others. There will be some people you work with whom you may never want to talk to. let alone develop rapport with. Despite inherent difficulties, it helps if you bear in mind a few basic rules that allow you to deal with different types of people effectively.
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5 Rising to new challenges
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Building successful relationships at work is a challenge. New challenge could take you a step (or two) up the career ladder. Things can be taken at a steady pace, and adjustments made where necessary. This book presents ways to help you feel able to deal with each step as you go forward. Decision to work as hard at getting on with people as you have been at dealing with tasks will almost certainly involve added responsibilities and challenges. The cultures within these different organizations should be marked. Depending on where you are employed, the networking culture should be germane to the organization. Depending on your level of seniority, your training manager, or HR director, is the person to turn to for help and advice. Some organizations offer formal 'induction' programmes. One of the best ways to ensure you succeed in your goals is to have the right attitude. You may have some previous experience (good and bad), but by looking forward, trying to learn fast, you will be showing the right attitude.
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6 How to get (the communication) going
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You're about to have an important first meeting with your team on a new project. It's an essential first step in the internal relationship-building process and your communications skills will be tested to the limit. Face-to-face meetings can result in awkward pauses and initial shyness for those who are not brimming with confidence. To help you over this hurdle, you can approach the meeting fully prepared if you have a look at the following factors. In order to get your message across, think about what you are trying to achieve during the dialogue: (1) What information needs to be conveyed? (2) What do you want the others present to do as a result? Organize yourself beforehand. Jot down notes about your major points. Be positive and keep the message simple. It's straightforward in theory, but in practice often fraught with difficulty. This is particularly so when you have high expectations from other colleagues present. Communication is not just speaking, writing or gesticulating. It's more than the transmission of information. Something else has to occur for the communication to be complete. In essence, the other parties to the communication method have to engage the bram and receive the message. When dealing with other professionals in business relationships, this is not always as simple as it seems. There are plenty of opportunities for misunderstanding and miscommunication.
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7 Managing other people
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Managing people is something that you may have to do, if you're not doing it already. If you are working on improving your interpersonal skills, you will become a better manager as a result. You may have originally been appointed because of a different set of skills scientific, technical or other. Should you be technically excellent at your job and have management capabilities, you will almost certainly be promoted. At some stage your original skills become to a large extent redundant, because what you are using most of the time now is management skills.
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8 Is it working OK?
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Being part of a team, managing others, motivating staff and keeping everyone in line this chapter covers the remaining aspects of working relationships within the company. What you probably want to do most (if you're managing other people) is to win over the hearts and minds of the people with whom you work. This is not just for survival although it would make life a lot easier but it's because you are keen to succeed and get one of the steepest parts of the learning curve over and done with.
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9 Results, referrals, rewards
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This chapter puts all that has previously been explained together. You are now confident when you meet new people. You're able to make connections and develop powerful relationships. These will be beneficial, not only to you personally but also for your organization. You will be reaping rewards through referrals for your company, your staff and for yourself. This encompasses all aspects of business relationships, how to get a response to your efforts. Because you have by now become more experienced in dealing with people and different situations within the workplace, you are far more confident when dealing with people who can affect your organization externally. When you are dealing with potentially valuable business connections, remember to switch to receive mode. If you had been transmitting, it's now time to stop. In this way favours can be returned. You'll feel enriched once you start creating new relationships that result in new business, and rewarding contacts. Don't forget that networking/relationship building is a reciprocal exercise what goes around, comes around. Referrals and recommendations will come to you frequently. Repeat business will be the norm.
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10 Your checklists for success
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This chapter helps you to recognize the power that relationship-building can have on business and people. It can make things easier and more effective. Remember, it's people (not just skills, education, qualifications and experience) that matter. People do business with people they like and trust. The chapter also includes planning and mentoring for career management and personal development.
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Back Matter
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