BUILDING LASTING RELATIONSHIP THROUGH NETWORKS
1. Prof. K. R .Subramanian Ph. D Research Scholar, UK Tech. University
Dehradun.
2. Dr. D. S. Chaubey,
Professor & Dean, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun
SYNOPSIS:
Networking is often limited to the exchange of brief pleasantries and visiting cards, fleeting
encounters that make little impact. When we network with people with an agenda to understand
and connect with them, benefits will follow. Networking should be used as an opportunity to
identify people with whom to explore ways and means to bring value to them, either
professionally or personally. This when done over a period of time, will ensure that our networks
become well rounded relationships with long-lasting benefits. The world is getting small every
day with ‘always on’ networks, messaging apps. social media exchanges, etc. making it easy to
connect , e-connect, re-connect and cultivate relationships beyond one’s physical, limited
corporate, professional and geographic circle. The key is to make an effort, be open, honest, and
respect people on their personal and professional spaces. This helps nurture what starts as a
hesitating greeting into a mature, trusting, respectful, collaborative and mutually beneficial
partnership. Networking may be a buzz word of yesterday, but building valuable relationships
will be the key for business leaders of tomorrow, because there is always room for a win-win
situation.
Establishing stable and enduring relationships through network improves your visibility and
enhances business prospects. This article explores ways and means to establish lasting
relationship with prospective clients and customers for profitable business opportunities.
KEY WORDS: networking, relationship building, e-connect, buzz word,
Social networking and web based networks are of very common knowledge today. Because of the long hours needed to be spent in the work place people find it difficult to interact socially as much as they need to. Social networking sites and the world-wide web have created opportunities for people to be connected. Several networking sites and social media have created opportunities for companies to sell their products through social media intervention. There is much more awareness today of the potential of social networks and people savvy with computers and electronic media. We need to understand if all the noise through electronic and social media is contributing to building a lasting relationship and enduring bond among people and marketers and media.
Concept of Relationship-Building
The term „relationship‟ is rooted from the word „relation‟ and is defined as a mutual affiliation or connection between individuals or groups of people or entities. Relationships are built where there is mutual understanding between or among individuals. However, this is not built overnight. Establishing a relationship has certain requirements for it to develop. This concept is especially true if the individuals have just initiated a mutual connection. For an existing relationship such as that of family members, it simply needs to be fostered and nurtured. There are various kinds of relationships that we all engage in and are rooted from a particular need of the person. For personal and emotional needs, we have family relationships, romantic relationships, and friendships.
To meet our professional needs and demands, we form business relationships with our colleagues and customers. Most relationships, if not all, are not always positive. There are times when the mutual bond of the individuals is tested by adversities and challenges. Taking care of a relationship is no different than nurturing a plant. Failed relationships are brought about by a weak foundation. Successful relationships are strengthened and hardened by the test of time.
Essentials of a Relationship
Any common interests lead the way for building relationships. In the workplace, you maintain a relationship with the organization by making a contribution and in return, you get rewarded or compensated for it. Employees form a relationship because of shared ideas and work interests. Communication is another factor that plays an important role in forming relationship. A relationship does not exist where there is no constant interaction with another person. Trust and respect are also very important aspects in a relationship.
Benefits of Building Good Relationships
It may appear easy to build relationships with people but the process is actually challenging. Once a relationship or a bond with another individual is broken, mending it can be difficult. However, if the mutual connection is developed and sustained, the outcome can be remarkable. A well-built relationship can create an impact in our lives. Socialization skills are enhanced as we connect to people around us positively. With good relationships, we are able to easily attain personal and career goals because we are surrounded with individuals who support us in many aspects. An organization successfully achieves its mission-vision when employees or the team members are in a harmonious relationship with each other. With good mutual associations, an individual personally finds contentment and satisfaction in many things. Building a relationship with others is not easy, unless the connection already exists. For a relationship to grow and become unrelenting, it has to be nourished and maintained. A good relationship can make wonders in the life of each one of us.
OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
networks. The methodology adopted is to make a comprehensive study of the available literature and arrive at Conclusions with the following objectives:
1. To make a detailed study of literature to understand the impact of lasting relationships for Business and organizations: Effect of social networking on fostering better relationship building among prospects for marketing company products and services .
2. To explore the benefits of impact of social media in building lasting relationship among employees for better motivation and job performance for the benefit of overall
organizational effectiveness
3. To review the future potential for such studies – particularly in the context of proliference of e-media and social media
Detailed review of available Literature has been made (please see references). Conclusions based on objective analysis and recommendations for further research and studies have been given at the end of the paper.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In order to achieve not just a professional but also a genuine and healthy relationship in our career, here are some helpful strategies to guide you in your relationship-building process.
Choosing Who to Trust
Trust those who unfailingly meet your expectations. Trust those who are most honest in their work. These individuals are also more than willing to offer you their trust that is why they act in manners that seem appealing for the value of trust.
Using Talents and Strengths to Build Productive Relationships
An effective strategy in building relationships at work is applying your skills and strengths as one of your greatest work contributions. Different individual talents and abilities allow us to create a connection with others in various ways. If you have the knack for positivity and maximizing other talents, you can easily form relationships with coworkers who are hungry for learning, developing, or aiming to finish an important project. If you possess the talent in connecting with people easily, you build a good connection with those who need motivation and those who wish to create healthy and productive relationships.
A self-assurance talent empowers you to establish that relationship easily. You attract people who needed confidence-boosting and sense of direction. As you use your talents to help people develop their full potentials in their career, you are also building healthy and productive bonds with them in the process.
Be Mutually Active in the Relationship
The nature of any good quality relationship is a give-and-take process. You decide to affiliate yourself with trusted work colleagues because you know that both of you can benefit from the bonding at work. However, if the motive is to benefit from the person‟s strengths, you are using the person and taking advantage of the situation. Such motive surely ruins a relationship. A genuine relationship does not always expect anything in return for any favor given. If your boss assigns you for a role that requires leadership skills, do not expect any form of reward for performing what was asked of you. In time, your outstanding work performance will be recognized.
and honest individual will surely repay the kindness and caring you have offered for the nurtured relationship. One of the challenges in building relationships is keeping it alive and thriving. We have heard of many failed relationships in the personal aspect. We see couples breaking up or families getting disintegrated because of poor quality relationships. At work, maintaining the relationship with coworkers is also a challenge, especially that you cannot easily manifest the real you when you are at work since you have to portray a professional image. In this article, learn the tips to prevent relationships from breaking and know how to keep it growing.
Do Not Break the Trust
Trust is the foundation of every relationship. Solid trust is the pillar of every successful relationship. But trust is also not easily given to anyone and not easily earned. Trust is destroyed if something that is expected of a person is not carried out or if a promise and an expectation is not fulfilled. A company that guarantees an increase in the salary for the employees but failed to do so breaks the trust of the individuals toward the company. An individual who fails to perform an assigned task or project will not earn the trust of the manager or superior.
As your work relationships grow, trust must be deepened, too. To do this, always make it a point to fulfill any required task and perform accordingly as your managers expect you to. Avoid engaging in gossips as this portrays a poor character. Always manifest honesty and integrity in everything you do. Give more than what you receive and do not always expect to get something in return. When at fault, admit the shortcoming and promptly say that you are sorry and do your best not to commit the same mistake again.
Maintain Professionalism at All Times
the members but maintain that level of professionalism. In the first place, the managers are the ones who should set the example to everyone in the workplace. Be friends with people at work but do not disclose too much of everything about yourself and your personal life just so you can be affiliated well with everyone.
Communicate Constantly with Each Other
Communication is a fundamental ingredient in a long-lasting relationship but this could also be the reason for a damaged relationship. Individuals who do not openly communicate will end up in perceived doubts and misinterpretations about a situation. Eventually, people argue and find themselves in trouble because of the misunderstanding and misconceptions. Good work relationships break apart as an adverse result. To keep the communication flowing, spare time to engage in occasional friendly conversations in the middle of an important project. Hold team meetings or forums and managers should encourage the members to be interactive. Share what you want to share to your colleagues. Just make sure it is not rumors and gossips.
If you feel you have wronged someone, initiate the approach. If you feel that someone offended you, do not hesitate to let the person know. This patches any misunderstanding and promotes a healthy work relationship. Constant communication is a key to keeping relationships from setting apart.
RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING STRATEGIES
Following tips will help you transform your company into a valuable resource:
2. Offer customer rewards. Customer loyalty or reward programs work well for many types of businesses, from retail to cruise and travel. The most effective programs offer graduated rewards, so the more customers spend, the more they earn. This rewards your best, most profitable clients or customers and cuts down on low-value price switchers-customers who switch from program to program to get entry-level rewards.Whenever possible, offer in-kind rewards that remind your customers of your company and its products or services.
3. Hold special events. The company-sponsored golf outing is back. With the renewed interest in retaining and up-selling current customers, company-sponsored special events are returning to the forefront. Any event that allows you and your staff to interact with your best customers is a good bet, whether it's a spring time golf outing, a summertime pool party or an early fall barbecue. Just choose the venue most appropriate for your unique customers and business.
4. Build two-way communication. When it comes to customer relations, "listening" can be every bit as important as "telling." Use every tool and opportunity to create interaction, including asking for feedback through your Web site and e-newsletters, sending customer surveys (online or offline) and providing online message boards or blogs. Customers who know they're "heard" instantly feel a rapport and a relationship with your company.
5. Enhance your customer service. Do you have a dedicated staff or channel for resolving customer problems quickly and effectively? How about online customer assistance? One of the best ways to add value and stand out from the competition is to have superior customer service. Customers often make choices between parity products and services based on the perceived "customer experience." This is what they can expect to receive in the way of support from your company after a sale is closed. Top-flight customer service on all sales will help you build repeat business, create positive word-of-mouth and increase sales from new customers as a result.
appreciate marketing communications in their own languages. Bilingual customer service will also go a long way toward helping your company build relationships with minority groups.
7. Visit the trenches. For many entrepreneurs, particularly those selling products and services to other businesses, it's important to go beyond standard sales calls and off-the-shelf marketing tools in order to build relationships with top customers or clients. When was the last time you spent hours, or even a full day, with a customer-not your sales staff, but you, the head of your company? There's no better way to really understand the challenges your customers face and the ways you can help meet them than to occasionally get out in the trenches. Try it. You'll find it can be a real eye-opener and a great way to cement lasting relationships.
ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS
Based on the above, following conclusions are made and action plan is suggested to build a strong relationship based organization:
1. Know yourself and your goals
2. Learn how to articulate this information clearly and with enthusiasm
3. Listen to others and discover what their goals and skills are – send them information that you come across that they may be interested in
4. Seek others' feedback, opinions, consultation, and collaboration. Use the Connecting to Key Leaders handout or similar aids to guide you in building relationships with managers, supervisors, or other leaders who can have an impact on your career development.
5. Respond to others when asked for feedback, consultation, or collaboration and be generous with reciprocating your time as much as possible to others
7. Think about the kind of relationship you want with each person in your network – mentoring, informational interviewing, support/encouragement, feedback, introductions to others, information sharing, etc.
8. Update people in your network periodically on your career development
9. Don't expect any one person to play every possible function in your career development, particularly not your supervisor or spouse/partner - diversify your network
10.Thank people for their time, feedback, and help
For better marketing effectiveness following suggestions are made with respect to relationship building:
1. Focus on relationships and relationship pricing (price to maximize overall revenue per customer, not to maximize each transaction).
2. Create innovative bundles of products and services (including bundling products and services from other companies).
3. Provide superior customer service.
4. Develop a compelling experience for customers (use diverse and interesting content to make each transaction interesting and pleasurable).
5. Customize and personalize.
6. Convince customers that they need to return (make the site an information and/or entertainment resource, as well as a business tool).
7. Make routine tasks simple (reengineer so that customers can complete basic transactions and tasks with minimal effort).
8. Strive to match constant increases in customer expectations (utilize cutting-edge
technology and benchmark the e-commerce Web site against those of all other firms, not simply those of direct competitors).
“Horses for Courses” – this is a practical dictum in circumstances where it is essential to build relationships. There are absolutely no hard and fast rules or major theories and principles. It is a practical skill that needs to be nourished and developed and honed to perfection to excel in one‟s role and job!
Relationships – How people working together in an organization relate with one another on a day to day basis is the key to business success in a dynamic world where people are finding it difficult to have personal contact regularly and nurture relationships. Electronic and social media will play a growing role in this direction. The author feels that there is scope for more academic research in this important and futuristic conceptual area of work.
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