Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

Good business is not only about selling products or services, but also about maintaining a lasting relationship with your customers. Getting to know your customers is important to building a strong foundation for your business.

Courtesy Is Thy Name

Once you get a new customer, it is important that you build a good rapport with that person. Start with addressing your customers with “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or “Miss.” As your professional relationship builds, it may be okay to address them by their first names.

Learn as much as you can about your customers without appearing too inquisitive or clingy. Different customers have to be handled in different ways - and the sooner you learn this, the sooner they will be comfortable with you. It is also a good idea to brush up on your product knowledge, so that whenever they ask for your advice, you are able to help them out, even in areas not related to your products or services.

You should also keep in touch with your customers by email. Send them details of new products, services or any price revisions that take place. Send them greeting cards on festive occasions by postal mail and email newsletters.

Make Honesty Your Policy

Be honest, transparent, and efficient in your dealings with your customers. This generates good word of mouth publicity, which is the best form of advertising since new customers coming to you this way have already received a good review about your business. This way, your reputation precedes itself, and the customer will require less convincing to generating a sale.

By generating a “Pull” for your product instead of a “Push” you will have succeeded in increasing the demand for your product and services. The advice of long-term customers can also help you in marketing or designing new products or services, in addition to improving existing ones. Their feedback is invaluable - and best of all, it's free!

So, getting to know your customers is very important. In today's world there are many businesses selling the same products and services. It is your knowledge about those products and your relationships with your customers that will help you in the long run.

Employees form the backbone of any organization. Any good small business owner ought to realize that care needs to be taken to keep the backbone healthy.

Employees are human beings with feelings first - and that is how they should be treated. It is a good idea to give awards to deserving employees; it increases their morale and makes them feel appreciated and happy. It will also motivate them to strive harder in the future.

Giving awards will also set an example to other employees to work hard. Awards will also encourage employees to remain loyal to your small business.

Set Up Categories for Awards

Awards can be classified in many different categories such as best service, best attendance, best performance, etc. You can define your own categories of awards to be given, depending on the business you run.

Along with individual awards, you can also give team awards, which will encourage better teamwork. A banner announcing the different types of awards - and the names and photographs of employees who have won those awards should be placed prominently for all employees and customers to see.

Plan a Surprise

In addition, you can also plan surprise awards, which you can announce at the completion of a successful project or deal. Everybody loves to be pleasantly surprised, and your employees are no different. Such awards can motivate other employees to work harder in the future.

Awards can be given on a monthly basis. For example, a particular employee can be chosen to be the “Employee of the Month”. This will keep employees' motivation high, especially when they see their name for that particular month. Take care to give only deserving employees this award. That way, you are sending the message that the award is strictly based on performance.

For a small business to remain healthy and happy, its employees need to feel happy, appreciated and motivated. Awards are one sure way of telling your employees that their efforts and hard work are appreciated. It is also a way to recognize them and thank them for their service.

Tips for Building Better Business Relationships

A business relationship is like a tree - it will bear fruit only after it is properly nurtured and cared for. Business relationships can be formed between you and your employees, your suppliers and also with your customers.

Listed below are some tips that you might find useful in building better and longer- lasting relationships.

Have patience

To build a good business relationship, patience is important. Be it with customers, suppliers or employees, it takes time to build a relationship. The foundation of that relationship has to be rock solid to sustain it over a period of time, as well as withstand some minor misunderstandings that might come up from time to time.

Respect others

A business relationship will make progress if only both parties involved respect each other. That means listening to each other's viewpoints and reaching a quick and painless compromise in cases where views do not match.

Taking one step backward can often diffuse an argument.

Be honest and trustworthy

Especially with customers, be transparent and honest in your dealings. Cheating customers can never help build long-term relationships. If the customer does not trust you completely, it will take quite a lot of effort to sell them anything.

In being honest with your employees, they will realize that they can trust you to solve any of their grievances or problems, if any. Similarly, by making prompt payments your suppliers and remaining loyal to them, your suppliers will realize that they can count on you for their steady sales - and they will provide you with great service in return.

Stay in touch

To build long-term relationships, it is important to keep in touch. To stay in touch with customers, it is better to maintain a database, which you can utilize to send greeting cards, birthday cards or just information about new products. Remember your important customers, and keep in touch with them personally.

Nurture and take good care of the tree of business relationships - and reap the rich dividend of fruits that will result from doing so.