Guest Post written by Claire Hastings, fashion trends editor at Dolce Placard.
It’s 2018, and the competition in any niche is stronger than ever. To make matters worse, it will only continue getting stronger, so you have to do everything it takes to keep your relationships intact and healthy. Not only is it a good way to do business, it can also prove extremely good for your business in the future. However, if you don’t know how to achieve this, you’ve come to the right place. Take a look at all the ways you can keep your business associates satisfied and close, with just a bit of hard work.
PEOPLE FROM THE SAME PROFESSION
Even though you might regard each other as competition, you know the classic one – keep your friends close and your enemies closer. OK, substitute the word “enemy” with the word “competition” in this case. Namely, maintaining good relations with your competitors can certainly help your business in the future, because after all, you want to make the pool of your potential clients bigger, and you will be able to do that together. If you’re in the beauty business, you can organize together a photo shoot that will feature products from both companies, and if you are, for example, influencers, you can definitely sit together and talk about the different possibilities that the two (or more) of you can do together. After all, you might need help from them sometime, and it might happen that you’ll be the one offering help – so it’s always good to befriend your competition.
BUSINESS PARTNERS
We’re talking suppliers, sponsors and other partners that you work with, but are not your actual clients. Perhaps you’re their client for the sake of your job (for example, the IT company that manages your website or the company that takes care of your social networks). The best way to keep them close and show how good a partner you are is by giving them thoughtful unique gifts. They will be quite happy to receive such a present, and probably wish to stay your business partner for a very, very long time. These types of present don’t cost much, and it’s always a good idea to spend a bit in order to keep the people who help your business happy.
POTENTIAL CLIENTS
There is nothing more important than creating (and later on maintaining) a great relationship with potential clients so that they become – wait for it – your ACTUAL clients! Since the number of clients is the most important thing to grow, and they are still not your clients, the best way to do this is by organizing nowadays quite popular giveaways. That means that you can take your own product or something similar that will make people happy, and give it away as a present. Not only will you make a new client, you will actually increase your following, which can only be good for your job. Another thing that you can do is give discounts of some sort, so that they really get the impression that doing business with you is just the thing they need.
ACTUAL CLIENTS
Even though your main priority is to gather new clients, keeping your current ones happy and satisfied should be another great concern of yours. One of the easiest ways is to organize a small get-together from time to time, or a company party (which will include your employees, but for more information scroll down) that you will invite everyone to. You can also give them small but unique present for the end of the year or a similar jubilee, with a logo of your company. That way, you will show how thoughtful you are and they will still have a certain memory of you.
EMPLOYEES
Let’s not forget the most important parts of your machinery – your employees, as without them, you would probably be nothing. According to Gallup, only 32% of employees consider themselves satisfied and engaged, so you need to make sure everyone working for you feels satisfied. The best way to do this is to give competitive salaries, but since this could be a bit challenging, you can always organize company parties or teambuilding activities to make them relaxed and recharge their batteries. Another thing that you can do is distribute questionnaires for them to grade you as the boss, just so that you could see if you’re heading in the right direction.
As you can see, keeping good relationships and your business associates close and happy isn’t a lot of work – you just have to be thoughtful and ask yourself what you would like your business partners to be like.
