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April 26, 2004:
The Value Of Developing Business Relationships
Interview
with Jerry Acuff, author of The
Relationship Edge in Business
Mike
Carruthers:
Think of successful people you know and they likely have something
in common...
Jerry
Acuff:
When we look at the most successful people, almost all of them
to a person, having exceptional ability to naturally build relationships.
Consultant
Jerry Acuff author of the book, The
Relationship Edge in Business.
When
we talk about relationship building, we're not talking about
creating friendships or networking, what we're talking about
is creating relationships where the customer or colleague values
a relationship with you.
Because
people like doing business with people they have relationships
with, and the way to start a relationship is to ask questions,
like ...
If you
get a chance to go around again and could, what would you do
that you're not doing now? What kind of vacations do you like
to take? What do you enjoy reading? Understanding that person,
and getting them to reveal to us what they treasure is the starting
point of us beginning to differentiate ourselves from everybody
else.
Another
great technique for building relationships, says Jerry, is inexpensive,
unexpected, thoughtful things.
For example
if you like Seton Hall basketball, and you lived in Los Angeles,
I might call somebody I know in New Jersey and ask them to get
me a copy of the newspaper after Seton Hall won a big basketball
game, and have that mailed to you. It's something that says
that this person is important to you, and that you are different
from other people.
At somethingyoushouldknow.net,
I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.
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