A quick thought on relationships

Relationships must change and grow or they fade away. Often in sales or in business we become owners of the relationship instead of partners which makes us more vulnerable to our competition. Let’s look at the difference.



Owners tend to hold on to and protect their relationships like property. In theses relationships we often find ourselves in a comfort zone, reluctant to move out of it and change the relationship to keep it current. Often times we spend more energy on selling others on why our clients can’t instead of selling our clients or prospects on why they should. We become order takers throwing Ideas around hoping they grab a few. Often times in these cases the ideas we are throwing around are based on old information or perceived goals instead of current information and goals. The result is the same whether it is a personal relationship or a business relationship the relationship either dies off or slowly decreases over time until it is a shadow of its former self and once that happens it can be very difficult to re-build.



Partners on the other hand bring something to the relationship and constantly update it to keep it current. Often times our value to any relationship is our understanding of current events, our empathy towards them, and our advice or counsel on how to move forward. We may even have tools at out disposal that will assist our partners in moving forward. This applies to friends, family, and business partners. Think of times that you have helped friends or family through a difficult time or even just counseled them on a question they had. You may have even offered them a tool like money, your time, your car, your home, or other things to assist them. Business relationships are no different, we must listen to and understand our client’s needs or problems (some call it their pain), and empathies with them then offer our expertise and tools to assist them with overcoming their challenges and reaching their goals. Both our products and our knowledge must reflect the changing market, economy, and their changing needs.



We must always be vigilant in our analysis of how we handle our relationships as once the bridges are burned it becomes very difficult to re-build them.