Friendship Principle

Most people underestimate the power and importance of relationships in regard to business and career. They try to learn the most recent management fad, focus on product quality, or create programs and systems to improve productivity or increase repeat business. These things are helpful, but the real key is relationships. Never underestimate the power of friendship when it comes to doing business. As soon as you understand the way that relationships affect business, you begin to realize that all business relationships are not created equal. Here are the four levels of business relationships:

People Knowledge.Your understanding of people helps build your business. All the product knowledge in the world won’t help someone without people skills. Nor will technical expertise. Nor will the ability to build a brilliantly efficient organization. If individuals don’t possess people skills, they very quickly hit a ceiling in their effectiveness.

Service Skills. Barry J. Gibbons, author of This Indecision Is Final, writes, “Between 70 percent and 90 percent of decisions not to repeat a purchase of anything are not about product or price. They are about some dimension of the service relationship.” How you treat the people with whom you do business really matters, especially in a competitive market. Business Reputation. Writer Howard Hodgson said, “Whatever business you are in, you are in a business of relationships. That’s why your reputation is your greatest asset.”

Personal Friendship.Your friendship with others builds your business. The highest level of business relationships is reached when people like your business, but more important, they like you!

Soundview Executive Book Summaries John C. Maxwell "Winning with People"