Whether you realize it or not, all great businesses have one thing in common. Business owners know how to build and maintain respectful, fulfilling and mutually beneficial relationships with their employees, their customers, their suppliers, and sometimes, even their competitors.

Great business and professional relationships don’t happen overnight. They take time to grow and result to fragile little things that have to constantly be nurtured.  A slight slip or a small misstep, might mean the beginning of the end of a business or professional relationship.

We learn to build strong relationships overtime. Like a building a fort, we assess the weak areas and reinforce them to build a strong, solid structure. Business and professional relationships are the same. Those in a business and professional relationship try to learn as much as they can from one another in order to fortify their strengths and reinforce their weaknesses in order to build a strong and solid alliance.

Here are a few tips on Building Business and Professional Relationship Based on Mutual Trust and Growth:

Be honest:

Be transparent. Let all your stakeholders know what you can and cannot deliver. Trust is a two way street, you can’t give it if you don’t have it. Earn trust and it will be reciprocated. Make all efforts to make good on your promises and prove that you are trustworthy.

Give what you expect.

If you expect quality service from your people, give them quality service. Let them know how their work impacts the organization as a whole. Make them feel that they are not just some cog in a wheel but a very important part of the business. If you expect return business from your clients, give them an excellent reason to return. It is better to under promise and over deliver than to over promise and under deliver. Always go the extra mile and add a personal touch. Make them feel that their business is important and you will forever have their loyalty.

Be familiar:

A budding relationship is fragile. Learn to grow with your stakeholders. Create a history, a relationship. Get to know each other and you will quickly learn how you can benefit from your business and professional relationship. If you are visible, you create familiarity.

Always welcome feedback:

This is how you grow. This is how you can improve. The best businesses are those who are able to respond to the needs of their stakeholders. So listen, listen, and listen some more. Take complaints and unwelcome suggestions with a grain of salt. There are usually a lot of hidden truths and gems to unsolicited advice. Be sure keep all avenues for feedback open and keep an eye out for opportunities and areas for improvement.

Be reliable:

Reliability is golden. It is what keeps customers loyal to businesses. If you follow the tips above and discount this last tip, all of it will be for naught. So be reliable. Let your employees, your customers, and your suppliers – hell, even your competitors – know that you are reliable. Show them that you are reliable and that you expect nothing less but the same from them. Trust me, they will follow your lead.

Growth entails change, but with a solid foundation of trust you can grow your business and professional relationships and take it towards where you see a mutually beneficial end goal for you and all your stakeholders.

 Written by Jaie T.-  The Help