10 Tips To Build Client Relationships & Business Networks

A robust social network is a secret behind every great accomplishment or feat of human ingenuity. Indeed, no person or business becomes successful all by themselves.

Multiple stakeholders often converge to produce effective results, and everyone’s skills, expertise, creativity, and perspectives facilitate success. These relationships and business networks are vital because they allow you to complete successful business transactions and learn from the experiences to enhance your products or services.

In fact, in some instances, you are only as good as your networking skills, and everyone’s feedback and knowledge prove invaluable on your journey to the top. 

Here are a few key points to help you cultivate life-long client relationships and productive business networks.

Request Feedback

Perhaps, the best and most helpful service a client can provide you is their feedback. Request feedback regularly to enhance your services and improve your collaborative efforts. Don’t just ask for it after you’ve delivered your product or wrapped up a project. 

Ensuring you ask for feedback implicitly communicates to your clients that you are serious about your relationship with them and actively work to improve it. 

Since they see that you care about their vision and goals, their commitment to your organisation increases. Your proactive approach fosters trust, transparency, and brand loyalty.

Be The Expert

Your client chose you out of a very competitive market. Most organisations and businesses only work with another business entity with relevant expertise. Therefore, you must meet those expectations and deliver as per the agreement. 

You must display your broad industry experience and expertise and offer unique insights that set you apart from other run-of-the-mill technocrats. Your knowledge becomes apparent through something as easy as recommending a particular event or book to them or forwarding them an industry-relevant article or blog – especially if it’s one that you have written!

A strong business network is another support system validating your command over your particular skill.

Get Qualified

Education qualifications and professional certifications go a long way in strengthening your credibility as an expert. Someone in a client-facing position with a Certificate IV in Employment Services is quite a valuable catch. 

This nationally recognised certification can help improve your communication skills with your clients and the business world. Completing this program also teaches you other valuable skills alongside developing your professional legitimacy.

A Cert IV in Employment Services can teach you the skills necessary to connect with the right people. You become the most appropriate person in your industry to help employers meet their recruitment needs or guide people in advancing their careers. 

You can think of the Cert IV in Employment Services as a professional qualification to teach you networking and client management. And the best part about undergoing this training is its relatively short duration. It only takes you 12 months to get certified!

Communication Is Key

Client management is impossible with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely. There is no avoiding this critical fact. Most of your interactions are via email and letters, so you should be able to write them professionally. 

What is it that you want the client to know? Communicate the essential points precisely – including the reason for their importance. Inform the client what you expect of them in response to your email. And if their responses might be varied and unexpected, create spaces for discussions and breakthroughs. Lastly, consistently maintain a professional tone without sounding robotic or disinterested.

All of this doesn’t come instinctively. Most people develop these skills with time and experience. To quickly learn these subtle but crucial communication skills, enrol yourself for Cert IV in Employment Services training.

Moderate Expectations

When you are honest with yourself, you can be honest with your clients. Identify your limitations and strong points, gauge how long it would take you to complete a particular task, and determine your preferred communication medium.

Now, let your clients know what’s feasible for you. Let them know exactly when you can deliver their project and how you prefer to communicate. Once you’ve established these parameters, you must follow them precisely– deliver on time and communicate seamlessly via your preferred medium. 

Any healthy relationship allows room for flexibility. Sometimes, your client may disagree with your deadlines and communication style, and that’s okay. Just find a happy medium where you both are satisfied.

Hold Clients Accountable 

A healthy, lasting partnership is always one that’s an equal relationship. Your client can and should hold you accountable for failing to deliver expectations. It would help if you were allowed to do the same for your client. 

Politely and professionally inform your clients of what is expected of them right from the very start. They must be aware:

what you expect of them 

when they should get back to you, and 

what parts of the project are their responsibility

If they cannot hold up their end of the deal, you can contact them and remind them politely to stay accountable.

Though it sounds unexpected, many clients appreciate an honest exchange of communication. It shows that you care about the project and that you’re ensuring both parties treat it seriously.

Hold Yourself Accountable

To err is human; to declare it is an intelligent move. If you make a mistake or find yourself unable to deliver as agreed upon, immediately own it. Errors may be inevitable but what matters is how you handle them and compensate.

Please apologise for anything that you or your team mishandled in such situations. Identify what caused the issue and where you fell short, and then make remedies right away. Conversing with your client can also be constructive. You can collaborate and brainstorm solutions to avoid a repeat.

Get Personally Involved

You don’t always have to keep conversations exclusively around work. If you want to build a close, personal connection with your client, veering off into topics of mutual interest can help. Show them a little bit of your non-business persona to extend the longevity of your partnership. 

Ask them about their family, recommend eateries, or discuss a common interest. It could be something you are passionate about (such as golf, travelling, or movies). If they ask questions, answer them honestly. 

However, also respect clients who do not prefer unrelated conversations. They might resist opening up with you, and that is their prerogative. Give them time and an opportunity, and they may or may not eventually reveal themselves. Respect those boundaries if your clients want to retain a strictly professional relationship.

Invest time to get to know your client personally. You get to yield dividends since this insight also offers you clues on how you can further improve your professional relationships.

Stay In Touch

A proactive approach is a must to maintain a long-lasting business relationship. It is only natural to grow distant from your client after completing a project. You should schedule a check-in with them afterwards. Thanks to social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram, staying in touch is much easier. 

After finishing a project, going the extra mile shows that you care about your clients. When your customers see that you are invested in their success, they stay loyal. This way, you can gradually create a business network of your own that you can tap into for whatever expertise or professional assistance you need.

Have Faith In Yourself

Always believe in yourself. Remember that you were hired and chosen to engage in business because your customers think you’re the right person for the task.

So trust in your ability to navigate the challenges of maintaining client relationships and business networks. Your confidence and attitude decide whether your client maintains a long-term partnership with you or gets the job done and exits.

Final Words

Stop thinking of your clients as someone you sell your products or services to; focus on long-term goals. When you consider it a co-dependent partnership, the process becomes productive and instructive. Once you adopt that framework, it allows you to forge strong, close ties with them that eventually bloom into powerful business networks. 

By following the tips outlined in this article and with the help of Cert IV in Employment Services, you earn the tools necessary to develop productive relationships in the corporate and professional world. 

Good luck, and have faith in yourself! We are utterly confident about your skills!