By Michael Angier
I live in a small metropolitan area with only about 110,000 people.
And it seems even smaller than that.
I’ve been doing business in this community for over 20 years. I’ve
worked in non-profits, sales, publishing, printing, construction and
now Internet publishing.
Very little of my business is now local. But I DO run into people
often from previous business relationships. Like me, many of
these people are in different businesses--often different careers
altogether.
It struck me how much my present business relationships have to
do with my previous ones. I’ve found it easy to recreate rapport
and establish trust with folks I’ve had good dealings with before.
When I know someone and have confidence in their word, doing
business with them becomes easier.
I just had lunch with someone whom I’ve known and worked with
since 1983. All of our dealings have not been positive. In fact he
was hurt financially by some poor business decisions I made in
the early 90s. Even so, our friendship weathered that storm
because of the depth of the relationship.
I’ve not always been successful, but I strive to have an excellent
relationship with everyone. It doesn’t seem possible all the time,
but it’s worth striving for nonetheless.
Marketing gurus recommend that we should be mindful of the
lifetime value of a customer—to look not only at the profit from
an initial sale. It’s good advice, but I would take it a step further:
Be mindful of the lifetime value of a RELATIONSHIP--not just a
customer.
One of the key concepts we talked about at the recent
World-Class Business Summit was the importance of relationships
in business. I went so far as to say that business is really a
network of communication against a background of relationships.
And it’s not just relationships with customers—it’s with suppliers,
coworkers, stakeholders—even competitors.
As some of my recent encounters have pointed out, some
relationships are completely reversed from what they used to be.
Customers can now be employers. Competitors can now be
customers. Coworkers may now be bosses.
Today, with the Internet, our business world becomes even
smaller. We do business with people around the world, but it’s
really still a pretty small community. As I talk with other
entrepreneurs online, we seem to know many of the same people.
In a few years, we may each be doing something a bit different.
And the relationships we have and build today will serve us in the
future in direct proportion to the quality and integrity we create.
It’s important that we cultivate and nurture our relationships.
Being honest, playing win-win and treating people fairly isn’t just
a moral thing to do—it’s good business—now, and in the future.
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