How to maintain and grow business relationships in the current economic environment

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc., a cosmetics company that has grown to be a multi billion dollar business since she established it in the 1960s, says her secret to success is to “pretend that every person I meet has a sign around their neck saying: “Make me feel important.“ According to Ash, this simple tip will not only help you succeed in sales, but in life as well.

What applies to successful people in the world of business is especially true in times of crisis. So how do we maintain and grow sustainable, long-lasting and profitable client relationships in the current economic environment?  While clients are demanding more value for their money and condensing their pool of consultants, companies are expanding their capabilities in their desire for a stable client base. What is crucial in 2009, a year which will be both a challenge and an opportunity: Whoever manages to maintain and tighten relations with their clients during lean times such as these, finding out their real needs and addressing them accordingly in a creative way, will profit all the more from the rich years that are sure to follow.

Get to know the personal and business needs of your clients

One of the key skills needed in order to gather as much valuable information about your clients as possible is to be a good listener. In his seminal book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, Dale Carnegie describes six ways of getting people to like you.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Carnegie first published his tips in 1936 and they are still very true today. Listening to the expectations of your clients is crucial; it is the first step to gaining trust and confidence, which are the basis for a long-lasting and fruitful business cooperation.

Focus on key clients

According to Andrew Sobel, the leading authority on the skills and strategies required to develop enduring client loyalty and author of ‘All for One: 10 Strategies for Building Trusted Client Partnerships’, as business partners we should focus on 20-30 key relationships. The key to success is not how many clients you have, but how good your relationship is with a number of key clients. Sobel identifies five steps to the process of building breakthrough client relationships:

1. Create Face Time with Priority Relationships

Identify your 20-30 core clients and stay connected. Some ways of staying in touch are  through publications or personal mailings about i.e market data and trends; through introductions to others—e.g., to clients, past clients, colleagues, industry counterparts, etc. by participating in networking events, conferences, etc.;  through personal get-togethers, sports, culture, hobbies, etc.

2. Maximize Best Near-Term Revenue Opportunities

Identify your set of opportunities. Focus on factors which increase the perception of value. Have a thorough understanding of your client’s buying process and what aspects are most valuable to the client.

3. Re-engage & Grow Core Clients

Identify the personal and corporate needs and buying motives of your clients in order to adapt and present your products and services accordingly.  The corporate buying motives may be to save costs, make profit, avoid risks and/or share market experiences and best practises. Their personal motives could be to expand their network for future mutual benefits. Become your clients’ trusted partner and advisor.

4. Build Your Lead Stream for the Next 12 Months

Increase the number of your initial conversations that lead to specific opportunities. Analyse the success factors of your meetings, identify why business didn’t or did take place and create best practises out of your experiences.

5. Develop Yourself Through Deliberate Practice

Some core principles that should guide your relationship-building efforts include becoming truly distinctive at something, being enthusiastic and passionate about your work, being generous with your time and wisdom, helping others with no expectation of receiving anything in return, being authentic and focussing on the interests of the others.

Internal Reflection

In your efforts to focus on your clients and their needs, be careful not to neglect internal processes that could make or break your success. Reinforce internal collaboration: working closely together within your team and firm towards common goals in order to leverage synergies and to share information and best practises will prove to be most effective in difficult times.

Contact

Lydia Wazir

Operations & Communications Coordinator

Schottenring 12 / 5. OG
1010 Vienna
AUSTRIA
Phone: 0043 1 401 40 458
lydia.wazir@neumann-inter.com