Sales teams are the backbone of any business. When learning how to build a sales team, employers need to know how to find the right people and equip them with the skills and processes they need to be successful. We examine a few things businesses should consider when building a successful sales team.

What Makes a Sales Team Successful

Having a capable team can make a difference in a company’s success. A successful sales team has clear objectives and achievable targets to keep the team motivated and focused. 

Who Is a Key Player in a Sales Team?

The sales leader directly impacts the performance of the team. They will play a large part in getting your sales team performing at their best. They’re responsible for developing and implementing a culture and values to help the business meet its revenue targets and growth goals.

When learning how to manage a sales team, you’ll find that what makes a successful sales team is a dedicated leader with a firm plan for the team’s success. The leader should be able to work with the other team members, relay information effectively, and keep everyone focused on achieving the goals. 

Sales Team Roles and Responsibilities

Sales teams vary in size, structure, and function. While some groups may be huge, others may be as small as one person. There are many different types of sales team roles and responsibilities. Some sales roles are designed for collaboration, while others are about competition.

The sales leader is responsible for preparing the sales team for the year and setting expectations for performance. They will share plans that include milestones and expectations for what entrepreneurs should know about sales and marketing.

3 Ways To Create a Successful Sales Team

Follow these steps to create a successful team:

Define the Performance Objectives

A salesperson should be able to clearly state the target revenue and share their goals regarding the long and short-term goals. With this information, they can better prepare themselves for the year ahead.

Build a Culture of Engagement

The sales team will achieve more significant results if they are more engaged. A close-knit team with pride and satisfaction with their work can also increase their effectiveness.

Assess Critical Sales Metrics

Do you know the ins and outs of the financials of your business? As you learn how to build a sales team, you’ll find that key performance indicators are the essential metrics that affect your financial performance. They include:

• Customer lifetime value
• Customer acquisition cost
• Net profit margin

How To Support Your Sales Team

Supporting the sales team is about providing them with a product to sell. Businesses can help their sales team with good internal marketing, legal, and financial structures. The sales team then needs the knowledge and information to sell the product correctly and confidently.

Sales Goal Examples for Your Sales Team in 2023

Setting annual sales goals for your team is essential for success. These goals should be challenging enough to push the team to achieve more but not unrealistic and unachievable.

For instance, Burger King recently announced a plan to spend $400 million to revive lagging sales over the next two years. 

Conclusion

If you are learning how to build a sales team, be sure to have a clear vision for your sales team, the product you are selling, how you will sell it, and how long it will take. Determining who is on your sales team and using better networking tips will be essential to your success.

Marketing is a buzzword tossed around in business and entrepreneurship circles, but it’s often hard to know how to implement the right tactics. Let’s look at some of the best marketing strategies that make a profitable campaign.

Why a Marketing Strategy Matters

A proper marketing strategy that involves various methods that are bound to be successful can make all the difference in the world when your business needs more customers and sales. Without one, it is hard for the company to gain traction and achieve growth.

Here are the reasons you need a marketing strategy.

Set Clear Objectives and Goals

Marketing involves more than just planning what you are going to do. It is about setting clear objectives for a campaign, making strategies to accomplish those goals, and developing plans based on the circumstances.

Marketing strategies help you plan your work and work your plan. They help set clear objectives, including which areas to concentrate on, analyze opportunities, and formulate a marketing plan. You also need to evaluate how achievable your goals and objectives are as you progress.

Some targets include doubling annual revenue or increasing the annual number of clients.

Target Your Key Audience

You need to define your business’s primary audience and target it. Your marketing strategy helps you identify your target audience and how to reach the clients, helping you enhance campaign results.

You must consider target audience demographics, psychographics, and other communication values. Some marketers decide to focus on a small group of people with specific age groups and interests who they can count on to form their core target audience.

With focused marketing efforts, enterprises can develop a group that they feel would align with their established brand image.

Organize and Automate Your Process

Many companies have suffered the consequences of poor organization. With a marketing strategy, you can plan your marketing tasks and activities and prepare a roadmap for creating, monitoring, and improving the effectiveness of your key marketing campaigns.

When you use automation tools and develop a marketing strategy plan, it becomes easier to organize and execute your marketing campaigns. Managing and automating your process eliminates confusion and ensures that your marketing strategy works efficiently.

Allocate Necessary Resources

You need to allocate the right amount of money and resources to ensure that everything will be done at a constant pace while keeping your costs minimal. If there is a specific reason you need certain facilities, like a skilled workforce or a particular type of software for marketing campaigns, then spending money on them would be wise.

With a marketing strategy, you can also plan how to manage your time and money more effectively. Through proper resource allocation, you ensure necessary resources are strategically deployed and help you develop the best possible plan for your campaign.

Consider where your specific resources should be best allocated. A marketing strategy helps you prioritize tasks and activities to focus on what is essential to achieving your goals.

Enhance Efficiency, Performance, and Productivity

When you develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for your business, it becomes easier to plan and schedule vital elements for your marketing campaigns. It makes it easier to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and decide when adjustments are needed.

You can also easily schedule tasks and strategize ways to achieve maximum workplace efficiency, performance, and productivity. A proper strategy requires you to divide your tasks into specific activities and manage each individually.

Find out what works best in planning, organizing, delegating responsibilities, managing project activities, regularly reporting progress or status updates, and effective time management. Your business growth strategy helps you produce high-quality campaigns without sacrificing efficiency.

Types of Marketing Strategies for Small Business

There are different types of marketing strategies that will help you grow your business. Even though some varieties are more successful, all campaigns have unique value and purpose.

Here are six marketing plans for small businesses.

Create a Business Website

If your small business doesn’t already have a website, it’s time to get one. A properly designed and created website with all the essential information about your business will help you upgrade it and increase sales.

The look and feel of your website should be professional, fresh, and modern. It should give your visitors a good impression and give them a decent first impression. Your website must have a unique design that distinguishes it from the competition.

Including contact information like an email address, telephone number, or physical address helps your clients reach out when they have queries. You must also post and regularly update content on your website to keep your audience engaged.

Start a Podcast for Your Business

In today’s digital world, podcasts are not just another type of entertainment. Many people use podcasts as a marketing strategy to promote their brands, services, and products. Podcasts are audio episodes that involve a host and a guest who discuss topics related to the business.

Use podcasts to communicate with clients, share important information, promote special offers, and persuade people to buy your products or services.

Clients can stream podcasts or download them directly onto smartphones or computers. Podcasting apps and software will make recording an episode much easier.

Utilize Free Promotional and Productivity Tools

Plenty of free software, apps, and other tools can be handy. The most important thing is to find out what works for your business and marketing strategy. Searching and brainstorming can help you find hidden gems that could suit your needs perfectly.

For example, a graphics generator tool will help you create unique images or graphics to help you promote your brand. Productivity tools will keep your marketing campaign running while providing a good return on investment in terms of time and money saved.

Make Video Tutorials

Making videos is a great way to inform your customers about your products and services. Creating high-quality video tutorials and explaining your products’ basic features and benefits will enable you to attract more potential clients.

You can embed these videos on your website or create a YouTube channel and post the tutorials. YouTube is one of the best places where you can promote your business. Additionally, you can share the tutorials on social media platforms for a wider market reach.

Grow Your Business Blog

The best way to get new clients and attract more customers is to start a business blog. Blogs are the most popular tools that businesses use for promotion. Blogs keep your company’s image updated and promote your products or services.

Your blog should be well designed, have a professional look and feel, include fresh content, and give a good impression of your brand. You can use it to communicate with clients and post news updates on current events or any relevant topics in the digital marketing industry.

Manage Relationships With a CRM

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a software application or system that helps you manage your relationship with clients and customers. Think of it as an open grid that stores all the relevant information about your clients, including their contact details, likes and dislikes, purchase history, and more.

Use a CRM to automate the communication process by adding the customers’ and affiliates’ email addresses and sending automatic emails based on the special request or action. You can use the CRM to track each client’s interests and communication history by keeping notes of their queries, suggestions, or orders.

Having a CRM system in place can increase the efficiency of your business, thus saving you time and money. CRM software sorts data meaningfully so you can make better decisions while communicating with your customers or clients.

How To Create a Marketing Strategy

The key to creating the best marketing strategies for your small business is understanding your particular business and its goals. Before you start your process, you must know precisely who your audience is and what you need to do to reach them. You also need to understand how you will measure the progress of your marketing plan.

Many areas affect marketing strategies, such as competitive analysis, demographics, target consumers, and SWOT analysis. Here are a few basic steps to create your marketing strategy.

Start With a Goal

As a business owner, ensure you know what you want to achieve with your marketing strategy.

You can also create several short-term goals that will guide your marketing plan for a certain period. Be realistic about the goals you set for your business since the actual results will come over time rather than instantly.

Creating goals based on your marketing strategy provides you with direction to follow and action steps to take. Setting goals will help prevent you from getting lost in the shuffle and losing focus on the things that matter most.

Conduct Marketing Analysis

Your marketing strategy should also contain a competitive analysis. A competitor analysis can help you avoid competitors’ mistakes, learn from others’ experiences and identify the strengths and weaknesses of their strategy.

You first need to list all of your direct competitors based on geographic location, pricing levels, and targeted customers. After listing competitors, run a Google search on each company, showing you the company’s complete history, including recent news articles or updates. You can then use this information as a basis for future action steps.

After market analysis, conduct a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis will give you a clear idea of how you fare in the market and areas where you can improve.

Create Buyer Personas

A buyer persona describes the target customer based on demographics, psychographics, and behavioral data. These are useful for coming up with strategies that reach out to potential clients in a better way.

Use buyer personas as a tool to better understand the motivations and characteristics of your ideal customer. The process involves creating a detailed profile of a hypothetical buyer based on the requirements and wants of your target audience.

Customers have specific needs and buying decisions. You must personalize user experience based on characteristics, desires, challenges, and behaviors that are unique for each individual.

Set a Budget

A small business has limited resources, and a budget helps you keep track of your spending and improve efficiency. A marketing strategy cannot be effective without proper budget planning and financial tracking.

Determine how much you plan to spend on your marketing efforts and how you will measure your campaign results. Once you create a budget, you must track all the expenses and how much you spend on each campaign element.

Select the Appropriate Tools

Once you have identified the main areas where you need to focus on creating a marketing strategy for your small business, you must ensure that you have selected the tools that will aid your efforts. You can use different tools for your marketing strategy depending on the types that work best for your enterprise.

For instance, data analytic tools allow you to collect data based on your target market and help you develop the best marketing strategies. A data-driven marketing approach lets you personalize the user experience and increase revenue.

Google Analytics is a free tool that can help you track the traffic to your website and provide insights into user behavior. The data enables you to decide if your page content needs to be improved or tweaked before spending money on more ads or other marketing strategies.

Analyze Performance

A good marketing strategy should also include a way to measure the performance of your brand over time. A marketing strategy is not static but a dynamic process.

Measure your marketing campaign’s performance to determine if your efforts are working and what you need to do differently in the future. You can then use this information to make changes or tweak your marketing strategy.

The Best Marketing Strategies for Business Growth

Creating a marketing strategy is crucial in taking your small business to the next level. Here are the best marketing strategies used by companies to take their operations to the next level.

Emphasize Your Value Proposition

Regardless of size and scope, every company should have a value proposition. The proposition is a unique selling position that makes your business more effective than your competitors. It’s the fundamental reason clients will pick you over other companies.

The best marketing strategies get based on what you can offer potential clients and customers. The strategies focus on how you add value to clients and how they can benefit from working with you over any of your competitors.

Personalize Your Customer Experience

The best marketing strategies today are all about personalization. Companies that consistently deliver a high-quality experience to their customers receive more referrals, attract new clients and maintain growing profits.

Co-branding, Affinity, and Cause Marketing

Co-branding is a strategy to build trust and strengthen relationships between your small business and other partnerships. By choosing co-branding, you can create a bigger audience and reach out to more people while avoiding competitors.

Affinity marketing is a specialized market strategy where you create an alliance with a specific audience to get more attention for your business. Cause marketing is trying to influence the buying decision of clients by involving your organization with a non-profit organization.

Co-branding, affinity, and cause marketing are the best ways for marketing strategists to reach the next level of success. Incorporating a third-party brand with your company’s name is a great way to strengthen existing relationships, especially when trying to build new ones.

Focus On SEO

SEO is a procedure to optimize your website to rank higher on search engine results. Search engine optimization involves utilizing keywords on your page and regularly updating unique content that attracts the right audience and generates more traffic.

Link-building is a method that is often used in SEO and can be an effective strategy for your small business if done correctly. When building links, you need to be very specific in approaching this and research the best way for your small business to connect with the people you want.

Pay-per-click marketing is a form of online marketing which is done online through search engines. It uses a viewable ad once a user clicks on it and can be used to promote your products or services affordably and helpfully.

Use Emails To Promote Your Brand

Email marketing is a powerful technique to help you achieve website traffic, customer engagement, and sales objectives.

The marketing strategy uses emails to inform people about your products or services’ benefits and industry trends. Using these emails, you can grow your customer base and help boost your relationship with your customers.

Leverage Social Media Platforms

Social media marketing is a strategy that helps you to promote your brand by developing social media profiles. Marketing relies on online processes, especially during a pandemic, making social media platforms a perfect choice.

Social media marketing enables you to create a user experience and allows your brand to connect with your audience. Your content should be created and curated to help attract more users and improve the overall customer experience.

Employ Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a compelling marketing strategy that uses people with the potential to influence others. These influencers can help you to use their large audience in your favor and gain many more customers.

Influencers are people who are known for their quality in the field that you are selling and have the potential to influence other professionals in the same area.

Influencers have a more significant audience than you. Influencer marketing will boost your brand’s credibility, increase customer engagement, reach out to more people, grow your social media audience, and more.

Create an Affiliate Program

An affiliate program is a marketing strategy where the members generate traffic to your website in exchange for compensation. 

The affiliates will promote your products on their blogs or websites, usually in an informative tone, and add a link to your website. If the readers click on the link and buy one of your products, the affiliate is compensated.

In the beginning, you need to send emails and messages that can help convince people that they should join your program.

An affiliate program builds a mutually beneficial relationship and generates opportunities for each party.

Craft Compelling CTAs

CTAs are anchor texts with embedded URLs that lead to the page where the visitor is supposed to join you or purchase your products. You need to ensure that these URLs are short and catchy to help boost conversion rates.

You should also consider what you want your visitors to do: either sign-up for a subscription, buy a product, or join your email list. The more CTAs you have, the easier it is for visitors to understand what they are supposed to do, which will help them become loyal customers.

Marketing Strategies Examples

Spotify has popularized the concept of streaming audio online. They have become one of the industry leaders by creating an intuitive and seamless way for users to listen to music and podcasts. The company emphasizes product experience and offers unlimited music and podcasts in multiple languages and regions.

Nike, a large sportswear company, has managed to reach millions of customers with their design and quality. The company has embraced influencer marketing to reach its global market by working with artists and Nike-sponsored athletes through collaborations.

FAQs

Here are some of the frequently asked questions regarding marketing strategies.

What are the 4 growth strategies in marketing?

The four growth strategies in marketing are customer experience personalization, search engine optimization, online marketing, and influencer marketing.

What are the latest marketing strategies?

The latest marketing strategies include podcasting and the use of automation like CRM.

What is the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan?

A marketing strategy entails your approach to gaining a competitive advantage in the market, while a marketing plan contains the activities you take to achieve marketing success.

How do I market my business for 2023?

The best way to market your business for 2023 is by incorporating the online marketing strategies listed here.

Wrapping Up

Marketing is a vital part of the business process. Done correctly and implemented over time, your marketing strategy will become progressively more efficient at attracting new clients leading to business growth.

Small business owners have difficulty attracting new customers unless a friend, family member, or acquaintance recommends them. People are habitual and have difficulty trusting strangers, especially with money.

Luckily for small businesses, there are more reliable methods to earning trust in today’s time. The BBB is an example of one of these methods. They help businesses gain the confidence of consumers and the general public, which opens the door for smaller businesses to grow.

If you’re a business wondering if being BBB accredited is worth the hassle and cost, here is some information that may prove helpful.

Brief BBB History

Before you ask yourself, “how does a business get BBB accredited,” it’s vital to understand why the BBB matters.

First, BBB stands for the Better Business Bureau. The BBB, founded in 1912, is a nonprofit focusing on informing the public about businesses and their credibility.

The BBB ranks its members on a grading scale familiar to most Americans. The grading scale ranges from A to F, with A being the best and F being the worst.

BBB takes consumer complaints and acts as a mediator between the business and consumer to address the problems. If the business doesn’t resolve the issue promptly, it will affect its BBB rating.

Unlike most review sites where people can complain anonymously, BBB takes consumer information to ensure that severe accusations are accurate. The longevity and requirements of the BBB are what build its credibility.

What Is BBB Accreditation?

Now that you’re familiar with the Better Business Bureau, you’ll want to know about their BBB accredited membership. Being BBB certified means that you as a business are trustworthy and stand with the BBB and the public.

Having this backing ensures that your business will follow ethical practices, honor promises, and be responsible for consumer problems and worries associated with your business. For consumers, being BBB accredited means there is no fear in doing business with you.

BBB Accreditation Requirements for Small Business

Becoming an accredited business means following and upholding the standards set by the BBB. The BBB expects eight leading standards from all of its members.

Build Trust

Businesses must be active within at least six months before their application. Additionally, companies must have all their licenses for operation, meet all government standards, and maintain at least a B rating at their local BBB office and headquarters.

Advertise Honesty

You must meet all legal and ethical advertising standards when advertising your business’s product or service.

Tell The Truth

You must represent your products and services as honestly as possible. Disclosure on all accounts is necessary to have a good standing.

Be Transparent

Businesses must provide consumers with clear guidelines and policies when they purchase a product from them or use their service. Disclosure of refund policies, contact information, receipts for purchases, and potential credit payments is vital for transparency.

Honor Promises

Businesses must fulfill all contractual obligations to their consumers.

Be Responsive

Companies must address any complaints in a professional and timely manner.

Safeguard Privacy

Protect all customer and client data to the best of your ability and inform those individuals of your efforts.

Embody Integrity

Approach every business transaction and interaction ethically and with good faith.

How Much Does it Cost To Be BBB Accredited?

The price of becoming BBB accredited depends on the size of your business. Two factors will influence the cost of your BBB accreditation fees. The first is the number of employees, and the second is your local BBB office.

Small businesses under five employees can expect to pay an average of $400 up to $600 annually. From that point on, you’ll find your annual fees scale depending on your employee number.

How Long Does it Take To Get BBB Accredited?

You can expect a minimum wait of two to three weeks for your BBB membership application. An unfortunate downside to getting BBB accredited is its long wait.

Since your local BBB office usually operates as business owners and board directors themselves, they don’t meet up too often. You’ll find that your BBB application can take weeks and sometimes even months, depending on your local office.

Does it Matter if a Business Is Not BBB Accredited?

Depending on the business, it doesn’t matter too much. The importance of business accreditation depends on a few factors. The first factor is the consumer. How important is a business’s reputation to the consumer?

For example, businesses that provide standardized services like gas stations don’t heavily benefit from the BBB. Although, companies that handle your money and investment benefit heavily from being accredited.

On the other hand, you may ask yourself, how much line of credit can I get for my business? You’ll want to go to a trustworthy financial institution that follows BBB’s ethical standards and practices.

Small businesses rarely know how a revolving line of credit works until they learn it from their credit providers. So, it’s worth being BBB accredited if you’re a loan provider. Especially since today, you can put your BBB accreditation on your physical and digital business card.

BBB Accreditation Pros and Cons

Just like any system, there are advantages and downsides. BBB accreditation has a few distinct benefits for consumers and businesses but some inherent downsides.

Pros

• Provides an avenue of trust
• Increases credibility
• Potential exposure

Cons

• Requires annual fees
• Customers may not check reviews or accreditation
• Decrease in relevance

Is BBB Accreditation Worth it?

Your reputation and ethical standing value depend entirely on your business values. For service businesses, reputation is everything. Most of the time, human interactions become the standpoint of success or failure.

If service businesses have a negative perception, people will naturally begin to avoid them. No one wants to go to a restaurant that provides horrible service. Additionally, no one wants to deal with a consultant who has no idea what they’re saying.

Even so, businesses have found ways to build trust and credibility through other mediums that don’t cost money. Google reviews, Trustpilot, and Yelp are review-based platforms that consumers use to check the credibility of businesses.

Overall, if you’re a service-based business with no problem affording BBB accreditation, it’s most certainly worth it. If you’re an already established brand with a reputation, there is little to no need for BBB accreditation.

Small businesses are the heart of the economy. They generate more than half of the nation’s job growth and contribute significantly to global financial wellness.

Notwithstanding the challenges that accompany entrepreneurship, small businesses are increasingly thriving. The secret to success is persistence. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to know how to lead your team through the necessary stages of growth in small business startups.

By the end of this article, you will know and recognize the four stages of growth in small business management and understand how to lead your company through each.

Why is Understanding Stages of Growth Useful to Your Small Business?

Different stages of small business growth require different approaches. Innumerable variables are involved in the production, marketing, and sale of products and services, and it is impossible to manage them all without being overwhelmed.

There are tangible actions you can take to understand and predict a business’s behavior and growth. The Dynamic Growth Model (DGM) refers to a small business’s four discrete growth stages. Understanding the DGM will lend you the confidence to persist through difficult moments and the faith it takes to see a small business through to success.

How to Grow a Small Business into a Large Business

The first and most crucial step toward growing your business is establishing a clear and comprehensive vision. Once you have set the foundation, you’ll be ready to launch into the next phase: promoting growth.

The primary drivers for business growth apply to every business across all four stages of the DGM. For example, if you were looking for how to grow your barber business, you would want to connect with your customers and community, market your business well, and take tips from other successful entrepreneurs in your area.

If you don’t have an idea of where to start, however, here are a few tricks that can help.

Maintain Consistent, Effective Marketing

Marketing is the key to reaching your audience and driving sales. To ensure you are continuously promoting your business and inviting more customers into your community, you should make sure you’re keeping in touch with clients through social media, internet searches, and email.

Prioritize Growth and Quality

Growth and quality are often inversely correlated. Developing an understanding of growth and quality and when to focus on each is essential to last success. Alternate your focus between quality and growth to ensure that scaling your business doesn’t mean sacrificing the value of your product.

Plan Your Growth Strategy

To grow your business, you will need a firm understanding of the stages and strategies for growth. With your team, develop quarterly plans for growth, accounting for quality in the process. If you were wondering how to grow a video production business, your team might be able to help you think of strategies you wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

Four Critical Stages of Growth in Small Business, When They Occur, and How to Survive Them

The four stages of growth in business often occur in consecutive order and require different responses from leaders. Why is an understanding of stages of growth useful to

your business? Understanding the demands of each step can mean the difference between success and failure.

The Start-Up Stage

This stage represents the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. At this point, you are building and launching products and focusing on raising capital and developing marketing strategies. This stage consists of dramatic highs and lows, as you are still testing products and strategies.

Success during the start-up stage depends on your ability to acknowledge misconceptions and errors and adjust rapidly. You must maintain confidence and humility to defy the expectations of what your business is “supposed to be.”

The Grow-Up Stage

At this stage, your business gains momentum. Your focus will be primarily on sales as you seek to build a loyal consumer base and generate enough capital to justify the existence and operation of your business.

During the grow-up stage, the complexity of your operations is likely to reach new heights; you will need to delegate tasks and hire the right people. You will likely have to consider some fixed expenses as you work out potential flaws in your business model.

Again, you will need humility to navigate this stage and appropriately delegate tasks successfully. You must clarify roles and allow people to perform those roles with sufficient freedom and trust.

The Scale-Up Stage

At this point, your business is likely experiencing consistent growth. You have tested and selected employees, products, and strategies to identify what works for you. You have solidified systems and processes and have developed consistency in your operations.

Businesses face important decisions about their potential for continued growth during the scale-up stage. Your business will likely need to expand into new markets and develop a more robust sales infrastructure.

To succeed during this stage, you will need either financial understanding or the help of a finance expert. You will need to take risks and trust in the long-term potential of rewards. You must exercise flexibility and comfortably invest money in your business.

The Dominant/Enterprise Stage

The final one of the stages of growth in small business has two names for two conflicting considerations. At this point, your business will have widespread recognition and established employees, and you can comfortably depend on an influx of profit.

However, you must consider whether or not to continue expansion (typically by acquiring other companies) or rest on your laurels. You may also struggle with the sheer volume of employees, expenses, operations, and day-to-day tasks.

Continue to remain open-minded, humble, and flexible. Think towards longevity rather than short-term success. Don’t forget to keep quality front and center as you continue to grow. Remember that you will have to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.

The Top Business Growth Examples in 2020

While preparing your growth strategies, reading up on other small businesses that have made it big can give you an idea of some business growth examples that work.

Etsy

Etsy, the online marketplace for hand-made goods, was one of the fastest-growing companies from 2019-2021.

At the start of the pandemic, the company provided free shipping, developed its secure selling and buying technologies, and re-branded itself as a marketplace for hard-to-find items. It successfully moved from the scale-up stage into the dominant phase. At that point, Etsy’s total profits grew from $96 million in 2019 to $493.5 million in 2022.

E-Plastics

E-plastics, a small San Diego-based company that produces plastics and fiberglass, experienced tremendous growth from 2019 to 2020.

In 2020, the company’s employees developed the first sneeze guards, catapulting the company into the scale-up stage as it expanded into unprecedented markets. This was made possible by the leadership’s trust in quality personnel.

Before You Go

Now that you know the different stages of small business growth, you can successfully lead your company through each discrete step to becoming a household name.

Remember that the essential characteristics of a good leader are not just management skills; they are one’s ability to remain humble, flexible, and open to others’ suggestions.

Any business owner will tell you that running a business is no easy feat. There are a lot of moving parts and pieces that need to come together to make a business successful. One of the most important aspects of running a business is strong partnerships.

We will explore the importance of partnership in business and the benefits and risks associated with partnerships. Read on to learn more!

What Is Partnership in Business?

A business partnership is a formal agreement between two or more individuals who wish to conduct business together. The partners agree to share the business’s profits, losses, and management.

There are three types of business partnerships:

• General partnership: all partners are equally responsible for the business.
• Limited partnership: one or more partners have limited liability.
• Limited liability partnership: all partners have limited liability.

What Is the Role of Partnership in a Business Organization?

The role of partnership in a business organization can be divided into three main categories:

• Financial
• Managerial
• Marketing

Financial partnerships help businesses raise capital. For example, if a business needs to buy new equipment but doesn’t have the cash on hand, it can partner with another business with the money. The two businesses would then share the profits from the new equipment.

Managerial partnerships help businesses share the burden of managing a company. For example, two businesses might decide to open a joint venture. This partnership would allow them to pool their resources and knowledge to manage the venture better.

Marketing partnerships help businesses reach new markets. For example, a company might partner with another business with access to a different customer base. In turn, the new customers would generate profits for both businesses.

Why Are Business Partnerships Important?

Business partnerships are important for several reasons, some of which include:

Competitive Advantage

Collaborating with other businesses can give you a competitive advantage. A recent study has shown that form partnerships are more likely to survive and grow than businesses that don’t.

Reach New Markets

Through partnerships, businesses can reach new markets they wouldn’t have had access to. This is because partnerships give businesses a larger customer base and a wider distribution network.

Stable Revenue

Partnerships can help businesses stabilize their revenue. Partnerships give businesses a diverse customer base, which can help offset the effects of seasonal changes or economic downturns.

Increased Efficiency

Partnering with another business allows each company to focus on what it does best. For example, one company might handle manufacturing while the other handles marketing and sales. This division of labor can lead to increased efficiency and output.

Risks & Benefits of Partnership in Business

Like any business decision, there are risks and benefits associated with business partnerships. Therefore, it’s necessary to consider both before entering a partnership.

Risks of Partnership in Business

The three main risks involved in a business partnership are financial, legal, and personal.

Financial Risks

Business partnerships can be a financial risk for both parties involved because each business is responsible for its debts and liabilities. If one business goes bankrupt, the other business may be liable for the debt.

Legal Risks

Partners are jointly liable for any debts or liabilities incurred by the partnership. Therefore if one partner faces legal action, the other partner may also be held responsible.

Personal Risks

Partnerships may pose personal risks to the involved partners. Business partners may have disagreements about the direction of the business, and these disagreements can lead to tension and even dissolution of the partnership.

Benefits of Partnership in Business

Here are some of the benefits of a business partnership:

Faster Growth and Development Opportunities

Partnerships allow companies to grow faster than they would be alone because more people work together toward common goals, which means more work gets done. More opportunities arise for everyone involved as a result of their shared efforts.

Reduced Your Risk Exposure

Most of your risk is personal and financial if you’re a sole trader.

In a partnership, the other directors will share responsibility for these things too – which means they could take over some of the burdens if things go wrong (and vice versa).

Enhanced Visibility

Partnerships can provide increased visibility for both parties. As both companies promote their collaboration through advertising campaigns and other marketing methods, customers will be more likely to recognize their collaboration. Through this, both parties can increase sales over time.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Partnership

There are several advantages and disadvantages of partnership to consider before entering into this type of business arrangement.

Advantages include:

Saving Costs

In a partnership, partners can share the cost of resources, such as office space, equipment, and staff. As a result, they’ll save on costs and allow each business to operate more efficiently.

Work/Life Balance

Recently, there has been an increased focus on work/life balance. A partnership can offer business owners more time for themselves and their families by sharing the workload with another business owner.

Tax Benefits

Partnerships can offer tax benefits to the businesses involved. For instance, the United States does not tax partnership profits. Instead, the profits are “passed through” to the partners and are taxed on their personal tax returns.

Disadvantages:

Some disadvantages of a business partnership include:

Loss of Autonomy

When businesses form a partnership, they may lose some of their autonomy in decision-making, especially when partners may have different opinions about how the business should be run.

Increased Liability

In a partnership, each partner is jointly liable for the debts and liabilities of the business.

Vague Roles and Responsibilities

Partnerships can sometimes be challenging to manage because roles and responsibilities are not always clear. This vagueness can lead to tension and conflict between partners.

Small Business Partnership Examples Of 2022

Let’s take a look at some examples of small business partnerships:

The Pioneer Woman & Old World Spices & Seasonings Inc.

The Pioneer Woman is a famous food blogger and TV show host. Old World Spices & Seasonings Inc. is a spice company that specializes in gourmet spices and seasonings.

The two companies have teamed up to create a line of Pioneer Woman-branded spices and seasonings.

Taco Bell & Doritos

The two brands have collaborated on various products, including a taco-flavored Doritos Locos taco and a taquito-flavored Dorito. Most recently, the two companies announced a new line of tacos inspired by Doritos.

They’ll be available in three flavors: Flamin’ Hot Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, Cantina Crispy Chicken Tostada, and Cantina Crispy Chicken Tacos.

The Takeaway

There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of partnership to consider before entering into this type of business arrangement.

Cost savings, work/life balance, and tax benefits are some advantages. Disadvantages include loss of autonomy, increased liability, and vague roles and responsibilities.

Ultimately, the decision to form a partnership should be based on careful consideration of all of these factors.

Business divestiture is an important strategy for the growth of many companies, but what does it mean and what is an example of divestiture? Here’s everything you should know about this topic.

What Is Business Divestiture

A business divestiture is when a company disposes of some or (more rarely) all of its assets. In this context, assets include intellectual property, manufacturing facilities, physical buildings, and anything else that may be of value or relevant to a particular product or service.

What Does Divestiture Mean In Business

In business, the primary goal of a business strategy divestiture is to refocus the company. This usually means reducing the number of things the company is focusing on so it can give more focus to those and, hopefully, become more profitable.

How this occurs depends on the unique status and needs of each company. For example, in 2022, an investor of entertainment company Hasbro asked them to divest their Wizards of the Coast division, suggesting that the division had outsized value and it was the overall company that was holding the division back, not the other way around.

Hasbro ultimately rejected this idea, which was probably wise of them. They know that most of their core products have cyclical lifespans, so they’d rather keep things and sit on them for decades if necessary.

The real divestiture meaning in business isn’t limited to getting rid of low-performing segments. It can also include getting rid of high-performing things to help them reach their full potential.

In other words, divestiture is like having business and personal accounts at the same bank. It may sound nice to have everything consolidated at first, but as each grows, you may realize that a different bank would be more appropriate for one of those sides. Other banks may have more services or opportunities, so keeping things together is ultimately a bad idea.

Types of Business Divestiture

There are several common types of divestitures that a company may go through. Divestitures are more likely when they’re agreed upon internally or when major investors present a persuasive case to the board of directors. If an individual shareholder doesn’t have much power and can’t get any outside backing, divestiture is rare.

One of the preferred options is selling the assets outright. This gives full rights and control of the assets to another business that’s in a better spot to invest and capitalize on the opportunity. Selling provides a one-time cash infusion and possibly shareholder dividends, but requires a selling company to prove that the assets are still valuable.

Acquiring assets sold this way is often a great plan to grow small business organizations. Even if the assets aren’t hugely profitable, they may bring in enough revenue to help a smaller company grow its core focus and reach its full potential.

More rarely, companies may exchange assets with one or more other businesses. This can allow all companies involved to lose assets that don’t match their business and gain other assets. It’s rare for assets in any exchange to have the same value, so this may also involve a payoff to equalize the difference.

In a worse scenario, companies may close down the assets entirely. Most companies try to avoid this because there’s no return at all on their investment. Shareholders also tend to hate this result. However, if a company can’t find any buyers, it may decide to accept the loss and move on.

As an alternative, companies may spin off the assets to form a new company. This is generally preferable to closing it down entirely. Investors usually get shares in the new company and help generate value, although they may not be independently profitable right away. This is also used to help free high-value segments up to focus on one thing, as in the Hasbro example above.

Finally, companies may go through bankruptcy. This is usually similar to selling the assets, but may be necessary for paying creditors or changing the company enough to let it keep operating.

Ultimately, all types of business divestiture point to one thing: how staying agile in an ever-changing world is important to businesses.

What Is an Example of Business Divestiture?

There are plenty of examples of a business divestiture, but here are some company divestiture examples to show how it works in the real world.

Microsoft

In January 2022, Microsoft announced its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard King (a video game software company) for about $68.7 billion. This is an example of a complete divestiture, where an individual company is selling all of its assets to become a division of another company.

This move allows ABK to eliminate many of its marketing and leadership requirements, transferring those to Microsoft so the company can refocus on making games. It also gives Microsoft extensive control over ABK’s employees and assets, which some people consider necessary given allegations of abuse and other problems at ABK.

The acquisition also works well for Microsoft, which has been aggressively acquiring video game developers as part of its long-term strategy to perform better in that software sector.

Roche

Roche is a Swiss pharmaceutical company. Beginning around 2000, Roche started to divest various divisions, including those dealing with products like fragrances, vitamins, and some types of chemicals. Together, the divested assets accounted for about a quarter of the company’s assets from the previous decade.

However, they needed to make large investments to maintain performance in those sectors, and Roche wanted to focus on its medical technology instead. It divested in several ways, including spinning off some companies, selling assets to other businesses, and simultaneously acquiring other assets.

Is Business Divestiture Worth It?

Ultimately, the only way to tell whether business divestiture is worth it is to evaluate the unique situation and needs of each company. Details like the time for a buyer to realize the deal’s value, the realistic pricing for a deal, and even motivating employees can all affect the final value of a divestiture plan.

However, it’s worth noting that many companies have seen great success through divesting their assets. Public companies are always seeking growth, but sometimes the growth they get isn’t as valuable for them as it could be. Divesting allows them to refocus on the things they’re best at and expand into different areas.

As such, the larger a company is, the more valuable divesting will probably become at some point.

Ethics in business has always been important, at least to a point. If there comes a time when customers don’t believe you’re honest about what you’re selling, they can abandon you overnight, ultimately ruining your business.

It’s becoming more apparent all the time that going a step further and practicing a higher standard of social responsibility can ultimately be more profitable.

The Importance of Ethics in Business

Businesses don’t exist in a vacuum. Instead, they exist within the complex circumstances of their customers’ lives. As a result, everything from customers’ disposable income to the number and quality of competitors impacts how a business performs.

These days, consumers are increasingly tired of businesses that exist solely to profit with no regard for the cost of their actions. Imagine a 20-year-old in college studying the impact of climate change, then looking at businesses contributing to that trouble. Sure, the companies may be profitable, but that income isn’t something everyone will admire.

Ethics in business isn’t just about going green, either. Most people want to be treated fairly. If your job offer doesn’t address the rapidly rising cost of living, yet you demand your employees work 20 hours of overtime a week with no overtime pay and you yell at them the whole time, you can’t expect them to be loyal. You’re acting unethically.

The Benefits of Ethics in Business

There are many benefits to acting ethically in business. For example:

• Employees work harder and are more loyal when they’re paid well and treated fairly.
• Customers are increasingly more likely to buy from businesses with a good reputation.
• Other people are more likely to help you when you need it.

Being ethical isn’t nearly as challenging or expensive as some people think. Giving back to your community isn’t throwing away money. It’s investing in the place where your employees live and work. A community that receives more gives more. Besides, reciprocity in marketing is a thing.

Why Should Businesses Be Socially Responsible?

Most businesses value profit ahead of everything else, which means there’s ultimately only one reason for businesses to be socially responsible: it makes more money. Ethical business practices impact a company at every level.

Be honest: Do you think an employee will give their full attention and work their hardest if they’re wondering where their next meal is coming from, or whether they can afford rent this month? Will customers come through your door if word is spreading that you’re hurting the community and making it a worse place to live?

Profit is not something you can measure exclusively by sales and income. It’s complicated, with factors like public opinion, employee morale, and external market forces impacting your success.

Businesses cannot exist without a good environment, and businesses have an enormous impact on that environment. If your customers and community are in a better spot, they’re more likely to spend money on you.

Is Profit Incompatible with Social Responsibility?

The short answer is no. Most people won’t argue that businesses trying to be profitable are fundamentally wrong. However, if profit is the only goal of a business, that can lead to more significant issues.

Many government regulations exist as a way to mandate a minimum level of social responsibility. For example, let’s say that your company produces medicine. You can reduce expenses by adding cheap filler, then increase the price of your product because people will pay almost anything to maintain their health.

Both of those are profitable strategies, but often not ethical ones, and that’s why they are (sometimes) regulated. Keeping tabs on regulations is essential, so make sure you know how business owners can monitor government updates.

Ethical business practices can also prevent constrictive legislation. For example, a company that willingly provides accessibility services might pay less than if legislation comes out demanding more.

The truth is that there’s no magic number where profit, in itself, becomes bad. However, businesses that focus on short-term gains at the expense of long-term profit often cause more harm than good, and that’s where people tend to draw the line.

In other words, social responsibility is essentially a company acknowledging that it wants to keep operating. If you destroy the foundation below your building, you have no room to complain when it collapses.

Example of Ethics in Business

Here are some examples of ethics and social responsibility in business.

Carbon Negative: Forget trying to be carbon-neutral. There’s almost no cost difference for going carbon negative, which means actively reducing the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Fair Pay: If the cost of living increases 10% in a year and employees get a 1% raise, they know they’re worse off than before. Fair pay means at least keeping up with the cost of living. Otherwise, all the skilled employees will leave, and you’ll be saddled with the cost of training replacements.

Good Customer Service: People love companies that have excellent customer service. If people trust that you’ll make any problem right, they’re far more likely to tell their friends about you.

Socially Responsible and Profitable Companies

Some of the most profitable companies in the world are socially responsible.

Microsoft, which needs no introduction, has an impressive track record in areas of social responsibility. Their offerings include tens of millions of people learning new skills through their systems, a carbon-negative plan that drastically reduces their environmental impact, and protection against billions of threats to electronic devices.

Consider that last one for a moment. Microsoft deals with technology, and people are far less likely to use it if they think it’s unsafe. People don’t buy a new copy of Windows OS every time Microsoft stops a virus for them, but making technology safer has a significant impact on people’s willingness to use it.

Ben & Jerry’s is a profitable ice cream company with a solid margin and is famously outspoken on social justice issues. They actively use food to talk about various social topics and helped pave the way for other companies to do the same.

Wrapping Up

In the end, being socially responsible is about learning how to find opportunities in every situation. Ethics may not bring obvious and immediate profit, but socially responsible policies are ultimately better for the company.

Any business owner knows the key to success is attracting and retaining customers. But, of course, prices are a major factor in this equation, and raising them can be risky.

After all, if your prices are too high, you risk losing customers to your competitors. But if your prices are too low, you may be unable to cover your costs or increase cash flow for small businesses. So how can you raise prices without scaring off customers?

The answer may vary depending on your business. This blog post will discuss a few scenarios and tips to help you raise prices without losing customers. Read on to learn more!

What Is a Typical Price Increase?

If you’re considering raising prices, you’re probably wondering how much is too much. Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to this question. A “typical” price increase will vary depending on several factors, including:

• Your industry
• The current market conditions
• How much your costs have increased

In general, most businesses raise prices by a few percentage points.

Why Small Businesses Raise Prices

So why do small businesses raise prices? There are several reasons. Here are a few common ones:

To Stay in Business

In some cases, businesses raise prices to stay afloat. The increase is usually due to higher costs for goods or services, rent, or other operating expenses. If your costs have gone up, you may need to raise prices to continue running your business.

To Make a Profit

In other cases, businesses raise prices to make more money. For example, perhaps you’re not making as much money as you’d like or need to raise funds for a new project. If you want to increase your profits, raising prices may be the way to do it.

Competition

If your competitors raise their prices, you may need to raise yours to competitive advantage pricing, particularly if your competitors have a significant pricing advantage.

When It is Time to Increase Prices – 3 Scenarios

Now that we’ve discussed why businesses raise prices, let’s look at a few scenarios where you might want to raise prices on your products or services.

1. When You’re Introducing a New Product or Service

If you’re introducing a new product or service, you may want to raise prices, especially if your new offering is significantly better than your old one. For example, if you’re a clothing company introducing a new line of high-end clothes, you’ll probably want to raise prices.

2. When You’re Making Changes to Your Business

If you make changes to your business, such as moving to a new location or expanding your product line, you may need to raise prices. These changes will likely increase your costs, and you’ll need to pass along those costs to customers through higher prices.

3. When Costs Go Up

Finally, you may need to raise prices if your costs go up. These costs include increases in raw materials, rent, utilities, etc. As a result, you’ll need to raise prices to maintain your profit margin if your costs go up.

What Are Acceptable Reasons to Increase Prices

Studies have shown that customers are more likely to accept price increases if they’re due to factors beyond your control. Such factors include:

Inflation

One of the most common and acceptable reasons for price increases is inflation, which refers to the overall increase in prices for goods and services. Various factors, such as transportation costs or simply a higher demand for goods and services, can contribute to inflation.

Cost of Living

Another reason for price increases is the cost of living, which measures how much money is needed to maintain a certain standard of living. Cost of living can also be affected by inflation and other factors such as job loss or unexpected medical expenses.

Government Regulation

Finally, government regulation can also cause prices to increase. For example, if the government imposes a new tax on companies, they may pass that cost on to consumers through higher prices.

How Companies Raise Prices without Raising Prices

There are a few ways that companies raise prices without actually raising prices. Here are a few standard methods:

Add New Features or Benefits

One way that companies can raise prices without raising prices is by adding new features or benefits. For instance, if a company raises the price of its flagship product, it can offset the increase by adding new features that justify the higher price.

Or, if a customer is reluctant to pay more for a product, the company can offer free shipping or a gift with the purchase. Companies can sometimes convince customers to accept a higher price by offering more value.

Redesigning Products

A company might change a product’s packaging or add a new flavor or scent. These changes might seem minor, but they often convince customers to pay more for the same product.

Offering Discounts or Coupons

Customers are often more willing to accept a higher price if they feel they’re getting a good deal. So, companies might offer discounts or coupons.

For example, a company might offer a 10% discount to customers who purchase a certain amount of their product. Such a discount encourages customers to buy more of the product, which raises the company’s profits.

How to Tell Customers about Price Increase Example Of 2022

Telling your customers about a price increase can be difficult. Still, it’s essential to do it in a way that doesn’t alienate them. Here are a few tips:

Be Upfront

The best way to tell customers about a price increase is to be upfront about it. Don’t try to hide the price increase or bury it in the fine print. Customers will appreciate your honesty, and it will help build trust.

Give Advance Notice

Whenever possible, give your customers advance notice of a price increase. Doing so will give them time to budget for the higher prices.

Offer a Discount

If you must raise prices, offer a discount to soften the blow. A discount will show your customers that you’re still committed to giving them a good deal.

Explain the Reason for the Increase

Be sure to explain the reason for the price increase. Your customers will be more understanding if they know why the price increased.

Bottom Line

Raising prices can be a difficult decision for any business. Still, there are ways to do it without scaring off customers.

The key is to be upfront about the price increase, give advance notice whenever possible, and offer a discount to soften the blow. Customers will be more understanding if they know that the price increase is due to factors beyond your control.

By following these tips, you can raise prices without losing customers.

No matter what industry you’re in, improving client relationships is essential. The clients are the backbone of their industry, and they are also a vital part of your business.

Not using the proper business skills to engage a client will create a domino effect. A lack of practical actions and poor leadership, communication, and trust with your clients can ruin business for you.

However, being accountable, clear about your intentions, embracing their visions, and being consistent with your actions are just a few ways to improve the relationship.

Let’s look at other ways you can maintain a solid, healthy, and successful relationship with them.

What Is a Good Client Relationship?

A good client relationship is built on trust and a solid work ethic. In addition, it contains honesty and consistency, which allows the client to build confidence in your tactics.

Ultimately, the client understands that you place their needs as a priority. Their business results will be direct evidence of how much you prioritize them and the future of their business.

A good client relationship also means open communication, a great partnership, and meeting expectations.

Show them you listen to their concerns, and you can genuinely help solve their problems. Then, take steps to create structured processes to improve their performance and yours.

In the end, your clients will be satisfied and desire to remain loyal in the long run.

Why Is It Important To Always Improve Relationships with Clients?

Improving client relationships is vital in many aspects. Constantly improving your relationship with a client means your business will continue to grow.

Working for a client with a well-established relationship means long-term business. If clients see you’re willing to go above and beyond, they will want to carry on the connection for their business.

Also, the clients will need you in their arsenal for their business. Once they see consistent growth and how your strategies have helped them succeed, they will be dedicated to your methods of success.

Not fostering a relationship could mean losing these clients and losing money. If you’re coming up short and lacking effort, it will reflect your end and theirs.

For the clients, it is about having the proper support and skills on their side to nurture their business.

Furthermore, it means creating a healthy partnership filled with solutions, transparency, effective planning, healthy communication, and collaborative efforts.

How to Set Up Client Relationship Goals

Creating relationship goals can help set the relationship with your client in the right direction. This will provide clarity, strengthen communication, and establish credence with your client.

Frequent Follow-Ups

Following up or checking in shows that you respect their time and you’re making an effort to ensure everything is in balance.

Taking the initiative to reach out and not disappear for days lets them know you’re reliable and consistent with communication.

Promote Transparency

It’s crucial to set a goal of promoting transparency. A good client relationship means ensuring you understand how they feel and are concerned.

This creates a safe communication space for your client. It allows them to engage with you worry-free. This process further builds trust and establishes loyalty.

Put Your Client First

Your clients need to know how important they are to you. Set a goal to put them first as often as possible.

Learn and gather a deep understanding of their goals. Then, create steps to assist them in accomplishing each objective.

Discuss their weaknesses and create a plan to help turn them into strengths instead. Putting in this effort will ultimately thrive and flourish in critical areas. Understanding how how your staff can make or break your overall customer experience will enable you to make a welcoming environment for your customers for years to come.

These outstanding results will then reflect on your efforts and even your reputation.

Adopt a Solution-Based Attitude

Clients have many problems they need to solve, and sometimes those issues seem endless. However, your attitude can help to change their outcome.

When problems arise, you need to be prepared and have the ability to take them on. It doesn’t matter what the issue is; show that you can solve them.

Don’t look at the problem and point out even more problems. Your client needs to be able to rely on you and your advice truly.

By taking control of these kinds of situations, your client will see that you work well under pressure, and you can handle stress even in the worst of times.

Best Practices for Improving Client Relationship

Improving a client relationship takes work that is often never-ending. It’s a task that is meant for the long haul. First, however, you need to prove to them you’re up for the job. Here are ways you can accomplish this.

Be open to Feedback

Knowing how you can improve your business based on customer feedback can set your business apart. Receiving feedback can sometimes make us feel very uncomfortable. However, it’s a great way to improve the relationship with clients.

Studies show that 85% of businesses say receiving feedback from clients helped benefit and improve their company immensely.

Being open to receiving feedback shows that you care about your clients. It tells them you value what they think and that you’re committed to helping them reach their goals.

Listening to their needs also shows them you’re willing to take action to ensure their desires are met. This level of commitment can easily create a long-term relationship in business.

Show Appreciation

A great way to foster any client relationship is to show them your appreciation. Doing so doesn’t have to be with grand gestures. Instead, show it through small but impactful actions.

Doing things like thanking them for feedback, telling them you appreciate them utilizing your services, sending thank you notes in invoices, or even using social media to show you value them.

These sorts of gestures can go a long way. Taking these extra steps to show your appreciation will help your client feel respected, acknowledged, and valued.

Get to Know Them

Getting to know your client is significant when seeking to improve the relationship.

Learning about them on a personal level can help them to open up and let their guards down.

When it comes to working with clients, things can be very stressful. Constant talk about deadlines, projects, to-do lists, etc., can become overwhelming for both parties.

So, asking them about their day or inquiring about their favorite activities outside of work can help them relax. Of course, it’s best to do this after you’ve known them for a while, but it will certainly help them become more comfortable with you.

Conclusion

The customer relationships you form today can create opportunities for tomorrow.  The ultimate goal is to create a steady and robust connection with your clients.

Suppose this connection is powerful and filled with focus, a strong foundation, trust, concise action, and strategic endeavors. In that case, you’re well on your way to developing a long-term relationship with your clients.

Great leaders have a series of management tasks that enhance the achievement of goals in organizations. These tasks mainly involve team coaching, the delegation of work among subordinates, and decision-making. To be a great leader, you’ll also need to prioritize networking.

Networkers connect with like-minded individuals in the industry, employees, and other company managers. Your personality traits significantly contribute to your ability to connect with various individuals in the industry. Some of these traits include integrity, passion, and courage.

Leaders create and use networks mainly to learn from more experienced individuals in the field.

Why Networking Is Important For Leaders

Your professional network is the most powerful tool at your disposal as a leader. You build, interact, and maintain your network to achieve your development plans successfully. However, in leadership, “no man is an island,” you need support from your peers and role models. 

Learning why establishing a network of peers is important will catapult your career to the next level.  

Most leaders create and use networks tips and tricks to enjoy the following benefits:

Earn Career Opportunities

Networking is a mutually beneficial relationship. Every individual you connect with is relevant to your career growth. First, understand your contribution to their future success and the benefits you draw from their knowledge.

Career opportunities arise from idea exchange with knowledgeable individuals. When you listen to other people, you learn different tactics to handle business challenges.

In addition, as you connect with colleagues in the workplace, always lookout for development opportunities and mentors.

For instance, department leaders create good relationships with senior individuals to gather tactics on how to earn promotions.

Build Successful Teams

Leaders always focus on networking as a strategy to learn about a specific profession of interest. Your new finds from other professionals equip you with leadership skills such as confidence and empathy to build a strong team of employees.

Your colleagues offer advice on various ways to motivate your employees. As a result, motivated employees feel empowered and raise the company’s productivity levels.

Your team’s networking skills have to meet specific principles for you to succeed. These principles include trust and humility. In addition, do not confuse trust with control because once your team feels controlled, you might not achieve your networking goals.

Learn About Industry Trends

Market dynamics shift, and you might miss out on important deals because of a lack of sufficient information. Your network earns you quick access to recent trends in your industry.

Why Is It Important for Rising Leaders To Network

Rising managers in companies have few friends and use networking to make friendships. From these friendships, you earn referrals that get you more clients. The more referrals you get, the faster you can penetrate the market and gain a competitive advantage.

Professional friends also provide testimonials about your business to potential clients. These testimonials include your company name and the type of products offered. Some go further to explain the benefits of working with your company. This way, they ease the client’s ability to find your business.

How to Build a Strong Network

Networking may put you in a better position to earn favors from other professionals, but it is more than a means to collect favors. To earn every benefit associated with professional networking, you need to understand how to start networking. 

Attend Networking Events

Where you go influences the type of people you make connections with. Every event may be a networking opportunity, but local business events will lead to valuable information since you’ll meet your peers.

Conferences and seminars are a good opportunity to overcome introversion. You’ll make valuable social relationships if you effectively communicate with other attendees. Attend such conferences with close friends who also intend to expand their businesses. This way, you’ll have familiar faces to boost your confidence.

Business events can also be virtual. Some people assume virtual networking is a challenge, but such an event is an opportunity to identify who to befriend.

Consider addressing other attendees at roundtables on matters that you understand well. Some attendees will identify you because of what you know. This way, you’ll have positioned yourself as a valuable resource, and the other members will be included to contact you. You’ll also be able to learn how to communicate with those in your position.  

Choose the Right Goal

A suitable goal gets you everything you need from networking endeavors. First, figure out how a particular event or business meeting is important for your business. What do you want to achieve from your relationship with a particular individual?

Setting goals for client and professional relationships may seem one-sided, so base your goals on your value to the other party.

For instance, if your main goal is to formulate a suitable product marketing strategy, then research how existing businesses operate in the same market segment.

Focus on Follow-Ups

Networking events allow you to get business contracts. However, it may be easier for the other party to forget about such agreements, thus the need to write a follow-up letter. Your follow-up efforts also solidify your relationship.

Maximize Internal Networking

Internal connections within an organization open doors for aspiring and current leaders. As a leader, It should not be difficult for you to make connections within your organization since you have time to understand these individuals well.

First, make it your main goal to attend every meeting in your organization. Then, once you attend meetings from different departments, demonstrate your interest in your subordinates’ work.

Other leaders also choose mentors from within their organization. Your mentor can be a former holder of your position. Internal marketing also happens through simple activities such as lunch dates or discussion sessions with your colleagues. Your regular cheat chats create valuable peer networks.

Successful Network Leadership Examples

The importance of networking cannot be diminished. Network leadership has played a significant influence on the success of most leaders today. For instance, presidents create good relationships with others from different continents to access raw materials, military support, and food material.

Social entrepreneurs are also visionary, relentless, and ambitious leaders in society. They utilize client relationships to gather trending information in the market. These entrepreneurs quickly penetrate the market and operate for a long time.

Conclusion

Successful networking goes beyond linking to various individuals. It requires effective connections, collaborations, and creativity. As a leader, you create a strong network through sincerity, division of resources, and thoughtful use of power. Take these networking tips to better network in your professional life. There’s no telling how your relationships today can create opportunities for tomorrow.