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Relationships Attract Resources

How is your customer retention now? In the last lesson, you learned seven strategies to help sales and marketing teams regulate customer retention levels. Which strategy is working best for you?

I tried hard to make today's lesson concrete and meaningful, even though it's April Fools and it addresses an abstract topic. But, the word "relationship" is just plain being abused in business today. What's the human need embedded in any relationship?

Today's lesson shares three questions to ask about your "relationship" objectives plus low cost practices to implement today for measurable results. Which of these practices could you use to get outstanding results this month?

Next time, discover actions to take right now for measurable returns in marketing. Including one secret, you have probably never heard before. Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Justin Hitt
Consultant, Author & Speaker
https://iunctura.com/

Ps. What can I make more clear about this lesson? Your questions, opinions, and comments are encouraged. If there is anything you can add to this conversation, or would like clarified, just reply to this message.

No Excuse Practices That Attract Resources You Must Have For Measurable Results

By Justin Hitt, Strategic Relations Consultant, https://iunctura.com/

Your goal should not be better business relationships! Why ... because relationships in business are about attracting resources that contribute to specific objectives -- not for popularity or recognition. Whether you are attracting revenue from customers, labor from employees, or services from vendors -- every relationship around your business contributes to your objectives or not.

Too often clients proclaim they want, "Stronger customer relationships" or "more productive employee relationships." As much as it frustrates clients, I respond with the following questions:

1. What does more or stronger relationships look like to your business?
2. What is there to gain by each party involved in these relationships?
3. Why do you want to create stronger or more business relationships?
4. What happens after the relationship is created? What is next?

The concept of "relationship" is intangible and only seen through results created through those connections. Do you make this same mistake in seeking effect before the cause?

If the word "relationship" is in your company's mission statement, then grab a fat red marker and strike it out. Relationships are not a destination; it is how you get to where you are going.

In order for relationships to bring you the resources you need for a profitable business, everyone involved with your organization must see the value they gain from the mere association with you. As a leader, you need to project the self-fulfilling promise of mutual gain in everything you do.

Do not think for one minute that your sales, marketing, and service people come to work everyday just because you asked them. They have no other obligation to you outside their interest in what they have to gain. You do not have to like this fact, but that is how it is.

People are motivated by their own interests, just as you are.

One of the reasons we cultivate business relationships is to attract resources that perpetuate the interests of the organization. It can be a very expensive process, but here are some practices to keep costs low while creating measurable results:

• Act as if your relationships with clients obligate you to find other value for them. To a have true service attitude, every part of your company must be willing to ask, "What may I do for you?" and then act on the response. Clients have bought your time, built your company to where it is today, and when you can find other ways to serve them, it only strengths their bond to you.
• Be a protector of those who invest in a relationship with your company.In some ways, their trust in you has bound you to protect and serve their interests. Was it McDonald's responsibility to warn people about the dangers of hot coffee? In most negligence suits against corporations, the end-user usually wins. By default, you are responsible for those people who use your solutions, so look out for them.
• Look out for the mutual interest of those around you. When serving clients, not only provide excellent value, but also make sure they get the most out of their purchases. Are clients buying enough to get the results they desire? Are they buying the right products or services for their specific need? Look out for clients interests, but be sure you charge enough to invest the time necessary to do so.
• Use small incrementally focused steps in a single direction. While clients (and employees) may want everything today, it is not practical to drop their deepest desires before them. Most aren't ready to receive what they want, so help them move in that direction by sharing their vision and guiding them along a clearly lit path. This helps them determine if they want what they want, while saving you time and effort.
• Attract resources that help extend your value to clients. Each relationship you enter requires something of you, so why not only invest in relationships that improve your ability to serve revenue-generating clients. As relationships grow, resources are traded; resources like time, money, and effort. To recover these things, again make a concerted effort to attract resources that add value to what you provide clients.
• Associate with others who make you look good. You associate with whom you choose. So choose those individuals, organizations, and resources that reflect positively on your business. Often the mere association creates an opinion that attracts or repels a clients interested in connecting with your organization.

While it is trendy to talk about relationships in business -- even use "relationship" to describe something to be achieved -- remember relationships are how you achieve results, not something to be gained without specific actions.

Help employees understand this, and understand yourself that clients form relationships with your company when they get what they desire and stay as long as that value can be sustained. Are you attracting the resources you desire?

© 2005 JWH Consolidated LLC dba Center for Strategic Relations, All rights reserved.
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