How to Perfectly Initiate the Business Relationship

If there is one cliché that rings true every time, it’s that first impressions are critical. In the business relationship, first impressions begin long before the first actual meeting. In order to clarify that we will deliver a perceived value to our prospect, we need to cultivate rapport and establish trust. We do so by positioning ourselves as think-partners and providing the education-based briefing.

In our globalized era, every market is fast-changing market, no matter the industry. Because of our prospects’ involvement in both the day-to-day goings-on in their company, as well as short- and long-term goals in it, keeping up with the industry as a whole becomes challenging. Nonetheless, our prospects do need to keep up. Our awareness of their needs give us the potential to supply the information that satisfies that need.

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According to Fast Company, “Trust is the cornerstone of every relationship” (emphasis ours). The business relationship is no different: in order for the relationship to even begin, we must first establish trust with our future buyer.

Perceived Value

The most effective way to build the rapport and trust when we need to start a business relationship is to promise and deliver a perceived value. Our value, as a potential think-partner, is our knowledge of the prospects’ industry. We know that the information we provide is invaluable, and that our prospects’ time is invaluable, as well. For that reason, when we attempt to secure the first meeting, it is essential that we offer the perceived value of knowledge. We should offer ourselves as the prospects’ think-partner—the person on whom they can rely to update them on the industry’s changes.

Selling Versus Educating

Even before your first business meeting, we don’t want our prospects to feel as though they’re being sold, but that they are being educated. “Selling” breaks rapport, but educating builds it. Through the education-based briefing, we generate more interest during the meeting by teaching the prospects something about their market that gives real, useful value.

The Bottom Line:

Here are the most important tips to remember about perfectly initiating the business relationship:

  1. First impressions are critical.
  2. We need to clarify that we will deliver a perceived value.
  3. By delivering information, or an education-based briefing, we establish ourselves as a think-partner.
  4. By following through on what we promise, we cultivate rapport and establish trust.

To utilize—and bring evidence to support—another cliché, everyone’s main interest is him- or herself. When we establish ourselves as a think-partner, we answer the question “What’s in it for me?” before the prospect even has the chance to ask. We cultivate the rapport and establish trust by seeing a problem (the needed industry information) and then providing a solution. This also positions us as a market expert, someone in whom the prospect can trust to provide updates on their industry.

Image source: Helloquence.