Talk Business to Build your Relationships

A large part of building a relationship with others as part of your wider business development and networking strategy is that you must also talk business. There is sometimes an aversion to talking too much business, or maybe it is the fear of asking an inappropriate question and/or confidentiality concerns but it is important to take the opportunity to talk business as part of building a relationship with your contacts.

Take an interest in their business and what they are doing work-wise.

It is great to build a relationship up around outside and common interests – this is how genuine friendship and bonds are developed. However, to have a good business development relationship you must also have conversations about work. You should aim to have conversations about your client’s business and business challenges, what they are looking for, what they need.

Here are some examples of questions you could ask:

• What are you working on right now?
• What is keeping you late?
• What is the biggest thing you are working on right now?
• What are you enjoying working on at the moment?
• How is business/work at the moment?
• What is the biggest challenge you are working on right now?
• Where do you find you need additional support?

These simple open-ended questions may lead to a more in-depth business conversation without seeming to overstep the mark.