It’s Just Business, Right? Actually, It’s Not
It’s tempting to believe that the life of an entrepreneur is divided into two kinds of relationships: business and personal. But in fact, no matter what kind of business you’re in, the most successful bonds you form are the ones where personal connections are forged.
That’s the finding of researchers who recently looked at successful long-term B2B sales people and discovered that business relationships actually evolve in three distinct phases.
“First, business partners became collaborative partners and, ultimately,...personal partners,” the researchers found.
While these personal relationships are initially somewhat superficial, over time they deepen and both parties begin to discuss more personal topics such as “divorce, bankruptcy, personal values, and future business plans,” the researchers said. That’s when the relationships truly become beneficial in a business sense.
Strong personal relationships will surely help your business grow and thrive.
As you might expect these personal relationships have a positive impact on business goals. Deeper trust and better communication led to better outcomes including time savings, more efficient work and an ability to work closely with the customers to achieve common goals. And, although the researchers didn’t spell it out — strong personal relationships will surely help your business grow and thrive.
This likely comes as no surprise to anyone who has run their own business. Relationships with customers, suppliers, other local businesses and even employees really come down to trust, respect and finding common ground.
It also requires being a good listener and asking a lot of questions. And that’s something anyone can do. It’s great to remember the next time you embark on a new business relationship that the most important thing you can do to set yourself up for success is to focus on making a personal connection first.
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