Why “Relations” Are Still Important, Especially with Government

Why “Relations” Are Still Important, Especially with Government

Is it just me or has the quality of business relationships suffered during COVID? We now have the technology to conduct meetings remotely and work from anywhere. This helped us through the pandemic and is now becoming a permanent part of our working lives. However, we can now see the downside of relying on “relationships” that are largely electronic in nature.

Throughout history, the building of meaningful human relationships has been at the heart of business. Whether you work in banking, B2B, government procurement, or consulting we all have an interest in getting to know the people we are dealing with. This important “relationship-building” function has been impaired in the age of virtual meetings.

Have you noticed it is more difficult to get commitments out of counterparties that you haven’t met? Do you get frustrated when someone says they will get back to you, and then doesn’t for weeks, if at all? Do you spend more time than ever chasing down needed documents from customers or suppliers? These are all by-products of the lack of relationship-building that comes from relying on virtual meetings.

It is a well documented fact that people place value on handshakes and eye-contact when they are making commitments to each other. These “old fashioned” acts of trust sealed, many deals both large and small, from the simple promise to get back to you within a certain time to the consummation of large acquisitions. What are the modern, virtual examples of these rituals? So far, we don’t seem to know.

In the absence of new norms for relationship building in the online digital age, too many of our modern business relationships have become transactional in nature. We meet virtually. We zoom in, get what we need, and zoom out. There is huge business risk in this new style. Will your supplier/customer/contact be there for you in a pinch? What happens when you face a business crisis and need them to drop everything and be in your corner? Will they be there for you? Have you built the required relationship to even ask?

This presents a huge opportunity for the modern professional. As I see it, virtual meetings will last until some smart salesperson realizes she will make more sales by going to see her customers in person. Now is the time to stand out from the virtual crowd! Go see your major accounts in person. Check-in with your suppliers to see how they are doing. Even in a virtual world, when you tell someone that you will get back to them with an answer, do it quickly. In other words, build a real, trusting relationship – it matters.

This new opportunity is even greater in the specialty of government relations. Government at the senior levels is a very fast-paced and intense environment. By necessity, important decisions are often made based on trust. That trust comes from building strong personal relationships over time. Zooming in and out of meetings with government officials when you need something is not going to cut it. If you limit your government interactions this way, you can expect to be told to get in line with the multitude of other stakeholders with similar needs.

At Samuel Associates, we pride ourselves on our professionalism, and on our deep desire to build and maintain trusting relationships across the whole of government. You may not have time for this on your own, but you need it to be done. We provide this service to our clients. Maybe that is why it is still called Government Relations.

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