I have been working with clients and nurturing business partnerships for over 18 years. The portfolio of my clients includes, among others, banks operating in Poland. Therefore, I would like to share with you my subjective observations and thoughts resulting from my practical experience to date.

Let’s trust each other

Building relationships with clients is like building a friendship, and consequently the key value is TRUST. You will probably think: “What do you mean, after all, trust is not a first impression that is formed based on functioning stereotypes after only a few seconds”. And you are right! This is the difference – trust is built gradually and patiently, with hard, organic work. After all, not every acquaintance or colleague is a friend right away. A friend becomes a person whom we can always trust and on whom we can always count.

The pillars on which trust is based are mutual RESPECT and PROFESSIONAL professionalism. And going even further, respect consists of: reliability, honesty and orientation to long-term partnership. A professional Relationship Manager should be like a good football referee who does not strive to be the hero of the match. On the contrary, he/she is practically invisible and does not interfere with the players’ play, at the same time controlling the match and keeping his/her hand on the pulse all the time. And when the situation demands it, he is ready to intervene at any time and put the game on the right track.

All elements matter

TEAM SPIRIT – good customer relations are affected by all areas of the company and each element can have an impact on the whole. Sometimes it’s operational readiness, other times an ad hoc meeting, or getting an invoice corrected as quickly as possible.

It is also particularly worth emphasising that aspects relating to ETHICS and ECOLOGY are playing an increasingly important role in business. Previously these were customary requirements, but nowadays they are more and more often obligatory formal provisions required for cooperation. For example, banks use in their contracts provisions concerning confirmation of respect for human rights, provisions on anti-corruption policy. Often also referring to environmental protection, where a declaration is required to reduce the carbon footprint in the coming years.

And that would be it – short, specific and hopefully interesting, but above all honest. I approached this article as I would clients.