Would you like to learn how to build personal relationships especially at work and in your business environment? If yes, you couldn’t have chosen a better project to embark on right now. Experience has shown that good personal relationships have greatly contributed to building bridges and being successful. On the contrary, poor relationships have burned bridges and are often a recipe for frustration, loss of direction, and eventual failure.
If there is one thing every business owner has learned, maybe through knowledge acquisition or experience, it is that people are our greatest assets.
Regardless of how smart, talented, hard-working, or intelligent you are, there is just a limit to how much you can do alone.
Most of the best achievements ever recorded in life have been a result of good communication and collaboration.
And this is not only limited to your internal team, while of course building personal relationships with employees and colleagues is very important.
It is also essential that you work to build and improve your relationships with external stakeholders and customers.
Building personal relationships would involve strengthening your bond with people, and taking your interaction with them beyond the surface level.
When this is done, there is more understanding, unity and of course, it offers more opportunities for collaboration and success.
Building personal relationships however can be a difficult project for some, thanks to the diverse nature of humans.
It could be that you even struggle with building personal relationships with close family members, talk more of business associates.
However, we want to make sure you do not find this rather challenging project difficult, arming you with the right tools to complete your project of building personal relationships.
As you read this article, you will see some of the best strategies for building personal relationships with people.
What Are Personal Relationships?
Personal relationships can be defined as the close connection or bond that exists between people.
Most times, this connection or bond is created through constant and consistent physical and emotional interaction between the parties involved.
Usually, such bonds and connections do not just happen overnight or by chance, but rather from gaining mutual experiences.
When you think of personal relationships, a partnership such as the one existing between two married people might come to mind.
This kind of relationship is built on mutual love, trust, and great affection for each other.
Additionally, there are also personal relationships that exist between families.
This kind of relationship is the one that is forged between people connected by marriage, adoption, or birth.
For such personal relationships to grow and develop, factors such as mutual trust, interaction, support e.t.c all play a key part.
Of course, we also have the personal relationships that exist between two or more people who consider themselves as friends.
This type of relationship is built on shared interest, emotional connection, closeness, constant communication, and shared experiences.
While all these types of personal relationships are very important, we would be focusing more on the last type.
This is because it is the type of personal relationship you should build to get ahead in life and your business.
The beautiful part of it is that the principles that work for one kind of personal relationship often work for others too.
Therefore, those strategies that we will soon consider would help you in starting, building, and developing close personal relationships on all levels.
Why is it Important to Build Personal Relationships
Before we go into the process of building personal relationships, we must understand the importance of this.
You might have heard some people say that they do not care what others think about them and are better off being alone than making friends.
Well, perhaps you also feel the same way.
While it is true that some alliances and relationships might cause more harm than good, there is no denying the positive impact of building the right ones.
Find below some of the notable benefits that come with building personal relationships, especially in business:
It Helps to Build Trust and Loyalty
In the success story of every top successful business owner, you will hear that mutual trust and brand loyalty make up the foundation for success.
Trust is very essential in a business because it is one of the factors that can get you through difficult phases.
When you run a business where employees and customers do not trust you, it might be challenging to keep them interested when the going gets tough.
However, with trust comes brand loyalty, which is very integral to your long-term success.
Well, one of the things that can help you build trust and loyalty is building personal relationships.
Without personal relationships with these involved in your business, you would only deal with them on the surface.
And such dealings that do not make you deeply connected with people cannot grow into trust.
It Helps in Conversion of Leads and Prospects into Customers
As a salesperson, you probably already know the funnel of conversion of people into paying customers.
The first step is to identify the leads, then categorize them into prospects and then work on making them active customers.
One of the things that can effectively help you scale the process of conversion from leads and prospects to customers is building personal relationships.
And that is exactly what a lot of businesses try to do with telemarketing and constant communication.
If you are going to stand a chance of convincing someone you feel is a good prospect for your business to be a paying customer, you need to be more than just a seller.
It is important that you develop close bonds with these, and meet them at their emotional point of need.
This would increase your success rate in the conversion of prospects into paying customers.
Building Personal Relationships Takes Friendships Beyond Business
A lot of people who have invested time in building such relationships find that their friendships with others outlive business transactions.
When you forge such relationships, you can have long-term or even lifetime friends.
This’ expertise and career path would benefit you at some point while yours also be of benefit to them.
And that is what networking is all about.
Hence, building personal relationships with others can go a long way in helping you build bridges that would help you get across in the future, both near and far.
Good Personal Relationships Help you Retain Customers
Repeat customers, rather than one-off purchases is the engine that drives every successful business endeavor.
And that is why your focus should be on getting repeat purchases from customers who patronize you.
If such customers do not feel a certain connection with you through frequent interactions, communication, and great experiences, they will likely not come back.
Hence, there is a need to build personal relationships with these.
It is such a relationship that makes them feel a sense of loyalty to your brand and would keep them coming.
Having a customer base of satisfied, loyal, and repeat customers is integral to business success commercially.
And building personal relationships is the key to achieving this.
It Contributes to Unity and Oneness in the Workplace
Unity remains a very difficult goal to achieve in many business environments today, as people are exposed to differing opinions, interests, and personalities.
Hence, if you as a business owner or manager limit your interaction with employees to just professional discussions, unity of purpose might be hard to come by.
On the other hand, when you build personal relationships with your staff, there is a sense of togetherness.
Everyone stops seeing one another as just colleagues but rather as good friends working together towards a common goal.
And that would positively contribute to the unity and oneness that exist in the workplace.
It Helps you Improve your Communication Skills
It is common knowledge that for every relationship to grow and prosper, there must be frequent communication between all parties.
If you do not maintain close regular communication with your employees, business partners, and customers, the relationship cannot last.
Hence, when you actively communicate with these, you are also learning how to be a good communicator and improve your skills in that area.
It can help you increase your confidence levels, which would only benefit you in marketing and closing deals.
How to Build Personal Relationships – Steps to Take
Building personal relationships with people doesn’t happen automatically, and neither is it a result of chance.
It takes deliberate efforts on your part to seek out such relationships and take practical actions to build them.
Here are some steps you can take to start building personal relationships both within and outside your industry:
Decide What Kind of Relationship You Want to Build
In the business environment, there are many types of personal relationships you can build, depending on what your target is.
You might feel the need to build better relationships with your employees or colleagues at work.
It might also be that you have a great relationship with these but need to build the one with your customers.
Additionally, building personal relationships is also important for other experts both in your industry and outside.
This is why the first step you need to take in building personal relationships is deciding which area you want to focus on.
You can check the current relationships you have and which ones are lacking.
Then, anywhere you see the need for improvement would be your focus in making changes with results in view.
Practice Keen and Active Listening
One practical measure you can take when starting with building personal relationships with others is being a good listener.
Sometimes, we make the mistake of only wanting to express our own opinions and ideas when in communication with someone.
Whereas what we should be doing is listening more than we speak.
Can you recall the last time you met a stranger and the person ended up being a very good friend of yours?
Most likely, that bond and relationship began through quality interaction and communication between you both.
And when communication happens, you must make it a practice to listen attentively to the other party.
It is very easy for the person you are discussing with to know when you are paying attention and it draws them close to you.
Before long, such conversations would happen more often, and that is the foundation upon which personal relationships are built.
Show Kind and Unselfish Interest in Others
Once you’ve picked out people you wish to build personal relationships with, the next line of action is being deliberate in showing interest in them.
This would involve going out of your way to meet these and start conversations with them.
If you run a business where people walk in to patronize you, for example, you can take time out to engage them in open conversations.
While you will not want to pry into their private affairs, you can show genuine concern for their well-being and business.
When this concern is genuine, which can quickly be spotted, it goes a long way in helping you build solid personal relationships.
The next time you see such persons, the conversation flows smoother and can only grow better.
Learn to Accept People’s Differences
One of the mistakes that some people make while building relationships is expecting the other party to be like them.
However, our diversity as humans is what makes us unique and special.
Therefore, when building personal relationships, make it your goal to respect and accept people for who they are.
You have to note that not everyone would agree with your opinions and ideas.
Hence, instead of judging people that are different from who you are, learn to appreciate and respect those differences.
When you are more receptive this way, you stop being judgemental but open, and it helps in building personal relationships.
Go to Where You Can Find People
To build personal relationships with experts in your industry, for example, you will need to do more than just stay in your office and wish for it.
You must make yourself available in and around where these can be found.
That might mean attending organized picnics, parties, conferences, seminars e.t.c. organized in your field.
When you do this, you will find more opportunities to network with people, and start conversations with them.
Before long, you would have built a strong personal relationship with the ones of your choice.
Be More of a Giver Than a Receiver
One thing you need to understand about building personal relationships is that it is more reciprocal than it is transactional.
If your aim for building personal relationships with others is to take from them without giving in return, such a relationship cannot work.
This is because nobody wants to be friends with a leech or a parasite, who only wants to live off them and associate with them for the benefits.
On the contrary, your main objective for starting such relationships should be to give off yourself, time, and energy for the good of others.
Such a selfless attitude endears people to you and makes it easier to develop or build personal relationships with them.
Have Humility and a Forgiving Attitude
While building personal relationships, there would be times when disagreements and problems may arise.
If we stop being friends with all our friends every time they make us angry or wrong us, then we might just end up with no friends at the end of the day.
There are always bound to be disagreements, but it is your approach to solving them that matters.
Hence, having forbearance and a forgiving attitude can help you improve your relationships and also mend broken relationships.
On the other hand, if you are the one who is in the wrong, you also need the humility to own up to your fault and apologize.
Such an attitude would go a long way in restoring relationships and building them.
Be Persistent in your Efforts
No one promised that building personal relationships with people would come easy or simple.
If anything, it is one of the projects in human life that take a long time to achieve and is always ongoing.
Therefore, even if you are not getting positive results at present, you need to intensify your efforts and persist.
Also, remember that people have different makeup and personality.
While some might be extroverted and easily get friendly and interested, others are naturally shy.
And generally, it takes time to build trust and earn the confidence of others.
Therefore, do not give up easily on building personal relationships even if it seems to delay.
The results would come in soon.
Be Open and Honest
One of the traits that negatively impact the development of good personal relationships among people is dishonesty.
For a relationship to start and endure, trust must be built.
And when you have the habit of being deceptive or dishonest, you are doing your chances of building mutual trust no good.
On the contrary, when you are open and honest in your words, actions, and business dealings, you have a good reputation.
And this will make your building personal relationships a whole lot easier.
Have Realistic Expectations
We understand how interested and dedicated you are to building personal relationships that are beneficial and endure.
However, you need to have realistic expectations that not every approach you make for this would turn out well.
Sometimes, the fear of rejection might want to make you stop trying altogether.
That fear though is something you shouldn’t let cripple you, but make you realistic.
Some relationships you plan to start would not work and that’s okay.
But if you keep trying, you will win the ones that would benefit you in the long run.
How to Build Personal Relationships – Conclusion
Whether partnerships, friendship, family, or business relationships, building personal relationships is a very essential endeavor in life.
What we can achieve when it comes to success is very little compared to what we can achieve with the help of others.
Building personal relationships with people is like building bridges.
The efforts you put into it now would greatly benefit you both now and in the future.
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