Professional relationships are like bank accounts in two ways.
First, if you have them, they are an asset, that can be used to make more money for you.
The more professional relationships you have the more money you can make.
Second, the more deposits you make into a relationship, the more withdrawals you can take.
Therefore the key to getting more business from professional relationships is to keep giving.
Staying in touch is good but it's not enough.
So here are some ideas to keep giving even when there are no active projects or sales.
Stay up to date with the executives, their company, and their industry.
Interview the execs regularly to learn new issues, opportunities and threats facing each executive.
Keep thinking that conditions change quickly and I need to know how each exec sees it affecting his or her career and job performance and how I can enhance and/or protect his career.
Also make sure you spread throughout the company and interview the whole management team even though some are not directly involved with you solution portfolio.
This will give you a far better perspective of the company's agenda and attitude.
Use the Internet to learn about their industry.
Read their competitors' 10Ks and annual reports.
Contact associations they belong to and read their White Papers and reports about industry trends.
Subscribe to business magazines, newspapers applicable to your customers.
Your focus should be to help them do their job better, so you need to know what's going on.
As you learn and develop ideas, bounce them off the execs to get their feelings.
Use my expose and entice routine to assess interest and/or generate excitement.
The more you know the more you're seen as a resource and their go-to person for help.
Meet regularly - every 90 - 120 days with the direct execs and the CEO/profit center leader.
Meet at least yearly with the others.
Interview and learn.
Share information, new technologies and concepts, and if appropriate, competitive information.
Remember, if you're not seen regularly, you'll be forgotten as your competitors keep pecking away.
Continue to monitor results of projects and sales you've made to them, and share the information for both of your benefits.
Execs forget quickly that it was your system, product or service that's giving them their competitive advantage or growth.
Likewise you need to know what enhancements or corrections have to be addressed to maintain your good reputation.
Things get old quickly as the pace of competition and your customers' demands increase.
Remember to also focus on yourself and your company for win/win.
Once you've given, that is, interviewed, shared info and solidified your relationship, you then have to ask for more business, upcoming opportunities and referrals to more execs for your Golden Network.
Relationships are not a one way street, but be sure there is enough money in the bank before you take withdrawals.
Common Situation You Believe Your Relationship Is Solid Maybe after a sale you do a "Thank You" thing - note, dinner, golf, etc.
You feel you're buddies or at least tight professionally.
People treat professional relationships the same as social relationships.
They assume two people are close and one would not betray the other.
Resulting Problem Competitors Can Penetrate Competitors are constantly approaching your contacts and executives with offers of better, easier, and cheaper.
If your executives feel opportunities or threats can be better served by someone else, you're relationship will weaken at an exponential rate.
The ugliness is that he'll still talk with you, but your request for meetings, information and social events will be ignored.
Check Yourself Score: 4=Always; 3=Most Times; 2=Usually; 1=Sometimes; 0=Never.
1.
Do you have information share meetings with profit center leaders and their staff? _____ 2.
Do your relationships at high levels diminish after the sales stop or projects end? ____ 3.
Do you update success of old sales and projects to senior managers? _____ 4.
Do you replace your competitors' even if they have good relationships? ____ Scoring:1 + 3 + 4 - 2 =?? 6 is good; Less than 6 suggest you should pay closer attention to customers' senior staff.
And now I invite you to learn more.