The document discusses the importance of building relationships for business success. It provides examples of entrepreneurs like James Furnner and Marcus Lemonis who prioritize relationships with customers, vendors, employees and other businesses. Furnner maintains a contact database and daily routines to nurture relationships. The document argues that establishing trust and providing good customer service through quality relationships can lead to loyalty, referrals and business growth. It invites the reader to learn more about implementing relationship-focused business strategies.
Krista Kotrla's Blog ... Dell's Journey Into Social MediaKnox Keith
Dell's social media strategy provides lessons for other businesses. Dell transformed its approach after negative incidents by becoming more customer-centric, experimenting with new channels, and making social media part of its culture. Key aspects of Dell's strategy include starting small and proving value, observing customer conversations to understand needs, empowering employees, and continuing to adapt to new platforms. The best marketing strategy is to inspire an engaged company culture.
Have you ever thought about working with not-for-profit organisations? This quick guide will give you a few reasons to work with for-purpose organisations, the ins-and-outs of the NFP sector and a few tips to get started.
Feldman network career insurance final january 2010Debra Feldman
All jobs are temporary. Your networking connections are lifetime career insurance.Over 80% of new hires got their jobs via a referral. Contacts are necessary. Keep the ones you have and promote new relationships.
Managers can create value for their firm through diversification by expanding resources and opportunities, building connections, increasing sales and revenue, and attracting more investors. However, diversification efforts often fail due to issues like cultural differences between merging companies, lack of attention to factors that could affect integration, and not considering future challenges. Strategic alliances can be successful if both companies share the same goals and culture, but challenges include differences in rules and adjustment difficulties that must be overcome for long-term compatibility. Recent large mergers like Disney/Fox and Amazon/Whole Foods were likely successful due to complementary strengths and goals, but success depends on effectively leveraging each company's advantages.
You can't market private client services? Oh yes you can and this special report covers a variety of proven marketing and business suggestions for private client practitioners.
Networking as a Sales Tool - 5 Sure-Fire Steps to Increase Sales SuccessThe Chief Storyteller
Generally, a networking event is one big blind date. You never know who you will meet next. Networking is all about the deliberate development of professional relationships. Just as with personal dating, business dating takes time. You wouldn’t expect to get married on the first date. The same holds true with networking. Here are five sure-fire steps to make your networking more focused and effective to capitalize on opportunities, eliminate distractions, and increase your sales and development success.
Krista Kotrla's Blog ... Dell's Journey Into Social MediaKnox Keith
Dell's social media strategy provides lessons for other businesses. Dell transformed its approach after negative incidents by becoming more customer-centric, experimenting with new channels, and making social media part of its culture. Key aspects of Dell's strategy include starting small and proving value, observing customer conversations to understand needs, empowering employees, and continuing to adapt to new platforms. The best marketing strategy is to inspire an engaged company culture.
Have you ever thought about working with not-for-profit organisations? This quick guide will give you a few reasons to work with for-purpose organisations, the ins-and-outs of the NFP sector and a few tips to get started.
Feldman network career insurance final january 2010Debra Feldman
All jobs are temporary. Your networking connections are lifetime career insurance.Over 80% of new hires got their jobs via a referral. Contacts are necessary. Keep the ones you have and promote new relationships.
Managers can create value for their firm through diversification by expanding resources and opportunities, building connections, increasing sales and revenue, and attracting more investors. However, diversification efforts often fail due to issues like cultural differences between merging companies, lack of attention to factors that could affect integration, and not considering future challenges. Strategic alliances can be successful if both companies share the same goals and culture, but challenges include differences in rules and adjustment difficulties that must be overcome for long-term compatibility. Recent large mergers like Disney/Fox and Amazon/Whole Foods were likely successful due to complementary strengths and goals, but success depends on effectively leveraging each company's advantages.
You can't market private client services? Oh yes you can and this special report covers a variety of proven marketing and business suggestions for private client practitioners.
Networking as a Sales Tool - 5 Sure-Fire Steps to Increase Sales SuccessThe Chief Storyteller
Generally, a networking event is one big blind date. You never know who you will meet next. Networking is all about the deliberate development of professional relationships. Just as with personal dating, business dating takes time. You wouldn’t expect to get married on the first date. The same holds true with networking. Here are five sure-fire steps to make your networking more focused and effective to capitalize on opportunities, eliminate distractions, and increase your sales and development success.
Better Blogging for Better Results - 8 Tips to Generate Opportunities from Bl...The Chief Storyteller
On September 3, 2005, the screaming and shouting stopped. I finally gave in to writing my first blog. Back then, I did not have the appreciation for the power of blogging that I have today. Well-written, organized, and timely blogs offer tremendous benefits. If you look at social media today, blogging is rarely mentioned as a top application. And the irony is that, more likely than not, sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter refer back to a blog entry as the source of the information. Here are 8 tips to generate more opportunities to connect quickly to your target audiences.
Dan Beeman is the founder of Sponsorship Insights Group. He is described as personable, goal-oriented, knowledgeable about the sponsorship industry, and skilled at networking and inspiring others. Multiple references praise Dan's leadership, work ethic, passion for the industry, and ability to connect people and help them succeed.
Sandy Vilas started a new placement division called Corporate Coaches Inc. to generate sales from companies wanting to hire coaches trained by his company CoachInc.com. This increased both sales and profits. While starting a new business may seem extreme, Vilas was able to earn $100,000 in fees in the first year from this division. The article then provides 11 additional ways for business owners to increase sales, such as improving follow-up on sales leads, building customer loyalty, outsourcing non-essential tasks, and asking existing clients for referrals and additional business.
This document provides tips and strategies for effective networking. It discusses choosing the right networking groups and events, identifying influential connectors to meet, crafting an elevator pitch with a clear benefit statement and formula, following up with contacts in a timely manner, and establishing systems for ongoing relationship building and lead generation through networking. The overall message is that networking is essential for business success and requires intentional planning, preparation and follow through.
With the intent of bringing some creative minds, who are transforming the status quo of various sectors, into limelight, Insights Success brings to you, “Top Creative Leaders Innovating in Business 2019”
This paper is a helpful guide to Brand Managers and C-level executives looking to make a more informed decision prior to beginning a relationship with their next agency. As they begin the process, they’ll hear a variety of arguments on why certain agencies should be selected for their branding efforts, but this paper helps such decision-makers not only identify certain arguments from agencies that are thin on substance and the reality that exists in place of each myth, but the suggested solution to keep the search and selection process on task, focused and to the company’s end benefit.
4 Steps to Take Before Launching Your Consulting BusinessRoss Sanner
Starting a consulting business is hard work. Many experts advise that you take at least one year to plan the structure of your business, build relationships and develop good contacts. However, if you are entrepreneurial-minded, you might jump into consulting without not much lead time. This approach can work as well. Whether you dive into your new business without much prep or you choose to plan ahead of time, there are important steps to take in order to increase your chances of success.
Great Expectations Lateral Attorney Nyljellenostrow
Steve joined a new law firm as a lateral partner hoping to grow his $2 million practice. However, he found that the firm had different expectations than what he anticipated. Matters needed approval from the management committee before being taken on, contrary to how Steve's practice operated. When Steve brought in his first large client, an older partner claimed origination credit. While firms provide information on integrating laterals, real integration requires building relationships over time through active listening, understanding others' perspectives, and demonstrating value without self-promotion. The story illustrates common challenges laterals face in adjusting to a new firm culture.
The document outlines the management philosophy of J. Willard Marriott, the founder of Marriott Corporation. It discusses his core beliefs of concern for employees, hands-on management, and commitment to customers. Marriott believed in treating employees like family, communicating with them, meeting their needs, and helping them develop their careers. He emphasized the importance of managers being involved in the details of operations and setting a good example for employees through hard work. The goal was to provide excellent customer service and hospitality.
The document provides advice from experts on how to convince candidates to take a new job opportunity. It summarizes insights from interviews with 7 candidates and 2 recruiters on the best recruiting practices. The key recommendations are to personalize outreach by showing candidates are a good fit, make it easy for candidates to research the company online, listen to understand candidates' goals and find the right opportunities for them, be honest about both the positives and challenges of the role and company, connect candidates with current employees, advocate for strong candidates during the hiring process, and follow up after candidates are hired.
1 1 11 Co Biz Magazine Colorado’S 25 Most Powerful Sales Peoplemschmidlen
1) The document profiles 25 of Colorado's most powerful salespeople as nominated through an online newsletter and write-ins.
2) It provides brief summaries of several salespeople, including their roles, sales achievements, sales philosophies, and tips for success.
3) The salespeople represent a variety of industries and have found ways to adapt their strategies and succeed despite the economic downturn.
Why Salespeople Fail . . . and what you can do about it!Tom Mallens 📈 💯
The document discusses why salespeople fail and provides an overview of the Sandler Selling System as a better alternative to traditional selling approaches. It explains that most salespeople unknowingly follow the prospect's system rather than having their own effective system. The prospect's system is designed to turn the salesperson into an unpaid consultant who provides free information without any commitment to a sale. It also summarizes the key steps of the Sandler Selling System, which frames the sales call as a business meeting between equals and focuses on building rapport and understanding the prospect's needs rather than manipulative selling techniques.
Howard_recommendation_report_marketingPaula Howard
The document is a recommendation report from Paula Howard to Lori Stoner regarding a direct mail campaign for Capital World Advisors LLC. The report summarizes Paula's research on best practices for direct mail design and implementation, how small businesses communicate with customers and make decisions about bookkeeping/payroll. Key findings include: word-of-mouth is most effective for attracting customers; small businesses outsource for efficiency; direct mail should be personalized and part of a multi-channel strategy. Paula recommends CWA send a direct mail postcard with their logo, website, and a call-to-action to target small business owners.
Boosting Your Major Gifts Fundraising - Professional Advancement QuizRoewen Wishart CFRE
Just started a new major gifts job or wanting to switch roles? Wondering where to begin with major gifts? Needing a “circuit breaker”?
Are you a board member or CEO - wondering if there’s something simple but important which isn’t happening the right way?
Try this professional advancement quiz. Our suggested answers to these four questions might surprise you.
What’s the most effective first step where major gifts prospects are lacking?
What case material is most useful for staff to engage with donors to encourage major gifts?
What is useful for staff to prepare before a cultivation meeting with prospective donors?
What’s the one irreplaceable staff role in major gifts planning and execution?
The Insiders Guide to Employer Branding - 27 Best Practice InsightsKelly Services
Many of the old tools and strategies for building an authentic, globally relevant employer brand have been discarded, and new ones are taking over. Both the challenges and opportunities have grown almost in tandem, and it’s all happening at break-neck speed.
One thing is clear: employer branding has changed, dramatically.
Our Global Best Practice Xchange (BPX) Roundtable on the subject confirmed it. It was 90 minutes of rigorous discussion with eight seasoned professionals leading the way in employer branding innovation for their organizations. They shared their successes, mistakes and thoughts on their plans for the future.
So, if you are wondering if there’s a better, clearer way to lead your organization and practice through this change, this guide is for you.
This presentation will define and help bring a better understanding of what the basics are to networking, referral generation and building solid business relationships. If you work this system, it will help yours and other businesses grow which will eventually help build you into a reputable expert and professional business person.
Networking is establishing mutually beneficial relationships with other business people to share information and opportunities. The document outlines benefits of networking such as generating new contacts and referrals, raising visibility, staying current on industry trends, problem solving, and boosting confidence. Effective networking involves meeting people in person, following up on connections, asking how you can help others, managing your networking as a project, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
The document discusses various ways that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often neglect important aspects of running their business. Some key areas of neglect mentioned include: failing to follow up with potential clients over time to build trust and credibility before closing deals; not paying enough attention to financial statements; lacking clear values and vision that guide decision-making; focusing marketing efforts on chasing new leads rather than nurturing current customers; and not establishing strong processes and documentation for business operations. The document provides advice from various experts on how SMBs can improve in these neglected areas to better manage and grow their business over the long run.
Better Blogging for Better Results - 8 Tips to Generate Opportunities from Bl...The Chief Storyteller
On September 3, 2005, the screaming and shouting stopped. I finally gave in to writing my first blog. Back then, I did not have the appreciation for the power of blogging that I have today. Well-written, organized, and timely blogs offer tremendous benefits. If you look at social media today, blogging is rarely mentioned as a top application. And the irony is that, more likely than not, sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter refer back to a blog entry as the source of the information. Here are 8 tips to generate more opportunities to connect quickly to your target audiences.
Dan Beeman is the founder of Sponsorship Insights Group. He is described as personable, goal-oriented, knowledgeable about the sponsorship industry, and skilled at networking and inspiring others. Multiple references praise Dan's leadership, work ethic, passion for the industry, and ability to connect people and help them succeed.
Sandy Vilas started a new placement division called Corporate Coaches Inc. to generate sales from companies wanting to hire coaches trained by his company CoachInc.com. This increased both sales and profits. While starting a new business may seem extreme, Vilas was able to earn $100,000 in fees in the first year from this division. The article then provides 11 additional ways for business owners to increase sales, such as improving follow-up on sales leads, building customer loyalty, outsourcing non-essential tasks, and asking existing clients for referrals and additional business.
This document provides tips and strategies for effective networking. It discusses choosing the right networking groups and events, identifying influential connectors to meet, crafting an elevator pitch with a clear benefit statement and formula, following up with contacts in a timely manner, and establishing systems for ongoing relationship building and lead generation through networking. The overall message is that networking is essential for business success and requires intentional planning, preparation and follow through.
With the intent of bringing some creative minds, who are transforming the status quo of various sectors, into limelight, Insights Success brings to you, “Top Creative Leaders Innovating in Business 2019”
This paper is a helpful guide to Brand Managers and C-level executives looking to make a more informed decision prior to beginning a relationship with their next agency. As they begin the process, they’ll hear a variety of arguments on why certain agencies should be selected for their branding efforts, but this paper helps such decision-makers not only identify certain arguments from agencies that are thin on substance and the reality that exists in place of each myth, but the suggested solution to keep the search and selection process on task, focused and to the company’s end benefit.
4 Steps to Take Before Launching Your Consulting BusinessRoss Sanner
Starting a consulting business is hard work. Many experts advise that you take at least one year to plan the structure of your business, build relationships and develop good contacts. However, if you are entrepreneurial-minded, you might jump into consulting without not much lead time. This approach can work as well. Whether you dive into your new business without much prep or you choose to plan ahead of time, there are important steps to take in order to increase your chances of success.
Great Expectations Lateral Attorney Nyljellenostrow
Steve joined a new law firm as a lateral partner hoping to grow his $2 million practice. However, he found that the firm had different expectations than what he anticipated. Matters needed approval from the management committee before being taken on, contrary to how Steve's practice operated. When Steve brought in his first large client, an older partner claimed origination credit. While firms provide information on integrating laterals, real integration requires building relationships over time through active listening, understanding others' perspectives, and demonstrating value without self-promotion. The story illustrates common challenges laterals face in adjusting to a new firm culture.
The document outlines the management philosophy of J. Willard Marriott, the founder of Marriott Corporation. It discusses his core beliefs of concern for employees, hands-on management, and commitment to customers. Marriott believed in treating employees like family, communicating with them, meeting their needs, and helping them develop their careers. He emphasized the importance of managers being involved in the details of operations and setting a good example for employees through hard work. The goal was to provide excellent customer service and hospitality.
The document provides advice from experts on how to convince candidates to take a new job opportunity. It summarizes insights from interviews with 7 candidates and 2 recruiters on the best recruiting practices. The key recommendations are to personalize outreach by showing candidates are a good fit, make it easy for candidates to research the company online, listen to understand candidates' goals and find the right opportunities for them, be honest about both the positives and challenges of the role and company, connect candidates with current employees, advocate for strong candidates during the hiring process, and follow up after candidates are hired.
1 1 11 Co Biz Magazine Colorado’S 25 Most Powerful Sales Peoplemschmidlen
1) The document profiles 25 of Colorado's most powerful salespeople as nominated through an online newsletter and write-ins.
2) It provides brief summaries of several salespeople, including their roles, sales achievements, sales philosophies, and tips for success.
3) The salespeople represent a variety of industries and have found ways to adapt their strategies and succeed despite the economic downturn.
Why Salespeople Fail . . . and what you can do about it!Tom Mallens 📈 💯
The document discusses why salespeople fail and provides an overview of the Sandler Selling System as a better alternative to traditional selling approaches. It explains that most salespeople unknowingly follow the prospect's system rather than having their own effective system. The prospect's system is designed to turn the salesperson into an unpaid consultant who provides free information without any commitment to a sale. It also summarizes the key steps of the Sandler Selling System, which frames the sales call as a business meeting between equals and focuses on building rapport and understanding the prospect's needs rather than manipulative selling techniques.
Howard_recommendation_report_marketingPaula Howard
The document is a recommendation report from Paula Howard to Lori Stoner regarding a direct mail campaign for Capital World Advisors LLC. The report summarizes Paula's research on best practices for direct mail design and implementation, how small businesses communicate with customers and make decisions about bookkeeping/payroll. Key findings include: word-of-mouth is most effective for attracting customers; small businesses outsource for efficiency; direct mail should be personalized and part of a multi-channel strategy. Paula recommends CWA send a direct mail postcard with their logo, website, and a call-to-action to target small business owners.
Boosting Your Major Gifts Fundraising - Professional Advancement QuizRoewen Wishart CFRE
Just started a new major gifts job or wanting to switch roles? Wondering where to begin with major gifts? Needing a “circuit breaker”?
Are you a board member or CEO - wondering if there’s something simple but important which isn’t happening the right way?
Try this professional advancement quiz. Our suggested answers to these four questions might surprise you.
What’s the most effective first step where major gifts prospects are lacking?
What case material is most useful for staff to engage with donors to encourage major gifts?
What is useful for staff to prepare before a cultivation meeting with prospective donors?
What’s the one irreplaceable staff role in major gifts planning and execution?
The Insiders Guide to Employer Branding - 27 Best Practice InsightsKelly Services
Many of the old tools and strategies for building an authentic, globally relevant employer brand have been discarded, and new ones are taking over. Both the challenges and opportunities have grown almost in tandem, and it’s all happening at break-neck speed.
One thing is clear: employer branding has changed, dramatically.
Our Global Best Practice Xchange (BPX) Roundtable on the subject confirmed it. It was 90 minutes of rigorous discussion with eight seasoned professionals leading the way in employer branding innovation for their organizations. They shared their successes, mistakes and thoughts on their plans for the future.
So, if you are wondering if there’s a better, clearer way to lead your organization and practice through this change, this guide is for you.
This presentation will define and help bring a better understanding of what the basics are to networking, referral generation and building solid business relationships. If you work this system, it will help yours and other businesses grow which will eventually help build you into a reputable expert and professional business person.
Networking is establishing mutually beneficial relationships with other business people to share information and opportunities. The document outlines benefits of networking such as generating new contacts and referrals, raising visibility, staying current on industry trends, problem solving, and boosting confidence. Effective networking involves meeting people in person, following up on connections, asking how you can help others, managing your networking as a project, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
The document discusses various ways that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often neglect important aspects of running their business. Some key areas of neglect mentioned include: failing to follow up with potential clients over time to build trust and credibility before closing deals; not paying enough attention to financial statements; lacking clear values and vision that guide decision-making; focusing marketing efforts on chasing new leads rather than nurturing current customers; and not establishing strong processes and documentation for business operations. The document provides advice from various experts on how SMBs can improve in these neglected areas to better manage and grow their business over the long run.
4 Psychological Principles to Build Strong Business RelationshipsCureo
This document discusses 4 psychological principles for building strong business relationships: 1) employing the endowment effect by making others feel like part of the company, 2) leveraging the rule of reciprocity by helping others first to build cooperation, 3) encouraging investment by making contributing easy so people continue connecting, and 4) overcoming risk aversion through transparency, frequent touchpoints, and trustworthiness. It recommends the collaboration software Cureo, which allows sharing processes securely to bring remote stakeholders together.
The document summarizes tips from 11 marketing experts on growing businesses. Some key recommendations include focusing on conversion rate optimization testing and discovering what customers want through expanded research; prioritizing content creation from the start; leveraging influencer relationships; and taking a holistic approach to webinars that drives desired actions. The newsletter also spotlights a business counselor from the Mississippi Small Business Development Center.
In contrast to a traditional marketing approach in which advertising messages are addressed to a strictly defined target audience, Engagement Marketing does something new and fundamentally different.
1) Building strong customer relationships is key to business success. It involves developing personal connections with customers and understanding their needs and problems.
2) Ten strategies for building customer loyalty include making every interaction count, following through on commitments, offering value, treating customers as individuals, listening to customers, building a strong brand identity, providing valuable information, having a user-friendly website, rewarding loyal customers, and creating an inviting blog.
3) Implementing these relationship marketing strategies can help businesses connect with customers, ensure repeat sales, and gain a competitive advantage through word-of-mouth recommendations.
Getting that next job requires marketing yourself in new ways. You must view your career as a continual process of networking, building your brand, and maintaining an online presence. Your personal brand and online profiles represent your "product" in the job market. It is important to keep these updated and ensure they highlight your skills, accomplishments, and areas of expertise in order to be found by recruiters and hiring managers. Building strong professional relationships through referrals and in-person networking remain very important strategies for finding new opportunities.
Marketing Yourself for Your Next Career Opportunity ClearedJobs.Net
Finding your next job will involved determine your brand and how to communicate this to future employers.
But there are some key steps to remembers such as what is your brand? what has your brand done over your career? How has it been communicated to past and current employers?
All of these will have an impact on your job search.
As a nonprofit, you have a unique challenge: finding qualified candidates who care about your mission. Job postings are an essential tool for finding those professionals at scale. Check out this deck to find out how you can easily get your jobs in front of the right candidates at the right time. It covers job posting basics, as well as tips and tricks on how to get the best results.
3 things that are covered:
LinkedIn’s mission-driven talent network
Optimize your job posts to get the best candidates
Save money with nonprofit discounts
Tips on how to grow your business from educational consultants and service based business owners. How to obtain and retain customers. How to provide superior customer service.
Social Selling: Thought Provoking Insights That Go Beyond the Latest TrendsGretchen Lehman
Learn how implementing a b2b social selling strategy can help you increase your close rate by reading Unthink Solution's brand new 24-page guide, Social Selling: Thought Provoking Insights That Go Beyond the Latest Trends to Explain the How and Why of Social Selling.
This document provides tips for marketing yourself and finding a government job. It discusses that career changes are now common and networking is the best way to find opportunities. Effective networking involves continuously building relationships, not just when looking for a job. The "Brand of You" is one's reputation and how you present yourself. Developing an online presence through profiles and maintaining them is important. Recruiters look for keywords and spend little time reviewing each resume. Referrals remain the top way positions are filled.
Business communication involves the sharing of information both within and outside an organization for commercial benefit, such as relaying information to employees or promoting products/services to consumers. Effective communication skills are important for business success as most managers spend 75-80% of their time communicating and communication provides the critical link between business functions. The document then discusses various types of business communication like one-on-one conversations, meetings, and written communication, and emphasizes the importance of clear communication, preparation, and considering your audience.
Preparing Successful Sales Quotes: Experts Weigh In
It can take a lot of work to get a lead to the quoting stage. Don’t throw away all the effort you have put in managing your sales pipeline by preparing a sub-par sales quote. Providing a successful sales quote can often determine if you win or lose a deal.
To help you sort through it all, we’ve reached out to a panel of sales and small business experts and asked them all a single question: “What are the keys to preparing successful sales quotes? ”
The document profiles Nicole Rodrigues, founder and CEO of NRPR Group, discussing her background and role in leading the PR and marketing firm, the strategies and services NRPR provides such as digital marketing and reputation management, and Rodrigues' advice for entrepreneurs including developing comprehensive strategies and persevering despite challenges.
1. People First! How Emerging Entrepreneurs Knock Out their Competition
“If you are in Business, You are in the People Business”
~Joyce White Nelson
Whether you recognize it or not, all successful small businesses–regardless of what they do or
sell–have one thing in common: their owners know how to build and maintain authentic
professional relationships. The truth is that entrepreneurs too often get caught up in the details of
the kinds of products or services they are selling to notice how critical it is to build relationships
not just with your customers, but also with your vendors, employees and–gasp–even your
competitors. "Without strong personal and professional relationships, it is impossible to have
success as a business owner," says James Furnner who is the founder and CEO of Prime Design,
a branding and consulting firm in Appleton, WI. who’s mission is “Causing People to Respond”
™
( Change this quote any way you want)
"You need to have long-term customers and good vendor relationships that will carry you
through challenging times or tight deadlines, as well as relationships with other business owners
to share struggles, resources and best practices that can really give you an edge. The reality is
that business relationships are just like any other relationship. They require some effort to
maintain and they must be mutually beneficial. As in any relationship, you must be willing to
give, share and support, not just take or receive."
Your business as an entrepreneur is to put people first. Two steadfast actions that Mr. Furnner
has in place that support that mission are; First, he created a contact database where he not only
stored information on his clients, but also with vendors and business peers. He uses the database
to document the details of the conversations–both personal and professional–that he has with
each of his contacts. "This helps with continuity and helps me to remember key facts and
information about each contact," he says. "It felt mechanical at first but it proved to be an
efficient method to ensure that no one fell through the cracks." Secondly, his daily routine
includes processes to nurture and maintain his professional and personal relationships. These we
two practices and actions that he attributes his highly successful 25 year referral based business
for his firm.
2. We at JoyceVentures, enjoy finding and shining the spotlight on businesses that believe that
people are their greatest asset. The first indictor is to have value for people, which includes
within the company and also the community and world in the mission statement, and then
bringing that statement to life through the policies and procedures of the business and marketing
plans.
Marcus Lemonis, of the current television show “ The Profit” fame, judges businesses with the
(P)eople-(P)rocess-(P)roduct principle. He recognizes that the most important “P” is people, and
that the right people are effective while the wrong people are destructive. The second “P” looks
at how organizations create, deliver, and sell the process. Finally, the third “P” determines
whether the product is an excellent one and a relevant one. He stresses that for a business to be
successful, it has to have at least 2 of the 3 Ps working in its favor. Out of the three, he mentions
that People are the most important.
Our community of People-First Professionals at JoyceVentures, whole heartedly agree with
Furnner and Lemonis.
If you aspire to have the success of businesses like that of Funner and Lemonis, that are
reaping benefits of a people-first focus, you will want to create systems to build authentic
personal and professional relationships that have measurable results.
“5 Reasons Why Relationship Building is Your Key to Success”
According to the Department of Labor, the number one human need is to feel appreciated. This
‘feeling’ trumps, money and title in job satisfaction and loyalty. Think about it, you are the
market. What do you want? Our friend Bob Burg, Author of Endless Referrals: Network Your
Everyday Contacts into Sales” states, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and
refer people to, those people that they know, like, and trust.”
You and I are consumers, we are tired of the over-promise and under-deliver model, tired of
being blind sighted with hidden costs, tired of technology getting in the way of personal
connections and extremely tired of the hoops we have to jump through just to receive a product
or service for which we are desiring or in many cases have already purchased. We are begging
for quality, personal service and accountable and authentic human connections to be
demonstrated in business.
Relationship building in business harnesses the demand in the market for personal connection
and capitalized on technology to create systems for the business to grow authentically and
organically, maintain relevancy and transparency for the people they serve. My clients and
colleagues are always telling me the dedicated focus on initiating, nurturing and sustaining
personal and professional relationships offers huge returns.
Reason#1 Relationship building establishes trumps perceived value and it is a fact that
people will do business with those they know like and trust. This saves time and money. The
perceived value of being a friend of the company and a part of a community that is inclusive and
results in direct and referred sales.
3. Reason#2 Relationship building is the most effective marketing process. How much does it
cost to have a conversation? When all systems, including social media are used to create
relationships and foster a relationship centric environment which results in trust, the returns are
loyalty, and referred business.
Reason#3 Relationship building creates customer and staff retention. Studies show acquiring a
new customer/client costs 5-7 times as much as keeping an existing one, and customer loss
yearly average is 25%. Have you ever measured the amount of time and resources you spend on
customer acquisition and employee retention?
Reason#4 Relationship building means gathering data from our market. Bill Gates said, “We
learn the most from our most unhappy customers.” How can you get better at you do unless you
get feedback on how you are doing? What if you look at challenging feedback the same way you
look at positive feedback? It is all data for improvement, would you agree? Customer and staff
surveys are a great way to get this feedback.
Reason#5 Relationship building will multiply your network exponentially. The average
person has about 250 people in their personal and business network. As a business owner, you
may have even more. The point here is that for every person you meet and establish a quality
relationship with, you have the opportunity to include their 250 person network. If you have 250
people in your network, and they have 250 in theirs, that is 62,500 potential clients and referral
sources.
What if your business had a solid mission statement with actionable policies and relationship
building systems in place that focus on your most important asset: people? Do you believe you
may have the joy and prosperity in your business that other leaders are enjoying?
If this resonates with your beliefs but, have more questions than answers on how to implement,
measure and grow your business with a people-first focus, you are an outstanding match for our
team of “PeopleFirst” professionals.
We invite you to participate in a Complimentary Discovery Success Session to clarify
your objectives, intended outcomes and result in an immediate strategy suggestion.
www.joyceventures.com
You input is valued. Please go to our website and, “Talk to us about how you build
business relationships and tell us some examples of how that has worked well for you.”
You may be featured in an upcoming blog or article!
Always thankful,
Joyce White Nelson
P.S. You input is valued. Please go to our website and, “Talk to us about how you build business
relationships and tell us some examples of how that has worked well for you.”