Like any partnership, even longstanding business relationships can turn sour over time. It’s important to be aware of signs that things might be coming to an end. Here are ten tips for clients and suppliers to look out for.

Building business relationships and creating impact are based on what ‘message’ you are sending out to others, intentionally or accidentally. And that message is often sent out before you say a word. Can dressing to complement corporate values reinforce your role and the company’s message?

Face-to-face meetings help build good business relationships. But that could be affected by the emergence of the iPhone generation, who are used to communicating through digital devices. Suppliers and clients will have to find ways to manage this.

Today is the day we make an extra special effort with our loved-ones; maybe we should do the same with our business relationships. In case you hadn’t noticed, today is Valentine’s Day, that time of the year when we try to show how much a special personal relationship means to us. But while we ploughed through our groaning mailboxes this morning, how many of us considered our business relationships, especially our clients or customers?

Strong client/supplier relationships are built on people-to-people relationships. Too few suppliers recognise the significance of this. Client service executives need to act like casting agents and make sure the right people are in the right job to give the relationship that ‘X’ factor.

Sky News interview with Simon-Rhind Tutt in Melbourne, Australia. Simon discusses the systems and processes that organisations can use to measure, manage and maximise the potential of business relationships. He explains how looking, finding and benchmarking the commercial ‘X’ Factor can really make a substantial difference.