INTRODUCTION:

We live in a fast paced society, driven by technology, yet we still spin our wheels regularly with our business relationships. In this article, I'll go over 3 very simple ways to delineate your work flow and maximize your return on relationships.

3 Steps To Success:

First things first, we need to separate business from personal relationships. Here is the quick and easy to determine which is which:

1. Personal- You hang out on weekends, bbq, your kids play together and your wives shop together. You don't mind not having a monetized relationship, because your life is personally enriched by the relationship.
2. Business- This relationship is a use/use relationship. Networking consistently to exchange ideas that are quickly turned into revenue. Making business introductions regularly to promote forward progress.
3. The Abyss- This is the relationship we so eagerly dive into, yet we know better. There is a constant hope that something will be produced, but rarely is.

Let's take a look at what expectations should be in place for ensuring the best exposure and capture within your business relationships:

• Never leave a business meeting without tangeable action items which lead to monetized and/or service related gains for both parties.
• If the business relationship is in the courting process for more than 1 month without actionable progress, cut the relationship, as time invested versus time value has been tipped upside down. Realize that actionable progress may not include monetizing the relationship, however should be headed in that direction with achievable short term goals.
• Always stay on the task of business until monetization has been brought to fruition.
• While learning and understanding the client to obtain the best results is a necessary step within the sales process, hanging out on the golf course in hopes they brought their check book is a fool's game.

CONCLUSION:

Everything comes right down to taking the next steps in business. Without consistent progression of your business relationships, they become cloudy, and the sales process (along with revenues) will always suffer. Just remember that 99% of the sales force can achieve 90% results, however the 1% that achieves the remaining 10% are deemed successful. Are you one of the 1%?