065 The Invisible Touch – Business Is Personal
The Third Key: Relationships
Relationship building – perhaps if we knew how important it would be to our careers, we'd have played better in the sandbox and during Four Squares in elementary school.
Instead, we studied math and economics and music and languages.
Do you realize that we spend nearly 12 years of school learning how to WRITE and less than 1 year learning how to LISTEN?
ynd since most of our communication is done by speaking and listening (heck, the only way we LEARN from others is to listen to them – REALLY listen to them), somehow most of us missed some important education.
Business Schools vs Other Education
After my undergraduate education at Tufts University outside of Boston, MA USA, I earned an MBA from the Wharton Graduate Division of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA USA.
Marketing, advertising, arts management, business law… but NOTHING on relationship building or listening.
However, when I earned my CCIM real estate designation, 20% of the course work was on relationship building, working with people, listening. It's the course I enjoyed the most. (Back in those days, I was the first in the Philadelphia area to earn a CCIM designation – Certified Commercial Investment Member: it's like the CLU for insurance people or the MAI for real estate appraisers. Others had been grandfathered-in, but I was the first to earn it.)
The designation helped me sell $247,368,657.97 of investment real estate… and as important as the investment, math, and law courses were, the one on working with people may have been the one to serve me the most.
But where in our 12 or 13 years of public or private schooling is anything like this taught?
Oh, sure… we get, "Now Johnny, talk nicer to Sally when you are coloring," but that really doesn't count. That's more behavior modification rather than skill building when it comes to working with others.
Most People Are Technicians, Not Entrepreneurs
Most people I know are technicians – plumbers, accountants, voice coaches, teachers, photographers. They got into their own business because they felt they could do better than the boss! Yet few are schooled in running businesses and even fewer are taught relationship-building.
Just look at their websites to see that they don't know what will interest others to pursue more. Just look at their emails that are curt and to the point, losing any possibility of building rapport.
And let's face it… no matter WHAT business we are in, we are all Sales People and all Relationship Builders.
So as we examine this more deeply, keep this in mind: People may forget what you do for them or what you purchased from them, but they sure will remember how you made them FEEL.
Business doesn't have to be cold, harsh, one-sided. Open up, build a relationship, and people will stick with you and purchase over and over again.
Best,
Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting
The Invisible Touch – A Marketing Blog Series By Charles Seymour Jr
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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and personal-touch marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.
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Fallacies of Marketing
065 The Invisible Touch – Business Is Personal
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