Building business relationships in a recession

If you’ve watched Mad Men, you’d be forgiven for thinking that all it takes to secure an ad sale is a long lunch and a tipple of whiskey. But the reality is business relationships take time and effort to develop - and now is as good a time as ever to build meaningful connections.

Jaana Collins is Stuff’s Director of Agency Markets, a strategically driven agency professional with unrivalled connections across the media industry.

I have worked in sales environments all my life. From selling (terrible tasting) lemonade at roadside stalls and chocolates for netball fundraisers, to trays of shots at nightclubs, to making 30+ calls a day as a telemarketer and selling logistics and courier solutions. All this before landing in media, where I’ve worked in companies that have sold most channels - radio, TV, digital, outdoor, content.

One thing has remained true in every one of these sales situations: People buy from who they know and who they can trust to add value.

Tough economic times can mean less budget, less time to invest in building relationships and more reliance on tools and technology. But fostering relationships built on trust in times of turbulence can set your business above the rest.

Here are five things to remember when building trust and connections in business:

1. EQ is crucial

Building trust person-to-person requires a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ). In the media industry, we are always involved in a lot of human interaction. We engage by presenting in person, when sharing information at media events and in one-on-one time with key influencers. Understanding people, their needs and behaviours, is critical to earning trust during these interactions.

Personally, I’ve always loved this part of my role. I enjoy getting to know people and feel valued when they trust me enough to share a problem with me. That kind of information exchange isn’t often offered to just anyone, so when trust is transferred to me I take the responsibility seriously.

2. Relationships aren’t set and forget

Even if your relationships are solid, you have to do the work and add value. This is something that you should not let slip even when resources are tight. Businesses must continue to invest in relationships, but ensure they are investing in the right relationships and the right people - those who have strong relationships already, those who have the ability to build them and those who will do the work with the tools and resources available.

COVID put relationships to the test, with human connection moved online. No chance to read body language and certainly no long media lunches - no one wanted to share an egg sammie in their kitchens on camera with several kids in the background. Those that could show they add value and made an effort to continue building trust were the ones that maintained their relationships during and post-COVID.

3. Protecting your patch isn’t always a good idea

Trying to protect your patch and keep your relationships exclusive can negatively affect your business. Don't be afraid of stakeholders - the more people from your business who have strong connections with your partners and potential clients, the better.

This also means that your internal relationships are important too - and these connections are made and strengthened in similar ways to your external relationships. Establishing trust within your own organisation will allow you to deliver good work and results for your clients and for your business.

4. Authenticity is key

With the rise of AI, some businesses may be tempted to let technology take on the work of building and maintaining relationships. But this should be done very cautiously. I believe relationships are now heavily centred around authenticity. Your business’s strongest relationships will be the ones where there is human trust, not just trust in your tech and tools.

COVID played a role in this emphasis on authenticity. It humanised business relationships in a way they hadn’t been before. We were often seeing people we’d usually only see in a professional environment instead in their homes, seeing their pets, their kids, the artwork on their walls. Authenticity was, and remains, key.

5. Every client is a person

Underpinning all of this is the fact that every client is a person. It might sound obvious, but all too often this can be forgotten in a high paced, high pressure business environment. Forget it at your peril because people buy from people.

Many are worried - and rightly so - about the influence and impact of global tech giants on our industry here in Aotearoa. Interactions between big tech and business often lack the human element. Instead, we need to lean into our humanity and develop networks of trusted relationships in our local market. These person-to-person connections can protect local media investment and grow our local industry, even in tough economic times.