Building and maintaining business relationships? Here’s how to do it!
Building business relationships is important, but so is maintaining them. After all, the success of your business also depends on the network you have. A business relationship can be an investor or sponsor, but of course also a manufacturer or supplier. What steps do you need to take as an entrepreneur to build business relationships? What should you do or not do and how can a CRM help you with this?
Building Strong Business Relationships: 5 Key Steps
As a self-employed person or SME entrepreneur, you cannot do without strong business relationships. First of all, it is important to use a good CRM. This ensures that you can maintain the relationships you have built up in the right way.
With a simple CRM system , you can keep track of correspondence, as well as create marketing campaigns and generate reports. But how do you build business relationships and how can you maintain them? We have already listed the most important steps for you.
1. Give confidence and show interest
As a business owner or self-employed person, it is important to be an added value for your relations. Being reliable is perhaps the greatest value. Be honest about what you can do for your relations and always put their interests first.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep. This is counterproductive for building your network, but in the long run it also has negative consequences for customer trust. Honesty is the best policy, but it ultimately contributes to the trust of your relationships. Show interest during a call or a meeting during an event. For example, by asking counter-questions. This way the relationship knows for sure that you listen to what he says.
2. Maintain contact with a personal touch
Communication and contact is important during the process of building and maintaining business relationships. This is where a good CRM offers advantages. You have the option to take notes after a phone call or meeting. For example, information that is important for the relationship. For example, ask about a topic from a previous conversation.
In this way, you make the contact moments more personal and build a relationship of trust. You can also set reminders for a phone call or sending an email. This does not always have to be extensive, but showing interest is key!
3. Show your face
You also build and maintain business relationships by showing your face. For example, at a trade fair or during an event where the product of your business relation is launched. Visit the events that match your industry or niche, but at the same time be open to new possibilities, challenges and opportunities.
Extra tip! It is also always a good idea to organize an event yourself to keep your business relations interested. Active networking therefore remains very important. For example, in the form of a webinar, a product launch or a networking drink.
4. Use good CRM
A good CRM is important to build and maintain your business relationships, but also to strengthen them. Within a CRM, you can enter various types of customer data. So you always have crucial or important information at your fingertips. In addition, with a CRM system you have the option of automating emails and call reminders.
This way, you never forget to stay in touch with the relationships that are important to your business. Within a CRM, you can also generate reports and invoices that you can send automatically. This works quickly and efficiently, but also leaves a good impression on your relations.
Need a helping hand?
Could you use some support in building and maintaining strong business relationships? Then experience the benefits of the Qraia CRM system. Want to try it without obligation? As a self-employed person or entrepreneur, you can create an account completely free of charge.