November 15, 2012
Invest Energy in Your Business Relationships
Liz published this at 1:00 pm
by
Rosemary O’Neill
Relationships take work
Strong relationships, both personal and business, take a consistent investment of energy over a long period of time. Anyone who is selling you “likes,†or Twitter followers, or other nonsense like that is not helping you build your business.
The Tickler File
I love to entertain. Part of the fun is making sure that each person who visits always gets their favorite things. My dad loves blueberries, but not ever baked into anything. My sister-in-law has a particular affection for those little white Russian tea cookies. But I could never hold all of that information in my brain, so I cheat a little. In my Evernote system, I have a “dossier†on each person who visits. It’s my relationship tickler file.
Invest Energy in Your Business Relationships
The most successful business owners and entrepreneurs have a strong network of relationships that they can call on when the chips are down. Liz refers to these as “the people who won’t let you fail.â€
But these people don’t just appear out of nowhere. You must slowly build those ties over time, maintaining contact, learning about each other, having face-to-face conversations, and providing support to each others’ causes.
The quick hit of buying followers or making fake reviews will never cut the mustard in the long run. The random stranger who was paid to like your Facebook page won’t be there for you when you launch your new product.
Tips to Build Your Own Tickler File
- Add notes to your contact system or CRM (e.g., “dog named Babsâ€)
- Set up reminders either in Google calendar or in your CRM
- Start noticing when people share preferences or details about their lives
- Foster your sense of curiosity about other people, focus on them when they’re speaking, not on what you’re going to say next
- Don’t just rely on the automated happy birthday status update; get creative and recognize people on days other
- After you meet with someone, write down notes from the meeting for next time, so you can progress each time
than their birthday
How do you invest in your business relationships?
Thank you, Rosemary!
You’re irresistible!
ME “Liz” Strauss
Filed under leadership / management, Marketing /Sales / Social Media | 8 Comments »
C'mon. Let's talk!
8 Comments to “Invest Energy in Your Business Relationships”
Blog Syndication
Click for daily feed
Get the weekly email digest
Find Liz AT:
Liz Strauss
Liz Strauss 
Liz.StraussSOB Pages
Chicago Time
Want to Guest Post?
Search
Library
- About Liz
- Work with Liz!!
- Tues. OPEN COMMENT Night
- POPULAR POSTS
- SUCCESSFUL SERIES
- NEW Business Blogger Page
- Guest Post Guidelines
The Liz Manifesto
- I am a writer who uses language to paint and to play word music, places my heart and head in the spaces, and writes in the hope that one person is better for having read what I wrote.
Category
- Audience (59)
- Blog Basics (146)
- Blog Review (33)
- Bloggy Questions (133)
- Branding (219)
- Business Book (137)
- Business Life (875)
- Checklists (40)
- Comments (265)
- Community (846)
- Content (123)
- Customer Think (123)
- Design (92)
- Idea Bank (33)
- Inside-Out Thinking (106)
- Interviews (86)
- leadership / management (215)
- Links (199)
- Marketing /Sales / Social Media (944)
- Motivation-Inspiration (899)
- Outside the Box (180)
- Productivity (143)
- SEO (78)
- SOB Business (1408)
- Strategy/Analysis (266)
- Successful Blog (5112)
- Tech/Stats (93)
- Tools (186)
- Trends (310)
- Uncategorized (7)
- Writing (338)
Dr. Rae said
Thank you Liz, and Rosemary for this awesome opportunity to share with your community what I have found to be a great investment of my energy, and my time…
Engaging, and sharing with followers works wonders!
Ti Roberts said
Oh I LOVE this post Rosemary! Relationships are definitely what it’s all about when it comes to building a long-term sustainable business online and offline.
I’ve just finished recording a 3 part video series about this very thing, how to build traffic alliances by building relationships. This is SO pivotal and I can’t stress that enough.
I just relaunched my blog at the beginning of last month, and I’ve focused solely on building and leveraging relationships to build up my blog traffic and it’s taken off like a rocket. I used to be a loner but I see now more than ever that there’s NO WAY to build a successful business alone. You have to call on the help of others.
Thanks for writing this post. I found it on BizSugar.com. Shawn Hessinger shared it with our community and I’m so glad he did. It’s wonderful see another true relationship builder and it’s great to connect with you.
Ti
Balancing Numbers said
[...] Build relationships that last. In a world of purchased “likes†or worse yet, Twitter followers, it’s easy to forget what true business relationship building is really about. Well, blogger Rosemary O’Neill is here to remind you of just how important the real deal is to creating a successful business. Real connections will help you when the chips are down. Invest real time and energy in building those relationships and they will be worth much more than that investment as time goes by. Successful Blog [...]
Lisa Kohn said
Thank you Risemary. These words are true. While it is hard to remember every detail, or even to remember to connect with someone, on our own, a tickler system makes it so much easier. And it’s so important! The number of friendships I’ve strengthened and amount of business I’ve won because I’ve stayed in touch and demonstrated I care – even if my to-do list reminded me – is huge.
Post Office Reports a Record $15.9 Billion Loss | BizNax said
[...] Build relationships that last. In a world of purchased “likes” or worse yet, Twitter followers, it’s easy to forget what true business relationship building is really about. Well, blogger Rosemary O’Neill is here to remind you of just how important the real deal is to creating a successful business. Real connections will help you when the chips are down. Invest real time and energy in building those relationships and they will be worth much more than that investment as time goes by. Successful Blog [...]
Heather Stone said
Rosemary,
Thanks so much for sharing these great thoughts on relationship building and, Liz, thanks for posting them. Despite all the technology out there, the rules of getting to know someone haven’t changed. Fakers are pretty easy for most of us to spot, and, of course, even if it weren’t for that, a fake or purchased network is no good to you at all. If you try to make your network look bigger than it is, you probably don’t get it anyway.
Yea! | Post Office Reports a Record $15.9 Billion Loss said
[...] Build relationships that last. In a world of purchased “likes†or worse yet, Twitter followers, it’s easy to forget what true business relationship building is really about. Well, blogger Rosemary O’Neill is here to remind you of just how important the real deal is to creating a successful business. Real connections will help you when the chips are down. Invest real time and energy in building those relationships and they will be worth much more than that investment as time goes by. Successful Blog [...]
Post Office Reports a Record $15.9 Billion Loss » | said
[...] Build relationships that last. In a world of purchased “likes†or worse yet, Twitter followers, it’s easy to forget what true business relationship building is really about. Well, blogger Rosemary O’Neill is here to remind you of just how important the real deal is to creating a successful business. Real connections will help you when the chips are down. Invest real time and energy in building those relationships and they will be worth much more than that investment as time goes by. Successful Blog [...]