"We're going out to meet with our clients. We need to go out and see them," one of the executives said. The commercial was for a major airline.

A powerful point can be made that in many ways we have lost our personal touch in business. While there are many benefits to the technology solutions we all enjoy, there is certainly something to be said for the value of personal contact and the concept of nurturing quality business relationships.

At our own office a few years ago we somewhat stumbled onto the idea that building quality business relationships needs to be embedded into our business plan. It all started when a former employee, whom we had trained in the business, lied about why she wanted to leave our company. (She really didn't want to spend more time with her kids.)  While we were paying her she started her own business, she stole merchandise, files and customers.

Since our business is so personal to me and my heart and soul are in it, I felt violated. The positive thing about this negative situation was that it forced me to step back and take a look at the values of our business. Some of our clients were caught in the middle of this situation, thinking they were doing business with our company (the one with whom they had a relationship), only to discover that they were doing business with someone else.

In addressing the mess this made, we considered what we wanted to convey to our clients. After evaluating the situation, we decided that we wanted to focus on the value of our business relationships. It became clear to us that the business relationships we have developed are everything! Thus we started a theme of "building our business by building relationships."

We needed to look at why someone would want to do business with us instead of the former employee with whom they had some contact. After all, they did not know this person was a liar and a thief. The answer we felt led us to the importance of nurturing quality business relationships. Clients want to do business with someone they know and trust.

This may not seem like an earth-shattering concept. But if you break it down, it's easy to see that without quality interaction with others, we have nothing. Business relationships include not only our clients, but also our team members and suppliers. To succeed, we all need to work together.

Let's address suppliers for a moment. We should not overlook the fact that we need our vendors. I'm sure most of you can recall when someone jumped through some hoops to make something happen for you. Not too long ago, a normally reliable vendor messed up on an order. We were told by one customer service rep that what needed to happen to resolve the problem was impossible. The product could not be produced in less than four hours and go out Fed Ex to arrive in the morning for our client's event. However, because of the strong relationship we have with this vendor, someone made it happen. We were told that it cost them a bit of Godiva chocolate, but it got done. We felt extremely blessed, and sent a nice thank you gift. It was a simple thing, but it's important to try to say thank you, and thus maintain those relationships. Never underestimate the value of having strong relationships with your suppliers.

How about our team members? We have businesses of varying sizes, but if you have employees, you understand how important they are to making things run smoothly. We need to do what we can to support them and do what we can to show our appreciation. When I was away several times in a month presenting our Marketing Toolbox workshops, it was the team that was "minding the store." While it may seem to be a small gesture, we thought it would be a nice idea to send flowers to our office staff while I was gone.

Of course building quality relationships with our customers is critical. They are the lifeblood of our business. If we can take the client relationship to a deeper level, it will reap huge rewards. While we don't normally feel comfortable getting too personal with our clients, the concept of the "kid connection" is something we do enjoy. We came across this powerful idea when we were printing shirts for one of our clients. One of the owner's sons was having a baby, and the thought of imprinting a kid's "onesie" infant garment with their company logo seemed like a good one. As you might imagine, the client was quite surprised. The fact that we actually considered their grandchild immediately took the relationship to a more intimate level. After all, what is most important to business owners? Their business and their families! Touching on that emotion is a great way to take the business relationship a bit deeper. See our related story entitled, Do You Want Clients for Life?

There is another often-overlooked side to the business relationship concept, which has to do with having a mutual respect for one another. In a trade publication article I wrote, I addressed the idea of qualifying clients. We all know the type of client who will use and abuse you. There are those customers who don't really value what you do, or will go to a competitor for a dime, without giving you the opportunity to earn their business. There is no relationship.

Imagine if you could actually educate the client on the value of a quality business relationship - a relationship where doing business is like a partnership. You and the customer are working together to achieve a goal. The type of business environment where the customer understands about deadlines and that in order to pay your overhead, you need to make a reasonable profit. This may sound like a dream, but we are convinced that in some cases, clients do understand this concept. We know that it is unrealistic that every client will get this, but the rewards are great for everyone if they do.

We have created and copyrighted a marketing tool which we can customize for businesses that clearly outlines this concept. Since we have "branded" our business with a "Marketing Toolbox" theme and focus on a business building position, the idea of a "Business Relationship Blueprint" was a natural addition to our other construction-themed marketing materials. Whatever format you use to convey this concept, it can be extremely powerful if you are effective in conveying the idea. I would encourage you to brainstorm creative ways you can share this concept with your prospects and clients.

If you are able to take the business relationship to a deeper level, one that touches on caring and having a mutual respect for each other, it is awesome! The bottom line is that business relationships are the foundation of every successful company. If we have a strong foundation, based on good relationships, we will be in a better position to build our companies in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

© Jeff Solomon, CAS -  All American Marketing Group