When Did You Last Evaluate Your Business Relationships?

Determine which of the six types of business relationships you have and assess whether they are strong enough to win you work.

Building business relationships is fundamental to the success of any business, regardless of industry, market, or size. These relationships span current and past customers or clients, as well as potential clients that the business aims to win. However, how often do directors, partners, fee earners, or business development professionals evaluate their existing and prospective relationships to identify where future revenue will come from?

In this guide, we’ll help you determine which of the six types of business relationships you have and assess whether they are strong enough to win you work. Some of this might feel a bit basic – what we see in practise is that insufficient rigour is applied which can mean wasted effort.

Identify and evaluate business relationships

Start by categorising them into different levels. This approach helps you identify which relationships are worth nurturing and which ones may not be as promising. Here are some potential levels to look at.

Identified Contact

At the lowest level, we have the Identified Contact. Essentially, there is no relationship with these business contacts at the moment. They may have been identified through outreach campaigns, purchased mailing lists, or research. The chances of them buying from you at this stage are virtually zero. It’s akin to receiving a LinkedIn request from a complete stranger and expecting them to place a major order the next day—it’s not going to happen.

Luke Warm Contact

Next, we have the Luke Warm Contact. This level is slightly better but still lacks a substantial relationship. You may have met them previously at an event or business meeting, or had a vague chat over coffee in the distant past. They might also be someone you were introduced to by a known contact. The likelihood of a Luke Warm Contact remembering who you are or what you do in six months is low, and the chances of them buying from you are also unlikely.

Contact

Moving up, we have the Contact. These are individuals who know who you are and what you do, and they will talk to you, but they are hesitant to commit. They seldom return calls or initiate contact, which might make you consider giving up on them. However, their business situation could change in the future, making them need your services. At least as a Contact, you are ‘on their radar’. If you let the relationship wither, they could easily forget about you over time.

Supplier

Most of your relationships likely fall into the Supplier category. Customers or clients who regularly buy from your business are often at this level. They know what you can do for them and have memories of past collaborations. However, they might pigeonhole you, seeing you only as a preferred supplier for specific services, unaware of the other offerings your firm provides. They could also start giving work to other suppliers with whom they feel they have a stronger relationship.

Valued Partner

A Valued Partner relationship is a higher level of engagement. These clients value the work you do for them and regularly seek your advice. They may also introduce you to other people inside and outside their business, expanding your network and opportunities.

Trusted Advisor

The pinnacle of business relationships is the Trusted Advisor. This is a status many aspire to but rarely achieve. Trusted Advisors are called upon for advice and insights on topics both within and outside their service line or expertise. You’ll likely have connections across multiple departments in both businesses. Instead of being one of many suppliers, you’re considered a strategic partner, consistently helping the client achieve their goals. You’ll hear about their thoughts and problems long before any decisions are made about solutions, and you might even be part of the team shaping an invitation to tender or a request for quotation.

Building and maintaining strong business relationships is crucial for long-term success. By understanding the different levels of relationships and strategically investing your time and effort, you can transform cold contacts into loyal clients and elevate your status to that of a Trusted Advisor.

Some questions to help you evaluate your business relationships

Whether you are a director, partner, fee earner or business development professional in any business isn’t it about time you asked some questions about your business relationships?

Here are a few to get you thinking:

- - Who do you want to (and not want to!) have business relationships with?
  - How do you build long term trusting relationships?
  - How do you evaluate your business relationships?
  - Do you really understand the buying motivation of your clients?
  - How do you invest your valuable time for the greatest return?
  - And… how much revenue is not being won or recovered based on the strength of your business relationships?

These are the sorts of questions we help our clients to answer with our Frog Kissing Calculator.

John Moss
Managing Director

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmoss1

More reading:

Business Relationships Win You Work: The Timeless Truth In Professional Services. This article aims to get you thinking more deeply about the relationships you have – or want to have: https://jaconsulting.co.uk/business-relationships-win-you-work/

Trust in Business – The Core Concepts – The Trust Equation, Trust Creation Process and Trust Principles in a business relationship can be found at: http://trustedAdvisor.com/articles/trust-in-business-the-core-concepts

The Trusted Advisor – Maister, David H., Green, Charles H., and Galford, Robert M.. 20^th Edition, 2021 https://trustedadvisor.com/books/the-trusted-advisor

And a final thought

At JA Consulting we help businesses and individuals take the theory of selling and put it into practice. We’re here to help you learn how to spot and grow business opportunities, how to develop strong and transferable selling skills and how to generate robust account management.

If you have any questions, our team is ready to help. Contact us….