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The Four Investments That Keep a Business Relationship Thriving

Investments are a great way to generate value. Although it’s not the sexiest type of investment, those associated with developing relationships can easily outweigh those in stocks and bonds.

Investing in relationships is so effective that in a recently commissioned study where we surveyed sales professionals across North America, 98% agreed that relationships were the most important part of their success.

But if you’re not investing in your relationships the right way, you could quickly see them fall short and never grow into something special. Here are four types of investments you can make to keep your relationships thriving:

  1. Time Investment
  2. Service Investment
  3. Caring Investment
  4. Quantity Investment

Time Investment

Giving your attention to a client is an integral part of a thriving customer relationship. It makes the client feel special and gives them a reason to choose you over your competitors when opportunities arise down the road.

Too often do we invest time with our clients prior to closing a deal and ignore them when they’ve become our customers. We all know the saying; time is money. Thus, when you invest your time into a customer, we should consider it an investment that could possibly lead to a significant return in the future.

Spending time with clients gives you a chance to enhance their comfort level and a better understanding their organizations challenges and needs. Spending time with your client will allow your client to feel more relaxed and truly see you as not only a partner but also a trusted advisor in their business.

Service Investment

In many industries, the client will purchase a product and that’s the end of the relationship. Sure, there might be a few hours of training in the first few days of using the product but after that, the interaction between you and the client ceases to exist. Lets change that.

Instead of having a client relationship that follows this traditional pattern, ensure that your clients feel as if you’re investing in them through customer service. That is, go above and beyond the FAQ document and actually get on the phone and discuss their needs and how they could better use your product.

Sometimes this investment will even call for consultation services. This investment establishes a level of trust and confidence that can only be established through service. As such, your efforts will not go unnoticed and the client will appreciate your commitment to helping them find success.

Caring Investment

It’s okay to be passionate about your client’s success. In fact, clients love it when you’re willing to fight for them and push the status quo with the intent of driving results for their business. These small gestures can mean a lot of a business when you show clients that you’re willing to go out of your way to ensure that they get what they deserve.

All it takes is a little bit of caring. Showing that you care about their business, their career and their success is a great way to establish a thriving relationship.

Quantity Investment

The more you communicate with your client the better. It’s a simple investment but it’s one that can make the world of difference in the long run. Regular phone calls and monthly lunch meetings are an easy way to get your face time with clients and build a stronger relationship.

The more frequently you can communicate with your client the more they’ll get to know you and trust you. Of course, you don’t want to overdo it where the client starts to see you as a pest but instead you want them to see your commitment as an indication of how important they are to you.

Growth in life and business is directly related to the investments we make. Whether we’re investing in education, RRSPs, businesses or our own relationships with family and friends– growth is determined by where we allocate our investments.

In business, investing in your clients and the relationships you have with them is one of the most rewarding investments you can make. These relationships will open up doors and provide you with new opportunities that would have been unheard of otherwise.

It’s important to take these investments seriously and determine how you can use them to further your career. By making the investments above, you should be able to see an improvement in how well you connect with your clients. Further, you should be able to see the return that these investments can make in the long run.

What do you do to keep your relationships thriving?

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