The web of business relationships needed to deliver a successful event is large and critical. In addition to the executives at the convention center or hotel with whom you negotiate and execute the event—national sales reps, convention services managers, and chefs—you need to build trust with the audiovisual, destination management, and transportation companies that can make or break the experience.
Even with in-person events back at full strength, many planners will find that building supplier relationships remotely is more necessary than ever. Yes, business-to-business trade shows and site visits are the best option for this task, but virtual communications are now normalized and pervasive in a way that wasn’t true in pre-pandemic times.
Meeting planning is a relationship business, so what does remote communication mean for the way planners get to know a supplier’s capabilities and develop trust that they’ll follow through? That is the topic of research conducted by two professors, Jeanne Brett, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and Tyree Mitchell, Louisiana State University, for their recent book, Searching for Trust in the Global Economy.
In an article for Harvard Business Review called “How to Build Strong Business Relationships — Remotely,” the researchers discussed their findings (spoiler alert: it’s hard to assess suppliers in virtual settings) and provide lessons for building relationships with business partners.
Here is some of the online meeting advice from those whom the researchers call “expert trust builders."
1. Be intentional about spending some time on personal topics.
2. Get advice from your professional network about the supplier.
3. Use a new supplier for a small piece of business before trusting them with something larger.
