Building High-Trust Business Relationships

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” - Warren Buffett

Introduction to Karl’s style of working
Here we introduce some of the essential ways we work and how they relate to our approach to building business relationships. Our training is highly motivating and Karl’s great facilitation skills ensure that participants learn from one another and that the company’s intellectual capital as well as business know-how is shared.

Company Wants
A meeting is held with the Human Capital Executive or any other designated senior official to understand the client’s need, challenges and where possible any relevant business strategy. The client has the opportunity to say what he or she would like to achieve for the business. We explain our program and stress that we can incorporate or adapt specific areas they would like to focus on. We also clarify the areas where learning should be more practical for “activist learners”.

Delegate Wants
Delegates receive Stage 1 of the program one week before the training session for preparation and self study. Stage 1 is emailed to the Human Capital Executive or the designated staff member for communication to the delegates. We also provide delegates the opportunity to communicate specific needs or areas of focus directly to us before the training and we interact with the Human Capital Executive where deemed necessary.

Module 1: Why creating high-trust business relationships?
The client may use this opportunity to introduce the rationale for this training intervention. We open a discussion and invite the team to contribute to the discussion. This activity is done in a brain storming or group work session. We help them to be other-focused in talking about benefits of products or services, writing proposals etc.

Participant benefits

• Learn the definition and key elements of trust
• Evaluate the consequences of high and low trust within an company
• Understand the importance of being trustworthy in building trust and rate your trustworthiness
• Receive feedback from others about your personal trustworthiness
• Understand the need to invest in the company’s relationship capital
• Become other-focused and enhance your emotional intelligence

Module 2: Understanding yourself and others
The foundation for the day is laid with discussions and activities to be “other focused”. There are some people that we naturally get on and communicate very well with and others who constantly frustrate us.  Differences in style can result in instant rapport, or cause conflicts and other barriers to communication.  When people know how to recognize and deal with their style differences, their differences can become a source of productivity and innovation. 

We start with a motivating talk concerning the “Self” and personality behavioral styles. We then do a practical activity to help participants to understand themselves and how other team members perceive them. Each delegate will talk briefly about their communication style and what they think works for them. They will then get feedback from their fellow delegates and Karl.

We look at the difference between you and your company's 'offering' in the context that 'it's you they buy'. “They” mean internal and external stakeholders/customers. They will also talk about a good relationship they have with one of their stakeholders and what is it that they do that makes the relationship successful.

Participant benefits

• Enhanced self- understanding
• Improved communication and better results
• Better internal and external relationships
• Understand the concept “It’s You They Buy “

Module 3: Effective Listening, The Five Levels of Communication and Dealing with disagreements 
We explore the art of effective listening and empathic listening. We consider the listening “roadblocks”. We consider the five levels of communication in building business relationships. We explore the consequences of arguments and disagreements

Participant benefits

• Unblock the listening blocks and improved communication
• Demonstrating knowledge of their business
• Grow the business as they receive tips to start discussions with new customers
• Know how to solve problems in a win-win way
• Learn effective questioning
• Enhance emotional intelligence
• Maximize the power of silence
• The Message the Client Doesn't Want to Hear
• Eye Contact Illustrate (Practical experience to highlight the importance of eye contact)

Module 4:  The Trust Imperative
Business is about people and people prefer buying from and working with people they like and trust.

• Understanding the ingredients for trust
• Trust matrix
• Explore the five waves of trust (Self Trust, Relationship Trust, Organizational Trust, Market Trust, Societal Trust)
• Learn how to restore Trust
• The 13 behaviors to build trust (Self assessment)
• Team trust and teach others internally that you can be trusted
• How strong is your internal network? Practical self assessment
• Actions Speak Louder than Words
• Emotional practical experience

Participant benefits

• Understand how to build high-trust business relations and they know how to behave in a way to build trust
• Grow relationships
• Increased team efficiency
• More clients because of referral business  
• Better service delivery because of better team efficiency

* Senior staff who are engaged in external stakeholder relationship building activities may require additional training (Please refer to the accompanying business networking attachment)
* Junior sales staff may require more emphasis on business conversation with prospective and current customers. The popular “Can I help you?” conversation starters used by sales staff in many industries are increasingly becoming unpopular amongst prospective buyers when they enter stores.

Summing Up and Seven Day Commitments

In the final exercise of the Building Business Relationships Course each delegate will give a brief presentation, which will include:

What you know they will use from the content of the day's work, that particularly suits your style

A commitment to put something specific into practice with one or more of your clients/team members within seven days.

Self study. The workbook includes information for self study.

Eight essentials of people skills

Talk to us about this course
The workshop budget is given for a full day workshop. Minimum group size is 8 people. We prefer to discuss our price after we had insight into the client’s training needs. The price considers the number of training delegates as well as the training locations. The cost includes:

• Presentation
• Handouts
• Free email or telephone  after sales service not exceeding 30 minutes per person
• Free membership to receive Karl’s newsletter and get access to free networking resources for self learning
• Discounts to attend public workshops. (Please provide a list of attendees including names, company, email and telephone numbers)
• The fee will remain the same should the presentation time exceed one hour but not more than 2 hours

The cost excludes:

• Travel
• Accommodation, if travelling may impact on the timely start of workshop
• Notepaper and pens
• Data Projector
• Flip charts
• Refreshments and lunch for attendees

We draft an engagement letter after our meeting with the Human Capital Executive or any other designated senior official.

If you want to know more about this in-company building business relationships course or its suitability for you or a colleague call us on 0827779431.

Book Karl to speak