Comments on: Small Business Advice: Relationships Are the Key to Success

By: Dentist in Preston

Dentist in Preston — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:46:41 +0000

Good caring relationship with your clients is the first rule of any business!!

THANKS FOR THE REMINDER!!

By: Andrei

Andrei — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:55:18 +0000

Well I guess solid personal skills can’t be build overnight.I mean for someone that doesn’t care about their customers other than making profit building long term relationship is very hard indeed.

By: find office space minneapolis

find office space minneapolis — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:15:30 +0000

Gotta admit, when you’re doing a lot of online business, it’s really great when you run into a strong, positive personality. Those types could bargain hard (if they want) & not be refused.

By: lirentrade

lirentrade — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:56:58 +0000

I agree too,and the business is not just win win soulution,such as trust each other,and some ohters.because we are human and not just money making machine.

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:49:31 +0000

Hendry,
And that’s why the relationship is so vital.

Tamal,
Nice article. thanks for posting a link.

Jimy,
I’ve been saying for a while that social media has brought back the ’small town’ feel was enjoyed in the U.S. a couple generations back. You know, being able to walk into your hardware store and find the owner behind the counter, who you see around town and who knows, personally, the project you’re working on.

By: Shirazi

Shirazi — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:09:55 +0000

Verty rightly (and nicely) said…

By: Jimy Wong

Jimy Wong — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:29:59 +0000

I agree that business is about relationship. To be honest, look around you will find there’s a lot of competitors to your business and give me a reason why i should buy only from one guy unless i like him or her on good relationship.
I prefer a shop that remember my face and name. You feels great and welcomed.

By: Tamal Anwar

Tamal Anwar — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:47:36 +0000

A helpful article, I wrote an article about this topic on my blog,
A good relationship is worth a million dollars
- http://www.tamalanwar.com/2008.....llion.html

By: Hendry Lee

Hendry Lee — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:24:48 +0000

Agree wholeheartedly.

It is so critical, especially online when you can’t meet your prospects and customers directly, yet many people forget they are talking to someone like them.

I mean, they often do and say what they won’t say in real life.

People only buy from someone they know, like and trust.

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:13:28 +0000

Lakshmi,
You’re so right…huge traffic is not indicative of any business success at all. I think that’s what we’re seeing with bloggers – lots of traffic, but little or no business growth.

How would you suggest rectifying this?

Nicole,
Exactly. It’s not just in what’s sold, it’s who selling it to you.

Simon,
Don’t you think people who ‘fake it’ eventually get found out?

Laura,
How are you using relationships to build your business?

By: Laura Spencer

Laura Spencer — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:15:32 +0000

This is so basic that we often forget it. Thanks for the reminder!

By: Simon Slade

Simon Slade — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:54:58 +0000

Relationships are extremely important. There are so many cases I have seen, where someone isn’t particularly brilliant or skilled – they just knew the right people and they were on their way to business success. And while it’s best to present yourself with a friendly, professional tone – there is no need to hide yourself or be “fake”.

By: Nicole Price

Nicole Price — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:55:40 +0000

I totally agree with you there and i think this is especially true for small businesses. Why else then would we have a favorite store or a favorite cafe which we prefer over others, the products and the coffee may be much the same, but the people who provide the service may be much nicer so we like going there!

By: Lakshmi Mareddy

Lakshmi Mareddy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:15:53 +0000

Its interesting that most people forget that its about relationships and people. Funnily enough the softwrae tools have the word “relationship” while they dehumanize the process [CRM - Customer RELATIONSHIP Management].

One of my sales friends once told me that when you can think like your customer and anticipate their need, then you are a perfect sales person, and in the zone so to speak.

In a similar vein in web business, I feel having a huge traffic is not indicative of good business, because they may not be from the the target audience we one going for..

Its amazing how much business gets done over golf, partying, PTO zones than any other

By: Blog For Profit » Is Blogging About Relationships too?

Blog For Profit » Is Blogging About Relationships too? — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:14:36 +0000

[...] Miracle had a very thought provoking post the other day called, “Business is About Relationships, Isn’t It?”. Business is about relationships. Relationships are about people. So it should be obvious that [...]

By: Eric Shan

Eric Shan — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:49:32 +0000

If you want to accelerate the business relationship building process there really is no quick or fast cure. There is no magic pill you can swallow and overnight wake up with a strong network of business relationships.

Business relationships are a time game and a numbers game. You have to spend significant time to get reasonable numbers. Not surprisingly, the 90/10 rule applies to business relationship development. For every 10 hours of discretionary time, you should spend nine of those working on your business relationships and the remaining one hour, keeping up with IT technology.

If you really want to accelerate your relationship building, think about putting in a consistent 8 to 10 hours per week joining business organizations and getting active in them. Instead of going to 2 or 3 events a month with 20 or 30 people, go to 2 or 3 events a WEEK instead. If you do this you will meet 80-100 people and your odds of creating strong business relationships will increase greatly.

By: Kosciusko County Indiana

Kosciusko County Indiana — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:07:53 +0000

I have gotten tired of “customer no-service.” Businesses don’t seem to care about what is right anymore. If that is the case, fire them.

By: Eric P

Eric P — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:42:45 +0000

Building relationships is a key. Most importantly building trust. We as a company deal with this on a daily basis. We sell so many products to customers on net 30 terms.

We just have faith they will pay us back. Once you build a relationship. It is a Stronghold that always maintains.

By: @Stephen

@Stephen — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:19:14 +0000

I read this recently, in one of my new favorite books:

“All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. All things being not quite so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends.” -Jeffrey Gitomer

By: travel agent from home

travel agent from home — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:17:02 +0000

Yes, relationships are about people. Many folks like to focus on content for computers or robots (automated), but really providing the information on a people or personal level is the key. Then repeat customers can ensue.