November
Being cordial and gracious doesn’t have to cost you a thing, but it can save you and your business thousands in the long run.
A professional attitude is the thing that connects you with the people around you, easily, consistently without barging into anybody’s personal space. It’s about starting conversations of mutual interest instead of talking with an agenda, asking simple questions without being too personal, understanding another business’s goals without any type of judgment, having the time without having too much time. It’s means having a real, deep interest for matters that don’t revolve around sales and profits.
The aid of graceful interactions, likability and kindness often appear at random times. They are the +1 points of business life. Calculated acts of kindness usually reap more than you have sown. Here are some ways you apply this outlook to save you and your business money:
Know your vendors and how they help you…
You should get to know the business owners as well as the people who handle the daily operations, customer service and sales. Understand the intricacy of their jobs so that, when you have the chance, you can talk about your position with the vendor in calm and relaxing manner.
You can save a couple of bucks by:
- Renegotiating your prices (or coming to an agreement to avoid any potential increases) to a level where the vendor still maintains their profit margins because your easier to work with than others.
- Never getting into a costly dispute or paying for miscellaneous stuff because you thoroughly looked at the vendor’s capabilities and addressed your business’s needs.
- Avoiding complicated orders because you know the lead times, season trends, current state of affairs, and the time to place orders for the quickest turnaround.
As you build upon your contacts, show that you have integrity.
Show that you’re a resourceful person with not only your own business but also with time saving information that you have acquired through others.
You can save even more money by:
- Getting free schwag by being the guy that others think about when they’re trying to find a way to get rid of unneeded stuff, such as old office furniture or extra tickets to the next UFC fight. People will give you a ring first since they know you won’t take something you can’t use, and you probably know someone who knows someone who would love the free stuff because of your networkability.
- Borrowing stuff that you would have to pay others to use.
- Having the opportunity to receive all the latest offers from your network, apart from the usual electronic alert. You have higher odds of hearing about sweet deals because your integrity shows that you’ll stick to the agreement, won’t hog the deals, and you’ll let all your friends know about the discounts.
Be a great tenant.
Your job is to let the landlord know ahead of time about any costly repairs or suspicious activities that will end up in the thousands if they’re not handled right away. You should work with your fellow tenants to build a set of rules for everyone to use and to avoid any further complications.
Save some more by:
- Lowering your rent or any fees associated with current costs for common areas and complete property responsibilities.
- Making it easy for your landlord to operate his business of leasing property to your business, instead of going through the whole deal of finding a great tenant that’s going to pay the same price.
Network with business owners.
Understand what they love to do outside of business, and listen in on their stories about their business as well as telling a few of your own. You should get to know as many people as possible, including those totally unrelated to your industry. Begin by building a working knowledge of the people, products, and services of assorted businesses. Research the challenges such as employment, technology, contracting, and marketing. Understand the problems that many businesses face.
Save thousands by:
- Learning the protocols and procedures of other businesses.
- Tackling the cheap expenses not instead of spending hundreds down the road to fix the same problems.
- Receiving recommendations from leading professionals while you share your own with other business owners.
Everybody knows that friendliness will bring in more sales and further your marketing efforts. An open, receptive person usually makes more sales calls, builds relationships, and follows up without any trouble.
Friendliness also lowers your overall expense ratio if you’re always on the lookout for a way to pay less while expanding your business. If you want to be the person others want to talk and work with, be open, friendly, and on the lookout for new opportunities.
