10 Ways to strengthen your business relationships
To help you put that into action, Freyvogel offers ten ways you can start strengthening your business relationships in the upcoming year.
1. Be familiar with your co-worker as much as you can,especially the one you work with Then, act on that knowledge. Also, You need to know about your customers, vendors and employees too so that when their needs change, you can be there to provide them with what they need to stay happy with your business.
2. Treat your vendors like honorary employees. It’s important to build good relationships with the people who who service you or your company regularly. This means anyone from the package delivery guy who stops by every day to the materials supplier who keeps your warehouse stocked to the designer who keeps your website updated.
3. Research on everyone’s birthday. Greeting somebody on their special day, already means a lot.
4. Create strong ties among your among your employees and your business. Encourage a sense of ownership ain them.. As if they own a stock in the business since they are the one facing your customers everyday. Inspiring your employees to love your business as much as you do will strengthen your company’s foundation and your business will be that much more likely to survive setbacks and grow to great heights.
5. Have one-on-one conversations with your customers to find out what you can do better. Most of the time unsatisfied customers don’t approach you with a detailed list of the things they’d like for you to improve on. They just leave you for one of your better-equipped competitors. Therefore, you must set aside some time to ask them what they need from you.
6. Be aware of your monthly loan payment. Be sure your start-up loan payments are on time, no matter what. Always have enough money in your account to make your monthly loan payments when they’re due. It’s also a good idea to set up a separate emergency account and make sure you put something in it every month — someday you’ll be glad you did. You don’t want to gain a reputation with your bank as someone who doesn’t make loan payments on time. Staying close to your bankers can also help you secure your finances. Set up a safety system with them to ensure that all of your deposits are going through in a timely manner.
7. Communicate with your mentors frequently. Think about those people who gave you valuable advice when you were starting a business, or that person you call immediately when you need advice. Build a close relationship with her so that she is willing to go that extra mile to help you build your business.
8. Learn to appreciate a job well done. Everyone likes to be commended for a great job, especially your employees. Try implementing an employee of the month scheme and say “Thanks for the great job!”, never miss an opportunity to give your employees the recognition they deserve. And when a client compliments an employee’s work, never steal the credit indeed, be sure to pass the glowing review along to the rightful owner! And let everyone in the company know. It’s good for morale to know that recognition might be coming their way some time in the future.
9. Learn to reach out with the people you count on. It is very important for you to be flexible when those around you run into problems and need to change their schedules since this could affect your business. Maybe one of your vendors needs to make a delivery earlier or later than normal or maybe an employee has to leave to take care of a family problem.
10. Provide everything that your employees need to do their jobs. Nothing frustrates a high-performing employee more than having to struggle to do his job because he doesn’t have the right computer program or because he must make do with faulty equipment.
Above all, It is always important that no matter how determined, hardworking, and talented you may be, you can’t be a successful entrepreneur all by yourself. It takes a village to run a company. Never forgetting that fact is critical to your success. And learn to value the services being offered to you by your employees and give importance to your customers.
Source: AllBusiness
