Contacts or “Real” Relationships

By Alan C. Brawn CTS, DSCE, DSDE, DSNE, DCME, DSSP, ISF-C

Those of us in the digital signage community like to trumpet the creative and technical efforts we put forth for our clients and the tangible value we provide in creating viewer experiences and responses through the overt (but often subliminal) process of behavior modification. At our best a viewer sees a digital sign and does something with the information they were exposed to. This is aspirational but not just a hope. It is a reality. For the majority of cases be it hardware, software and content creation our value and positive results speak for themselves. Our industry is a quantifiable success with proven results.

With positive track records in mind, I decided to dig into the digital signage community and what makes it tick and see what is at the core of their progress and success. The majority of those we interviewed initially spoke glowingly about their products, services, and companies but I wanted more than a company centric “elevator pitch”. Digging deeper in one form or another most said their success is due to “digital signage not being a commodity but rather a relationship business”. In the discussions they noted that it goes beyond the singularity of a quid pro quo and a transaction and truly focused on the experience. The people that said this believed it, and it led me to explore exactly what a business relationship experience means as it pertains to company cultures, networking, industry partnerships and of course customers.

Under the umbrella of relationships, it is all about human connections. Experts in human behavior tell us there are two overarching types of human connectivity. Some may want to add contacts, but they exist as names you know that if cultivated could move toward one of the following:

• Transactional relationships
  • Primarily based on a quid pro quo exchange
  • Specific goals or benefits in mind, solely based on financial or physical gains
  • These interactions tend to be task-oriented and may lack a deep emotional connection. In contrast, relational relationships are built on a foundation of mutual understanding, trust, and emotional investment.
• Relational
  • Relational connections go beyond mere transactions and involve a genuine interest in the well-being of the other person. Relational relationships are:
    • Often characterized by empathy
    • More emotionally based levels of communication
    • A long-term perspective
    • A sense of closeness and connection that transcends immediate or financially based gains.

The experts tell us that ultimately the key distinction lies in the nature and depth of the connection, with transactional relationships being more instrumental and goal-oriented, and relational relationships emphasizing emotional connection and long-term mutual support and interaction.

Every professional needs strong business relationships to be successful. These relationships include interactions and connections you build with colleagues, peers, and other stakeholders. The key word here is build and then adding to that in maintaining what you have built.

Depending on your industry, you are likely to encounter multiple types of business relationships.

Pamela Rucker, instructor of Strengthening Business Relationships at Harvard, says that the way leaders perform their work changes as they advance in their career. According to Rucker, four of the most common types are your team and stakeholders, your ecosystem, your industry, and your clients. Each of these relationships play a unique role in serving the work that you do.

• Team and Stakeholder Relationships
  • Since you work with your team and stakeholders most closely, focusing on building your success together should be a priority. Strong communication, clear expectations, and effective collaboration are all ways to “harness that collective power together”.
• Ecosystem Relationships
  • This can include developers, operating support, and suppliers. Though you may not work with each member of your ecosystem daily, maintaining strong connections is essential to stay aligned and produce effective results.
• Industry Relationships
  • It is essential to stay informed about your industry. Being an active participant means staying up-to-date on the movers and shakers, upcoming innovations, and important news. Rucker calls this process “developing competitive intelligence.” This can also help you pace yourself in your own business and adjust the effectiveness of your products or services.
• Client Relationships
  • Maintaining relational relationships with your clients can help you understand their needs and develop offerings to meet them. Ways to build client relationships include truly knowing and understanding your clients, seeking meaningful feedback, delivering as promised and meeting or exceeding expectations, and following up.

It can be difficult to know where to start when building business relationships. Below are some suggestions from experts in the field for maintaining and improving your existing business relationships, as well as seeking out new ones.

• Offer Something of Value
  • Make sure there is something you can bring to the table. Building and forming relationships can come more naturally if what you offer is helpful, educational, supportive, or unique in the eyes of the recipients.
• Be a Resource
  • Strong business relationships are about being mutually beneficial to one another. Make yourself invaluable by offering assistance, advice, and support to your connections. This shows that you are invested in the success of others.

• Good Communication.
  • Communicate what you intend and clarify with context for understanding. Do not be afraid to ask questions, provide clarifications verbally or via email and repeat yourself in order to make sure every detail is clear for all parties. Ask others to reiterate their understanding before moving forward. Think of this as being on the same page of the hymnal.
• Build Trust
  • Once you have become established your reputation will speak for itself. Building trust builds upon that. It is all about taking action and following through on your promises. Show your worth as a business connection by fulfilling your commitments. Validating your trustworthiness leads to stronger business relationships.
• Ask For Constructive Feedback
  • Asking for constructive feedback is one of the best ways to show you are listening to others and are actively seeking to improve. Seeking feedback helps to acknowledge expectations and creates trust and opportunities for both parties to strengthen the relationship.
• Expressing Appreciation.
  • This is an essential and basic attitude that can provide endless benefits in business. The simple act of being appreciative to those around us can boost productivity, thus improving work quality and productivity.
• Maintain Important Contacts
  • Networking is necessary to build a robust community of support throughout your professional career, so keep in touch with your industry and business connections. The challenge is keeping in touch. Think in terms of out of sight out of mind.
• Utilize Social Media
  • Taking advantage of all the benefits social media offers is vital to your professional growth. Social media can help you stay in contact with your business relationships and gain new ones. The challenge is to mix personal face to face contact with virtual.

Building and maintaining relationships allows businesses to offer a more personalized and enticing customer experience. And it is exactly the quality of the experience you offer that will determine whether or not you’ll establish long-term business success

I ran across some interesting statistics relating to customer experiences and relationships:

• In a recent study, 86% of customers claim their experiences are just as important as the actual product or service they purchase. This means businesses are not only required to provide products or services their customers need, but they must also deliver a great end-to-end experience across every touchpoint.
• In another study of those who left a current company they were currently doing business with 71% of respondents “called a competitor because their current supplier was “indifferent and did not appear as if they cared”.
• Research from Aberdeen Group found that businesses with a consistent service quality across multiple channels were able to retain 89% of their customers. In contrast, businesses that were unable to provide a consistent experience on multiple channels retained only 33% of their customers.
• In a study conducted by Fulcrum, they reported that 75% of customers who received a birthday message from a business they purchased from thought more highly of that business. It also showed that 88% of those positive responses led to an increase in brand loyalty.

We cannot overstate the importance of the experience and relationships in all areas and types of interpersonal activities. I ran across a concept that fits my thinking perfectly. It begins with measurements and metrics. We all know about Return on Investment (ROI) used to evaluate the effectiveness of the money being spent and the profit that it yields. The benefits (aka returns) of relationships does not fit easily  in this “ROI box” but relationships do impact ROI.

 If we look at return from a relationship perspective, a new and more effective term can be of use – Return on Relationship (ROR). As one subject matter experts says, “It can provide deeper insights on the effectiveness of a business’ personality and its ability to connect with people.” Ted Rubin, a leading social marketing strategist defines ROI and ROR as follows:

“ROR (Return on Relationship) is the value accrued by a person or a brand due to nurturing a relationship. ROI (Return on Investment) is simple dollars and cents. ROR is the value (perceived and real) that will accrue over time through loyalty, recommendations, and sharing.” And it is ROR that puts an emphasis on building positive relationships.

Few if any will disagree that relationships are a key components to success. In a world of parity and commoditization it is tough to differentiate. Whether it is with your team and stakeholders, your ecosystem, your industry, and your clients’ creating experiences and relational relationships is the most effective path to differentiation. It will take dedication, skill, and practice, but with these elements in play you can look forward to curating a network of business relationships that is mutually beneficial and supportive of your achievements.

I will sign of with what I think is the biggest challenge in assessing and expanding relationships. In my discussion with numerous digital signage experts, I explored their perception of contacts and relationships (both transactional and relational) and I found some confusion. Many conflated contacts with relationships. Most had hundreds if not thousands of contacts but when pressed on the nature of the relationships it fell into what we call in AV a grey scale. It was not black or white but rather shades of grey. And so, it will be with relationships and varying degrees. Ask yourself what relational relationships are important to you. Be honest. Ask yourself what you have done to continue and/or further a relationship. When did you or they last reach out? An uncultivated relationship reverts to being a contact.

The call to action in this article is to understand the nature of relationship and know where your relationships fall on a measurement scale of your choosing.  Ask yousef which contacts need cultivation to attain relationship status and which existing ones need more work and provide the ROR that you are seeking.