A key to business success: Managing your external relationships

There are thousands of books offering advice on how to run a business. You can find advice on anything from marketing to sales tactics, from tax advice to how to avoid legal problems.

Knowing those things will be crucial, yet one thing supersedes them all.

It’s about how you make people feel

The author Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Business is about people and the success of your company will depend on the strength of your relationships.

Let’s use the example of customers. Say you run a store. Every customer has plenty of choice as to which store they use. Convenience and price can play a big role in their selection. Yet those are easily superseded. If you are the closest store, or the cheapest one, all it would take is someone to set up a store that is closer or cheaper than yours for the customer to swap allegiances — unless, of course, you have taken the time to build a relationship with them. Simply put: Building good relationships with your customers through your commitment to service and quality helps you keep those customers.

The rapport you build with your company’s external contacts helps in other spheres, too. Your supplier is more likely to go out of their way to assist you with a problem when you’ve taken the time to develop a good working relationship with them.

Getting legal help to deal with the technical side of business frees you up to concentrate on building great relationships both inside and outside your business. We help businesses do what they do best by handling the legal details. Contact us for a consultation.