What is the Best Way to Develop Business Relationships?

Value, value and more value… that’s the formula! There is no one size fits all approach to building relationships, but there are some general networking principles that you must follow to enhance your strategy:

• Always focus on providing value to your clients, colleagues and yes, even your vendors.
• Never take any connection you have for granted; in fact, every connection has worth and every contact has opportunity.
• It’s really about the benefit you can provide, and you need to take time and determine what you offer to others.
• Remember: give more than what is expected of you. As Brandon Steiner puts it, true value is “what you can do for other people that they can’t do for themselves.” When you offer this level of benefits it makes other people reach out to you first and offer you connections in return.

So, when you are developing business relationships don’t take a selfish approach and focus only on how others will help you; people who provide nothing in return find themselves putting more effort into deceiving others and getting little as a result. In contrast, one must spend his or her time giving generously to stand out.

To help you assess just how worthy you really are, we’ve created the NetWorkWise Value Assessment Worksheet which can be downloaded for free in our Resource Center! Take the time to read through the questions in this guide, and use your answers to help you evaluate the valuable benefits you can contribute to your network.

I also encourage you to sign up for our course Get NetWorkWise Certified where you’ll be immersed in the science and art of cultivating connections, as you learn the best ways to develop business relationships through educational videos, downloadable resources, and key takeaways that can be immediately implemented. And upon completion you can earn our esteemed certification in professional networking.

Make it a great day and remember to always NetWorkWise!

This article originally appeared on Quora.