Key Components of Striking “That” Deal and Maintaining A Business Relationship

As a marketer, we like to tell stories – stories of brands, products, needs and wants etc. Marketing is all about how to tell the right story to the right audience. There are many components that go into telling the “perfect story” and each and everyone of them should be equally important. Follow these tips in order to secure the deal that marks the beginning of a strong long lasting business relationship.

INTEGRITY: The key to have a successful business relationship is integrity. Without integrity the relationship is likely to fail. There are many attributes that go along with presenting yourself with integrity. You must possess and portray the following traits:

-       Honesty

-       Truthfulness

-       Honor

-       Reliability

-       Communication

Beyond integrity, is how we present ourselves in entirety. The tone of our voices, facial expressions and body movements can all often tell a different story then the words flowing from our mouths. How you present yourself can make all the difference in how others respond to what you have to say. By simply changing the tone of your voice or increasing facial expressions along with body movements, you can relay to the opposing party your position and how you feel about the topic on hand. Using a raised, high-pitched tone along with a smile and raised eye-brows shows genuine excitement in a proposed marketing plan or mutual product or service. 

Before going into a business meeting or proposal there are many things you should do in order to prepare yourself. First, you should show respect for the opposing business, become aware of the company you want to work with. Research who they are, what they do, where they stand in the business world, previous marketing campaigns, the culture they come from etc. Knowing whom you are working with gives you the advantage in finding a common ground. Finding a common ground is important because it’s a legit basis for the beginning of a potential relationship. In order to achieve this, find similarities in your business models, the fact that you both do business using the same principals eludes to a smooth business relationship in the future. If you are doing business with someone from another country, his or her culture is sure to be different. Research their culture – know what displays respect and stay away from what displays disrespect, no matter where the business meeting takes place.

First impressions are everything. In the business world it’s not all about who you can impress, who you can entertain and who you can immediately relate to using personal antidotes. Social relationships hinder the ability to grow and foster professional business relationships inside and outside the workplace. There is a major difference between a social relationship with a business partner and a business relationship with a business partner. You want to make a quality first impression and introduction. Always be genuine and deliver value without expecting an immediate payoff. Your business is their number one priority and that should be known immediately. You should be true to yourself and remain sincere; be authentic to yourself. People want to do business with who you ARE, how who you think they want you to BE.

Once you have shown your self in a true light, be sure to communicate your added value and long-term approaches. Adding value gives people a reason to associate with you, always offer to give more than you expect to receive. Think long term, not just about the task at hand. Make it known that you are aware of their upcoming or new projects and how you can use the same strengths for this project to launch and propel their upcoming initiatives into success. By doing this your showing a commitment and personal investment in their brand.

Start with understanding where you and the other person sit today (show facts, charts, numbers, graphs etc.) as well as like goals and objectives that will lead to a better tomorrow. Showing them how you can achieve greatness for their products shows initiative. When both parties trust each other and are working toward common goals, you diminish the vendor-client relationship and merge to a partnership where both parties are seen as trusted advisors, working together to achieve the same goals.

Let them know that you’ve thought ahead. Explain that you’ve thought through every aspect of your business/marketing plan and development by identifying unlikely potential issues with the plan. Be sure to rectify that with a well thought out crisis management plan specific to their initiative. Show them that you will know what to do in order to handle and work through potential problems.

Once you’ve nailed down that first business deal, its time to work on building a strong business partnership for the long haul.  Get to know one another personally and professionally. Keep things friendly and “safe” – stay away from controversial topics like religion and politics. Spark neutral conversations about family, vacation spots, children and sports. To be successful, you have to carefully balance the perfect work-life professional business relationship… it can be done!

Be prepared to answer any and all questions they throw at you with grace and confidence. Showing confidence in yourself and in your past work/decisions and other will believe that you have confidence in their brand.

Here are a few more tips on how to maintain a strong relationship:

* During the relationship, you must be competent, reliable and trustworthy.

* Delivering on promises is essential to developing and maintaining credibility.

* You much also continually help one another, stay active in their business and social network

* Follow-up and follow through. Communication is key! Maintain communication with daily phone calls, emails, scheduled follow-up meetings and/or business lunches. Once you have initiated a relationship, you much nurture it and make it flourish.

* Understand what they are NOT saying and understand what they ARE saying. The customer is always right, especially when it comes to developing and supporting brand management. Just because you don’t agree with the implementation or marketing goals/messages doesn’t mean your way is the right way. Its all about supporting individually and bringing someone else’s vision to life, no matter what your personal thoughts are. Brands are individual and unique; keep it that way.

* Empower them