By kbodnar@hubspot.com (Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan)

Learn how to build professional relationships that don’t just open doors — but blow them wide open.

Building strong professional relationships is your secret weapon for marketing success. The right connections can open you up to new ideas, reveal valuable opportunities, and give you the insights you need to solve tough problems.

As Kieran and I discuss in a recent episode of Marketing Against the Grain, however, building impactful relationships takes more than just attending networking events and exchanging business cards.

So how do you find the people who can truly elevate your game? And how do you actively add value to grow those relationships?

In this post, we dig into four strategies for improving your professional relationships. Fair warning: these aren’t your typical networking tips.

We’re talking about going deep, leading with value, and mastering the art of communication — tailored for industry leaders looking to make a real impact.

Strategies for Improving Your Professional Relationships

1. Seek out 10x conversations.

Kieran and I talk to a lot of people. It’s how we solve problems and learn. But here’s the thing: not all conversations are equal. You’ve got to seek out what we call “10x conversations.”

These conversations are the ones that shift your perspective and thinking entirely, leaving you with insights that alter the way you go about your work — and even your personal life.

When you find someone like that, don’t just have one conversation and move on. Dive in deep. Have ten more conversations with that person rather than spreading yourself thin with ten different people. The value is in the depth, not the breadth.

If you’re not sure how to find these people, here’s what I do: find a person you think is awesome at what they do — and then find out who they look up to. It’s a bit counterintuitive, but trust me, it works.

The people that everyone else in the industry thinks are the best? Figure out how to spend some time with them.

Then, go a step further — seek out the five people those experts think are even better. That’s where you’ll find the real 10x conversations.

“If you can find these people,” says Kieran, “They’re going to be absolute game-changers to your ability to learn.”

2. Rethink your networking approach.

When it comes to networking, Kieran and I both agree that it’s not about how many people you meet but how well you get to know the right ones — and that generally doesn’t happen at big, crowded networking events. Instead, real value comes from smaller, more focused 1:1 settings.

For example, I recently played golf with my friend, Dave Gerhardt. We spent about four hours together, just the two of us, and by the end of it, we’d not only come up with a YouTube show idea, but we’d also tackled a bunch of other challenges that we were both facing.

That kind of focused time lets you dig deeper into topics …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron