Good Business is About Relationships - Part I

Why business is about more than being organized

Building a business or building a career, your success will depend upon relationships. Much is written on the web about GTD - Getting Things Done, following To-Dos, avoiding distractions and so on. It is true, many a worker would be more effective if they could get on with it. But no matter how efficient or inefficient you are, your success will depend on relationship building.

Good business is not just about piece work as too-strict following of systems might leave you thinking. It’s not about being so tight with your systems that you never have to lift your head from the computer writing reports and building PowerPoint presentations. Not that David Allen and the GTD crowd believe this, but there are so many systems on the web that it is easy not to see the forest for the trees - to forget what good business is really all about because you are so focussed on efficiency.

“You can’t make a sale by being efficient. Your best clients will require your personal attention.”

No matter how efficient you may become, at the end of the day you will need strong relationships to succeed. If you managed to be the most streamlined person with a tight calendar, no email or any other distractions you would still be left with important work to be done. For that to be done well, you have to rely on relationship building.

You can’t make a sale by being efficient. Your best clients will require your personal attention. You need to understand them and what their needs are. You need to be prepared to help them at any time. You need to provide service that goes beyond what others provide. And yes, it’s a cutthroat world out there, but if you build a relationship with your clients, if you get to know them as people and are appreciated for who you are, you will have a leg up. You will be turned to when they need more. You will be recommended to new customers. You will have contacts to help develop new business.

In the end your business will grow - and you’ll need some great systems to stay organized so that you can keep building relationships!

Coming Soon: Part II - Tips for Building Lasting Business Relationships

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