Even the smartest, hardest-working entrepreneurs depend on other people — be they employees, vendors, customers, or someone else — for their success. The trouble, asserts Ty Freyvogel, founder of MakingSenseOfYourBusiness.com, is that entrepreneurs often forget to nurture those critical relationships in the course of running their business.

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“Your success is intertwined with a complex network of other people and organizations,” Freyvogel points out. “All of those relationships must be constantly tended and nurtured. Even though your interaction with your customers is different from how you interact with employees or vendors or even your bankers, your reason for forging strong relationships with them is the same — building and maintaining a successful business.”

Freyvogel, author of It’s Not Your Smarts, It’s Your Schmooze, offers these five tips to strengthen your business relationships:

1. Learn as much as you can about everyone you work with. Then, act on that knowledge. You need to know as much as possible about everyone, from your customers to your vendors to your employees, so that when their needs change, you can be there to provide them with what they need to stay satisfied with your business. As part of your strategic communication plan, constantly ask them, “What can I do for you?” Then, do it. They’ll appreciate your efforts to help them be as successful as possible.

2. Treat your vendors like honorary employees. It’s important to nurture relationships with those people who aren’t necessarily working for you but who service you or your company regularly. That can mean anyone from the package delivery guy who stops by every day to the materials supplier who keeps your warehouse stocked to the designer who keeps your Web site updated. Show them that you appreciate what they do for you and also that you care about them and their company. Get their email addresses and cell phone numbers and stay in touch with them. You never know when an emergency might arise in which you could use their help.

3. Encourage a sense of ownership among your employees. Whether it comes from having a voice in a business development plan, managing client relationships, or actually owning stock, a sense of ownership will go a long way toward creating strong ties between your employees and your business. Inspiring your employees to love your business as much as you do will strengthen your company’s foundation — and your business will be that much more likely to survive setbacks and grow to great heights.

4. Have one-on-one conversations with your customers to find out what you can do better. Most of the time unsatisfied customers don’t approach you with a detailed list of the things they’d like you to improve on. They just leave you for one of your better-equipped competitors. Therefore, you must set aside some time to ask them what they need from you. That’s the essence of customer relationship building. Regularly conduct customer satisfaction research. A survey, for example, can be filled out anonymously in case customers aren’t comfortable telling you what they think face-to-face. And to elevate your customer service standards, make it a point to always call and follow up with customers after they purchase a product or service from you.

5. Contact your mentors frequently. Think about those people who gave you valuable advice when you were trying to get your business off the ground, or that person you call immediately when you need advice. That person is your mentor, and you want to have a close relationship with her so that she is willing to go that extra mile to help you build your business.

“Always be on the lookout for ways to show your key players that you want to be their favorite business owner,” Freyvogel says. “Make sure they are getting as much out of the relationship as you are. Show them you care.”

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