For a business to be successful, they must implement a solid business model and marketing strategy to be able to effectively serve their customers and generate a profit. Businesses must also have extensive knowledge of their industry as well as the needs of their target audience. While it is important for businesses to build an internal model for success, almost all successful businesses also have a strong network consisting of other businesses that contribute to their growth and success.
It’s not just what you know, it’s also who you know.
While Trendler has built a strong and successful company, our business network has contributed to our success as we have worked with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), wholesalers, retailers, suppliers, and more to help grow our business. In this episode of Brothers, Battles and Bounty, the Gfesser brothers discuss the importance of building professional relationships to form strong business networks and how this benefits businesses.
You can watch the full episode here:
Building Professional Relationships Beyond the Transactional
Virtually all business relationships are built on the transactional benefits that keep the businesses involved going. As important as the transactional benefits are, Martin explains that it is crucial to have business relationships that go beyond the transactional when things go wrong. When business is going well, all business partners are happy and friendly with each other but when there is a problem, it is important for the businesses you work with to have your back.
Martin gives an example in which a business falls on a bit of hard times and needs a couple extra weeks to pay an invoice. A business partner that truly has your best interests at heart and values your relationship would be willing to give your business that extra time to help you get back on track. Martin specifically mentions a steel vendor that Trendler has worked with since the 1980s, Lexington Steel, and how they made it a priority to help Trendler find steel during the steel shortage while honoring their contract instead of inflating prices.
Anton adds to this by explaining that Trendler began looking at steel as more than a commodity and saw the importance of building a strong relationship with the steel vendor for good times and bad times. Trendler also brings this same approach to their customers as we want to be more than a commodity supplier to OEMs and wholesalers, we also want to take care of them when they are going through tough times.
It is important for businesses to have the type of professional relationships across the board that go beyond the transactional so they can feel confident that their partners will have their back when the time comes.
Building Relationships with Customers
It is always important for businesses to build good relationships with their customers, whether they are individual consumers or businesses. At Trendler, we have many customers that are businesses, and we emphasize building strong relationships with them as well as our vendors. As Stefan explains, the best business customers to build relationships with are businesses that have a future vision and see your business as part of their future. Stefan asks prospective business customers where they see Trendler three years from now to help him understand if they see a future working with Trendler. He then states that it is easier to build and grow with businesses that have this type of future vision.
Anton adds that it is also important to understand what type of business customer you are dealing with, whether it’s a family-owned business, corporate business, or private company. The relationships we build with the purchasing manager are extremely important and it helps when there is low turnover at this position, such as with family-owned businesses. When the purchasing manager changes, the entire relationship with that business can change.
Andreas explains that taking a relationship focused approach elevates the partnership. To do this, we assess whether the customer is looking to the future, how they may respond during hard times, and if they are looking for a short-term or long-term connection. He emphasizes that it’s the people you work with who make things happen and as your business gains a reputation of being able to navigate these relationships over time, these relationships become a precious commodity.
Developing Professional Relationships
An important point that Stefan explains is that making a strong connection with a professional from another business who influences decision making is the key. It starts with asking the right questions so you can understand their needs and help them feel like your business is the solution.
Andreas expands on this point by explaining that Trendler is only a small part of the operation of our business partners, but we want them to think about us in relevant situations. Building the relationship by spending time with business partners in recreational activities develops memories and a personal connection that brings the relationship to a level above simply being transactional.
Anton adds to this by explaining that it is also important to listen to feedback and requests from customers. The goal is to ensure that your customers can trust your business to fulfill their needs. If they ask us for something we do not currently do, then we make the adjustment to meet that need which helps improve our business.
Building great relationships with customers that exceed transactional relationships also helps bring in more customers through referrals. Businesses that have had good experiences with your business will refer you to others in their network who are looking for a service or product you provide. Trendler has also found many service providers this way who can best meet our needs so we can better serve our customers.
Expanding Professional Networks
Trendler is operated by the four Gfesser brothers who specialize in different disciplines and have built different networks of people. Because of this, Trendler can easily tap into multiple business networks. Having access to multiple business networks means more potential customers and suppliers, which can be beneficial for a business.
This prompts Stefan to pose a question to Andreas; how many people can one person have in their network and still be able to effectively communicate with and develop this network? Andreas cites past statistics that suggested this number is between 5 and 10. However, current technology allows for more effective communication between larger groups of people and Andreas estimates that technology triples these numbers. No matter how many people are within your network, it is important to develop each connection individually based on their needs and where they see themselves in the future with your business.
Martin uses social media to illustrate that having a large digital network does not translate to an effective network. He points out that while a business may have hundreds or even thousands of connections on social media, chances are that they do not communicate daily with any of them. More friends and followers on social media make it look like a business has a large network, but in reality, this is not a real network if there is no consistent, effective communication. Yet as Andreas explains, social media can still be an effective tool to identify potential network connections by paying attention to followers who are in a similar industry and seeking out the same networks.
If you want to see more of the Brothers, Battles & Bounty podcast with the Gfesser brothers, visit Trendler’s YouTube channel. You can watch the complete episode about building and developing business networks here: