The latest insights, ideas and news on business relationship building.
Business Relationship Building is Everyone’s Job
It doesn’t matter what business you are in: Relationships are everything. Not even the most technical, data-driven employee operates in a vacuum. Employees with good relationships are healthier, happier and more likely to advance in their careers. Employers benefit...
What’s Involved in a Brand Review?
Brand audit. Brand analysis. Brand review. The terms differ but the objective is the same: To get a clear picture of where your company’s brand is today—and how it stacks up to where you want your business to be. When to Consider a Brand Review There are as many...
Association Naming: Is it Time for a Refresh?
Association naming used to follow a relatively simple formula, combining geography with industry description followed by the word “association” (or a synonym thereof). Thus we have functional names along the lines of: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association American...
Mission Statement vs. Brand Promise: How Do They Differ?
Executive coach and public speaker Gerry Valentine’s piece for Forbes on the importance of an inspiring mission statement (“Want To Make Your Company Resilient? Start With An Inspiring Mission”) is a reminder of just how subtle the differences are between a mission...
Sugar and Spice: Nice Brands Finish Ahead
Valentine’s Day is around the corner. It's a day for love, thank goodness! Spend too much time online reading news headlines and social media comments and you might get the impression that anger and hostility have won the upper hand. What Are Nice Brands to Do? We all...
Fake Followers & Contrived Connections: Is Your Brand Reputation at Risk?
More than a few brand reputation and social media managers have been dealing with the aftermath of having thousands of their Twitter followers disappear overnight. It’s hard to find much online sympathy or support from companies and businesses that are so focused on...
Define Your Brand Vision to Build Better Relationships
Connectors connect to give, and not to get—it’s what differentiates connecting from networking. But if you are to be of service, you need to be clear on the values and skills that you bring to the table. Sounds simple, right? There’s just one problem. Too often we...
Grow Your Member Organization One Relationship at a Time
Note: The following article was written by Patrick Galvin for The Membership Management Report and published in the August 2017 issue. The Membership Management Report is a monthly electronic publication for professionals who work with or manage member programs,...
Brand Loyalty is Dead. Will Brand Connections Replace It?
For companies accustomed to the old ideas of winning a customer’s brand loyalty and then forgetting about it, the last several years have been disruptive to say the least. All around us, societal shifts are dramatically altering the way we live and work. At the heart...