Proactively cultivating relationships is often an afterthought. We are just too busy trying to get through the work of the day. And, relationships are not what we DO in our businesses, right? Well… wrong.

Intuitively we know that relationships are important, but let’s just focus on the logical. When you look back on your sales of last year, evaluate the “why” when thinking about your best clients and your biggest sales. Quantify the value of the referrals you receive, the word of mouth, and repeat business. When you add it all up, you may notice that the way others “feel” about you is critically important. They certainly would not go out of their way to do business with you or talk about you with others simply because of your product or service offering.  There probably are many others who can do or provide the same offerings.

There’s often a very direct correlation between the quality of your relationships with prospects and clients, and the rate of sales and growth in your business. The question is, what are you doing about this? One suggestion I learned from one of our most successful clients: Reach out to 1 person each day above and beyond your regular work. It may just make the tipping point difference.