The ABC’s Of Business Have Changed

The ABC’s Of Business Have Changed

 For the longest time, the ABC’s of business was considered Always Be Closing, made popular by the character played by Alec Baldwin in the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross. Times have changed and that salesmen paradigm is no longer a successful strategy in today’s The Relationship Economy. Today to be the trusted advisor and the partner your clients cannot fathom life without, you must Always Be Connecting. Personally, and professionally, success is about creating and building human connections. Studies have repeatedly shown that the happiest people are the ones with the most meaningful relationships.

The best relationship builders appear like detectives in their conversations, looking for clues to find out what makes the other person unique and memorable. They’re after things you won’t find on their Facebook page or LinkedIn profile. “Highly empathic people have an insatiable curiosity about strangers,” said Roman Krznaric, author of Empathy: Why It Matters, and How to Get It. “They will talk to the person sitting next to them on the bus. Curiosity expands our empathy when we talk to people outside our usual social circle, encountering lives and worldviews very different from our own.”

The authors of the book Superconnector explain how great connectors operate: “Connectors have small talk with a purpose. They are never just engaging in conversation for the sake of conversation. They always have a clear goal in mind: to extract the most pointed and relevant information about the other person. Connectors don’t have casual conversations just to kill time. They are probing for a reason—to see what this person is all about, to create a context for a profile that they can use later.” 

Happy Chat Benches

Police in a town in England has installed chat benches to encourage community members to lend an ear to combat loneliness in the community. Anyone who is feeling isolated or disconnected is encouraged to sit on the benches and strike up a conversation with a friendly stranger. “The sign simply helps to break down the invisible, social barriers that exist between strangers who find themselves sharing a common place,” said Burnham-On-Sea Police Officer Tracey Grobbeler. “Simply stopping to say ‘hello’ to someone at the Chat Bench could make a huge difference to the vulnerable people in our communities and help to make life a little better for them.”

A city’s spokesperson said having someone to talk to is a “luxury” for some people — many are suffering in silence without anyone to even ask how their day was. The kindness of strangers can make a world of difference, “A simple ‘Hello’ or ‘Are you OK?’ can make such a difference to a person.” Check out the full story of the Happy Chat Bench.

Are You Educating Your Customers That They Can’t Afford To Go To Someone Cheaper?

Quote of the week

“With the pace and stresses of most lives, people want to pass along their emotional burden to another human, one they trust understands their needs and will work to resolve an issue.”

Joshua Feast

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The Relationship Economy, Building Stronger Customer Connections In The Digital Age.

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