Back in 2017, we posted an article that was all about the importance of fostering relationships with your clients and employees. This is an evergreen topic that deserves a revisit. Read on to learn why relationship-building plays an integral role in business success.
“Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.”
– Lee Iacocca
Relationship-Building Tips & Benefits
Give as Good as You Get
Your relationships will not thrive without reciprocity. Instead of always reaching out and asking for referrals or assistance, offer your own. Connect people, share industry information and make an effort to stay in touch. You will get more satisfaction and create a deeper connection.
Relationships Breed Loyalty
One of the most important by-products of solid relationships with both clients and employees is loyalty. You want clients to think of you first every time they have a need that you can meet. With employees, the better the relationship with their boss, the more likely they will continue to work for the company. Low employee turnover has many business benefits: reduced administrative, recruiting and operation costs and increased productivity.
Spend Time on Key Relationships
None of us have extra time. It is important to focus your relationship-building efforts on the people that can really have a positive effect on your business. Invest time in your most productive employees, best customers and industry leaders that can have the greatest impact. These are the relationships that will reap both immediate and long term returns.
Relationships Lead to Good Word-of-Mouth
Many claim that word-of-mouth is the most powerful form of marketing available. According to Lithium Technologies, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family more than any other form of advertising. We all know that people tend to share their stories of bad service, but the inverse is true as well. As a matter of fact, 11% of people will share positive service stories versus the 15% that will spread the word about a negative experience.
This is obviously not an exhaustive list of all the reasons that relationships matter, but it does highlight some important ones. Moving forward, schedule time to foster your current connections and seek out new ones. By treating relationship-building as part of business as usual, you’ll begin to see why it’s such a critical key to success.
SOURCES:
https://www.helpscout.com/75-customer-service-facts-quotes-statistics/
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/tangible-benefits-reducing-turnover-21668.html
https://propelbusinessworks.com/guest-blogs/relationships-matter/
Mercury Walks the Walk
Not only do we believe that relationships play a crucial role in building a successful business, we believe that giving of our time and talents to organizations in need is just as important. Listed below are just a few of the places that we support.
- Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce
- Associations North
- Visit Saint Paul
- University of Minnesota Diversity Advisory Board
- Leadership Saint Paul
- Saint Paul Foundation
