The pillar of Business …. Relationships

Relationships have been on my mind recently.  There are so many types of relationships out there.  In fact, straight from Google:

re·la·tion·ship

rəˈlāSH(ə)nˌSHip/

noun

1. the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

   “the study will assess the relationship between unemployment and political attitudes”

   synonyms:

   connection, relation, association, link, correlation, correspondence, parallel, alliance, bond, interrelation, interconnection “the relationship between diet and diabetes”

   • the state of being connected by blood or marriage.

     “they can trace their relationship to a common ancestor”

     synonyms:

     family ties, family connections, blood ties, blood relationship, kinship, affinity, consanguinity, common ancestry, common lineage

   • the way in which two or more people or organizations regard and behave toward each other.

     “the landlord–tenant relationship”

The relationship I’m focusing on is the latter one mentioned above.  ‘The way in which two or more people or organizations regard and behave toward each other.  Or rather, “the Business-Customer relationship”.

As I mentioned in my ‘About Me’, I had recently pivoted out of a long-time career in print media, where I had built strong relationships over time with my customers.  I mean, these relationships were strong, they were clad tight!  My customers knew they could count on me for superior customer support, great products, while I represented a company that stood on integrity and innovation of products and services.  They were, ahem, are …. the leader within their product-base.

Then, came our competitor who had started nipping at the heels of our customers, essentially offering ridiculous pricing that made us all scratch our heads in wonderment and ask ourselves … how are they able to pull this off?  And, with that, the products my team were offering, slowly became a commodity.  Yes, it happened.  Even with strong relationships, business was lost.  I asked myself, how can my customers turn on me .. didn’t they know that I was there for them, always??  I gave them the best in products, offered them gold-standard customer service, and I would always go to bat for them.  But, price became the deciding factor within this industry … sadly, it did not matter how strong the relationship, nor the pillar of support you provided them in years past.

I bring this up, not to make any of my previous customers feel badly, or uncomfortable (should they be reading this blog).  As I pivot into a new industry and try to break into / down the barriers to get noticed, and introduce my services to a whole new audience. I ask myself, am I now that ‘competitor’?  I take stock, and scream … heck NO!  I cringe at the thought of only selling on price, and make a vow.  I will NOT be that competitor.  I will move forward with the same integrity as I did previously.  I offer a valuable service .. whether it’s in home staging, interior decorating, estate downsizing services, or niche content and advertising programs. I will put my best foot forward on building trust and gain the support of my new customer base.  Great relationships are important … they are the foundation to any great business.

Recently, while prospecting and making my introductions, I received several replies from potential (future) customers, saying, “They have a great relationship with who they are using currently”, … and I reply ….

Brava!!!