Business is all about relationships, and those relationships form the foundation for the day-to-day interaction that makes up a large part of all business activity. However well they might deliver, it is not enough for organizations to simply provide particular services or a range of goods. A successful business also needs to be able to conduct deals so that these goods and services can find a suitable market in which to operate efficiently and profitably.
Some deals are more important than others and require a special kind of attention. That said, there are some fundamental principles that should be applied to any business deal in order to maximize the chances of success.
Personal Contact
Although the world has become technologically more advanced, with increasingly innovative ways of communicating and doing business, the most traditional means are often still the best. For particularly important clients, there is little substitute for a personal phone call. An email or text message will simply not have the same effect when building a relationship. Similarly, as businesses grow and look globally for new markets, it is important to note how many cultures place greater value on hearing a human voice when conducting an important business deal.
With that in mind, it is important for a business to make sure they have the right processes and technology in place to maintain contact with clients. Organizations are increasingly looking to suppliers such as Primus Business and their unique SIP service options, to provide the means to achieve exactly this.
Areas of Risk
These are some potential areas to be very careful of when conducting business deals, as they invariably present significant risks which can slow down or even prevent deals going through.
- Remember that any deal should be treated as one of many, so avoid the temptation to negotiate as hard as possible. Offer freebies or extra services to sweeten the deal as this makes it far more likely that you will have an opportunity to negotiate again in the future.
- Customers like things to be as simple and efficient as possible, so minimize the number of channels by which you communicate with them and make sure you are making things as easy as possible. Payment channels, for example, should be completely user-friendly and ideally chosen by the customer.
- Building on the idea of the importance of the human contact as discussed above, it is also helpful to make sure that a client or customer gets to build a relationship with one or two people. This is far more appealing than being passed around between a group of employees, who could present a disorganized and inefficient image as a result.
Maintaining Relationships
Many experts from the world of business would agree that a business deal can only be conducted successfully when the parties have rapport. With this in mind, it is critical to make sure that the right communication channels are in place in order to allow effective relationships to be built and developed, and the most effective deals secured as a result.