Why Communication is Key

Clear Communication is paramount to meaningful business relationships. If you cannot clearly communicate with the other person you will never be able to serve them in a way they feel positively about and they won’t come back to you for help. Whether you are a boss with an employee, a service provider with a customer, a sales rep with a client, or building your brand online, you must communicate clearly.

I hear you asking, “what does that even mean Sean?” Look. It’s more than just not mumbling or being articulate. The key to clear communication is making the other person feel listened to, valued, and understood. When you can do that it makes the other person feel important and special which deepens the relationship and allows you the opportunity to also be understood. Remember...seek first to understand in order to be understood.

Clear communication also sets the expectation for the interaction. When you can set an expectation, an outcome, or a desired result only then can you truly exceed the expectation. You will never exceed an expectation you do not set and in the absence of setting an expectation for the other person, they will set their own. You will never exceed that one. So set it for them AFTER you have heard what they need.

Do this:

1. Ask questions to learn what the best outcome for the other person is. Maybe they just need you to listen. Maybe they want options and alternatives. Maybe they need to buy the solution to their problem you are selling. Regardless, you need to ask questions to determine how to best serve. When you do that you show you care, you really connect with them (deepening the relationship), and you learn how to close the opportunity to benefit them at the highest level.

2. Set an expectation for what you will do next to serve them. You can promise to follow up and check in, provide a service, paint a picture of how you will execute and solve their problem, or explain what they can expect from you next. Clearly communicating in this way allows you to show you get it, understand their needs, and that you have been listening. It also tells the other person what to expect next and gives them a way to see you over delivering for them.

If you do those two things well inside the business relationships you have you will enjoy rich connections with the people around you and will be rewarded handsomely for your efforts. The one who exceeds expectations regularly is the one who receives the biggest rewards.

How To Connect In Every Business Relationship

Business is personal. There is nothing more personal to your business than the relationships you have with your clients. The secret to great relationships is real connection. 

The quality of your relationships is equal to the quality of your connection. You know this to be true. Every really good relationship you have is based on a powerful connection. Your lover, spouse, BFF, sibling, shit even you and your dog have an amazing connection. What is it about the great connection that is the secret to business success? Caring. 

You have to truly care about your client. Not just because they will eventually buy from you but because you really give a shit about them as a person. You care about the improvement of their lives. You want to see them succeed. Any time you have really cared about someone else’s best...the connection has been strong. 

The same is true in business. When you only care as a means to an end the other person feels it. Doesn’t matter if you are talking to your EA, an employee in your office, a customer on the sales floor, or a connection online. When it’s only about the end...it will be the END for you.

My biggest failures in my work have come when I put the end (payment or the deal) ahead of the connection. In fact, I recently lost a client because he felt like a paycheck rather than someone I truly gave a crap about. That is flatly untrue but I made him feel that way. So it was true for him. Major fail on my part. 

I know you’re probably thinking it’s easy for you to say Sean. You don’t know what it’s like to run my business, to get paid on commission, to deal with the crap my people give me on a daily basis, or even maybe...but I don’t get the luxury of choosing who I connect with in business. I hear you.  But even if you are paid on commission, have a staff that drive you crazy, deal exclusively with the public on a daily basis, or have your hands tied you can and must care. 

These are people you are dealing with. Not numbers and not paychecks. The quicker you can look at others for the people they are; with desires, needs, wants, hopes, dreams, and real problems the quicker you will be able to empathize, understand, and maybe help solve their problems which will lead you to bigger and bigger rewards. 

Look! Do this...care enough to understand the other person. This creates relationship. You need to understand the other person in order to be able to deliver value in their life. What do they covet? What do they need? You need to know how to impact them in a way that makes them feel special in order to create that high level of trust that deepens connection.

Business is personal. Get personal with your business relationships by truly connecting with them. Start by caring.