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Do You Invest in Business Relationship Building?
Or in Other Words, What is All this “Relationship Management” Stuff About?
During a conversation with an independent business professional, I was asked how to “go about this relationship management stuff.”
As I listened to why she was struggling, I heard the spinning of wheels and time spent with nothing to show for it. The person was meeting with people who fit her ideal client criteria and trying to sell what she could do for them. However, she wasn’t taking the time to display credibility or show reliability. She wasn’t getting to know them and they weren’t getting to know her. She hadn’t invested in deliberate relationship building.
Much of a service professional’s (consultants, contractors, service-based professionals) success is tied to how well they build and maintain trusted business relationships with clients, potential clients, influencers, and partners.
But many of us are not taught how to build or manage those relationships. Oh, maybe when you were young you were taught how to sell a physical product such as cookies, candy, or magazines, but what if the product is you?
There is a proliferation of books and articles on relationship building as well as books and articles discussing the business of you…