5 Basic Business Rules That Will Boost Growth
The business world can be a very cold and greedy place to be. Fortunately, the younger generations have greater concern towards the human side of it. In my personal experience, I’ve noticed several “rules” that can help anyone achieve the growth in business while helping others and giving a professional experience in return. Here are 5 rules that will help you with this:
- Create relationships first, do business second
The first mistake in the business world is that people think it’s ONLY about money. It is a little bit, but mostly it is all about good old human connection. You don’t really feel confident about sharing your assets (time, money, effort) with somebody you don’t trust, so why would the business world make it any different? So, what if business is about money, it is still run by people. We crave for social interaction because of our instincts, that is what we need to cover first.
2. Stop selling once you get a “yes”
In the business world, one of the worst things you can do is to make somebody think twice about what they’ve decided. A lot of people don’t realize this. They think that “over-selling” something will make their cliente feel safer about what they’ve agreed to or bought, but in fact, this can make it worse. The goal of selling is to get a “yes”, so once this is done, close your sell by thanking your client or assuring him that he/she won’t regret it.
3. Don’t offer something you don’t want to consider
Negotiations are about win-win outcomes, meeting half-way, or yielding a little bit in order to achieve a common ground on which to work together. But what if the person you are negotiating with has way more experience than you do? He/she might drag you into a position in which you end up giving something away that you don’t feel comfortable doing. For example, if a client is bargaining your cost for a service and starts saying a ridiculous low offer, his second and third offers might begin to sound reasonable, but not quite fair yet. You might be tempted to agree on one of those offers to keep your client instead of losing it, but that may not be a healthy relationship in the long run. Likewise, if you suggest a deadline that gives your client hopes, but will over stack your team with work, you might end up losing too much on a bad deal.
4. Create experiences and trust, not wealth
An average person will be able to tell if somebody is trying to take advantage of him/her or a situation, and will most likely avoid any kind of relationship with that person. This same principle applies in the businessworld. People will trust their assets to you if you create a positive experience with them, money will come as a result of that trust. If you start talking about money before shaking their hand, they won’t trust your greedy needs.
5. Listen to your people, they will speak for you later
Your team is the most important part of business. You should be an engaged group, standing up for the same beliefs and working as a unit. Once your teammates know you cover their backs, they will cover yours. Be an active listener for every chance of improvement you get from your team; after all, they give you different perspectives of the same problems you deal with. If they feel listened and appreciated, they will very likely defend your name and points of view in front of other people without you being there at all.
