Doing business is essentially doing trade. Trade means exchanging goods. Exchanging involves giving and taking. This is like the dynamic equilibrium chemists talk about. But instead of atoms or molecules, goods are exchanged. Somehow, you are the door to those goods, and your name is the door to you, so other people will remember you when they remember your name. If you assist them and listen to them when they are in need of something you can provide, they will remember you when it comes to trading that is, doing business. When this happens, you will have started a business network. For this network to grow and be kept alive, you should keep in mind the following facts:
1. First of all, you’ll have to look in the right places in order to see the elements your business network consists of. Be aware that your clients are the most important element of this network. If you lose contact with them, or if you take them for granted, you’ll pay the price. Use their complaints as information, especially when it comes to your own suppliers. If you sell computers, for example, and your clients complain about their performance, you should consider changing your hardware supplier.
2. Share your information. When you find a good supplier, let others know about it, don’t keep this to yourself. That way, you’ll be helping your supplier’s business, and they’ll learn that doing business with you helps them grow.
3. Become a solution, but not a painful one. It’s not about being necessary; it’s about being sufficient (no matter what marketing schools say). Don’t base your business relations on excuses and illness; base them on friendship and aid.
4. Have a clear understanding of what your goal is; try to have a philosophy of your own and believe in it. Learn from others and their mistakes, rather than their success. Often, business people don’t have any idea of why they did well, though they think they do. Look for books about well-known catastrophic mistakes in business history.
5. Keep in touch with your clients. Call them, ask them how they’re doing and do the same with your suppliers. Meet people and listen to what they have to say, share your experience, too. As a famous scientist said, all we have to do is make sure we keep talking.
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John Boyd
www.MeetingWave.com
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