Building Business Relationships - Networking without the Work

Building Business Relationships - Networking without the work

Many people struggle with the concept of networking. This article may give you some useful tips on how to create a professional network of business associates.

When I began my own first business as a Sports Injury Therapist, I found my clients were the most effective means of referrals. A referral is the best form of advertising because most referrals convert to sales. Looking after client relationships is far more that just meeting their expectations on the day. My number one rule was that I put my client's needs first even if that meant I referred them onto another practitioner for adjunctive or alternative care.

Those referrals to other practitioners became my next most powerful means of gaining business. I was selective about whom I referred to. They had either been highly recommended to me, or I had personally experienced their service, so I knew the quality of their work. I wanted the best possible service and outcome for my clients and the people I referred to were a reflection of my own standards.

The most effective way of creating a professional network is to use a referral as a means of showcasing your own professionalism. In my case, after gaining the client's permission, I wrote a referral letter detailing why I had referred the client, what my own analysis of the situation was and what action I had taken. I would finish by asking the practitioner to discuss their findings and proposed plan for the client. This worked on several levels;

1) The client got the best possible service from both parties, with open dialogue between the service providers.
2) I value added to my service without it costing me anything and all the while ensuring the client's best interests were served.
3) The practitioner to whom I referred now knew me, and had a good idea of my knowledge and experience and how they could be able to utilise my services for their clients.
4) Dialogue was opened for building strong business relationships.

As a business coach I apply the same principles. When I began my coaching business for example, I spoke with my accountant and book keeper and asked them to describe their perfect clients, so that I could refer people to them. We discussed how each of us could fill the gaps in each others services and refer to each other. With the client's permission, where appropriate we communicate as a team to ensure the client gets the outcome they are looking for.

A good example is a client who is a physio therapist working in private practice,
specializing in working with brain injured patients. Integral to his work is writing patient health reports for the insurance companies and agencies that provide the majority of his business.

Following major surgery for cancer he developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which was leaving him exhausted. As a result he was having difficulty finding the motivation or energy to write and submit the essential health reports and had a significant backlog.

The consequences were severe - without submitting the reports he could not invoice for his work, and when he did eventually submit large invoices for work done in arrears he would inevitably have to fight to receive payment. In all, his reporting, invoicing and credit control were all in dangerous disarray. His professional reputation was suffering and referrals were dwindling.
As his business began to unravel he also began to lose confidence in his ability to regain the trust of the agencies who referred business to him. He contacted me to help get everything back on track.

There were several aspects that I needed to coach him on, for the purpose of this article I will focus on those which relate to the power of building relationships in business.

With the reporting being central to a successful outcome, we developed a strategy that broke the report writing down into manageable blocks and reframed his perspective on writing them, from being a burden to being an opportunity to showcase his professionalism. His reports would become the basis on which he would regain the trust of the agencies and bring in referrals for more business.

To rebuild relationships with the referring agencies, we needed to look at how he could manage relationships with some difficult case managers, who's co-operation would be essential for gaining referrals and for getting paid on time. Previously his attitude had been that his dealings with them had always been difficult, and his strategy for this was to become aggressive and use their chain of command to complain. The results were predictably poor and just increased his stress.

We looked at different approaches that would make the outcome more about the case manager than about him. I asked him to consider the case manager as a client and how that would change the way he worked with them. He realised that by helping the case manager in their task, even if it meant stepping beyond his expected responsibility to them, that he could build stronger relationships that would work in his favour. By becoming the provider that made every effort to meet and exceed their expectations, he would win back their trust and respect.

These strategies were very effective in finding solutions to both the reporting and rebuilding his business. Once the reporting was on track, we discussed the need to put his accounting practices in order. I put him in touch with my book keeper who introduced him to an excellent accounting package so he could do most of his own book keeping himself and keep track of his invoicing and credit control with ease, with the book keeper just checking things over once a month or more if needed.

With the client's permission, the book keeper and I remain in contact. If my client begins to let his books fall behind, and the book keeper is unable to prod the client into action, a laser coaching session is usually sufficient to get him back on track. The expertise for the accounting is provided by the book keeper and the accountant.

The results have been a resounding success, with my client reporting his highest turnover to date. Equally important, he is also the healthiest and most stress free he has been in years. I am enjoying the reward of his success, and I'm grateful for the 3 coaching clients he has referred to me.

Building strong business relationships can be placed in two categories:

1) Building your client base
Remember your clients are the most important business relationships you can have.
They are your best form of referrals and referrals are more likely to convert to sales.
Think of ways you can value add to your service without it costing you any more - free information and judicious referrals that save your client time and money are very effective.
Think of ways that will ensure your client will want to maintain contact with you, such as newsletters or loyalty incentives, and of course very high standards of service.



2) Your professional network
Think about who shares your clients and how you might be able to help each other by way of referrals
Choose who you include in your professional network carefully:
Do they match your standards of service and integrity?
Will they reciprocate your referrals?
Will they communicate openly with you if appropriate so that you can ensure your client gets the best possible service?
Get to know more about the services they offer and vice versa
Would they make a good venture partner?
Give First
Be clear about your expectations and boundaries


Building Business Relationships - Networking without the Work - To learn more about this author, visit Sally Jacobs's Website.

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