Chris Kemp, CEO and Founder of The Ingenuity Group discusses the importance of nurturing connections for commercial business growth
Relationship building is the cornerstone of success. Nurturing connections is crucial for commercial business growth, from the start-up phase to scaling up and beyond; having strong relationships has the potential to increase loyalty, provide access to new opportunities, and enhance collaboration.
But there’s more to it than just responding to emails on time and being polite on the phone. There are challenges to building connections, especially in the current climate where people are far more time poor. Plus, there are specific strategies that can be put in place as a business grows.
The critical role of relationships in commercial business growth
There’s value in every relationship. Since I started Ingenuity nearly two decades ago, I’ve met and built connections with so many fantastic people. Some I work with regularly, others on a much less frequent basis. Either way, building long-term relationships based on trust helped me grow The Ingenuity Group from a start-up to what it is today.
Not only does speaking to people help build a pipeline of new business opportunities, networking provides a fantastic opportunity to learn valuable insights about the industry you work in. You hear first-hand the challenges people are facing, solutions that are working and predictions for the future – which are all fantastic learnings for growing a business. Personally, having strong connections has also led to key acquisitions and hires, which have been fundamental in the evolution of The Ingenuity Group.
It’s fair to say though that the method of building relationships has changed over the years. The advancement of tech has played a huge role in this, with LinkedIn in particular a more popular means than ever for people to connect. Despite this, I’ve found the best way to connect with people is to be introduced by a mutual connection, whether that’s digitally or physically.
Challenges in establishing and maintaining connections
On top of tech-related changes, there’s also the challenge many business owners face – time. No matter what type of business leader you are, whether you’re focused on networking and new business or operations and clients, time will never be on your side. Through the years I’ve seen people become far more time poor – myself included – which has resulted in fewer face-to-face meeting opportunities.
In response, people have had to become more creative and efficient in how they establish and maintain connections. Tactics like designated events and organising networking dinners provide the opportunity for everyone involved to nurture their connections and meet new people
Another challenge is the way industries have changed. The marketing industry is fast paced, with people changing roles and moving frequently, so it’s important to ensure you stay up to date. It’s a lot to monitor but it’s worth the effort: connecting with the right person demonstrates you’ve done your research and the connection is intentional. And again, that personal introduction from a mutual connection creates an element of trust.
Strategies for nurturing and sustaining relationships
As a start-up, getting your name out there must be your priority. However, as the business grows and your team develops, it’s important for other key people in the business to either create their own relationships or nurture existing ones.
This might be daunting to begin with but if a client likes you, most of the time they will be happy to deal with your company and team. Introduce clients to other members of the team and let them develop a relationship themselves. People respect that you might not have as much time as before. This doesn’t mean you should fall off the edge of the earth though. Keep in contact with texts, go to big industry events like MAD//Fest where you can see lots of people in one go, and lean on PR and social media to communicate updates to your network. Be strategic with updates on LinkedIn for example; only share content that is valuable and relevant so as not to clog people’s feed. For continued business growth, it’s incredibly important for the CEO to not hold all the relationships – it’s also just not possible, there’s not enough time in the day!
Building connections, especially face-to-face, is not everyone’s strength. To help employees feel confident in building and sustaining key relationships, businesses should be strategic. Pair people up at networking events to enable the opportunity to shadow or incentivise relationship building for your team.
Relationship building remains a cornerstone of business success, even as the landscape evolves. No matter where you are on your journey from start-up to established business, connections are key — each one offering the potential for growth, learning, and collaboration. While technology has introduced new tools for networking, the basis of strong relationships still needs trust and personal interaction.
Whether it’s you or your team, never underestimate the power of networking to fuel business growth.