Only Thing That Really Matters In Building Business Relationships

A client asked me about what really matters with business relationships.  Was it credibility, loyalty, that unwavering trust?  Did it matter how many contacts per year, or how much clients liked you?  There is only one thing that really matters in business relationships, and it is ...

... Dollars In and Dollars Out!

Now I hear you saying, "Relationships are about connecting with customers."  And, I'll agree to some extent, but who ever told you that has done you a disservice.  Remember, these are business relationships we're talking about.

You can be friends with someone, hang out, and really have nothing to gain.  However, if your sales people are doing this, then they are just being a pest and not worthy of a paycheck.  Plus, customers don't want you to be their friend, customers want you to solve problems.

Since the cold hard truth about business is that people don't need more friend, there is nothing left to measure business relationship success outside of the dollars invested and dollars returned.  If I've hurt your feelings, well, that's just the way it is, live with it.

Ask yourself, "Why are you in business?"  If you aren't connecting with customers you can't understand what they desire, and if they aren't buying, you don't have what they want.  Life is very simple, unfortunately other "experts" put a lot of feel good icing on the business relationship cake.

Now before the capitalists cheer, this isn't just your dollars in and dollars out, but the customers too.  Was the time spent with you worth the investment?  For strong business relationships, customers must feel they got something out of connecting with you, even if you didn't.

Now stop crying, wipe away the tears, the truth hurts, so get over it...

Business is all about cash flow, so why would business relationships be any different.  You can disagree with me, some sales and marketing management want more friends, because they are afraid crunching their numbers will show their incompetence. 

But, that's not you ... do a cash flow on your relationship building efforts ... then develop measures for customer centered goals to gain a solid return.  It's hard work, but you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results.