Relationships : The MVP of Metrics

Track this: The number of people you are serving face to face, the type, level and commitment to service.

Simply tracking and valuing this will make it easier for you to create and give more value in your products and services, and build stronger bonds of loyalty and trust with your customers and business community.

As the saying goes, all things being equal, people do business with those they know, like and trust. So a good measure (metric) of the trust and likability you are producing is the number and quality of relationships you have.  The most important relationships are those based on face to face connection.

Digital Truth: Connecting and relating online is not a relationship. We fall in love with ideas, and then project unrealistic expectations that are out of alignment with the reality of those people we connect with. It gets murky quickly. A better plan, is to focus on building quality,  face to face relationships with people. I say this as a sinner, a guy who once drank the kool-aid and thought that those connections online were equal to those in real life. This is in no way true, and falling for this was very costly. We only have so much time in the day and if you are giving up your time for people, they’d better be REAL people, who genuinely know you and care about you.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do: Expand Your Vision to the Value of Connecting With Many People from all walks

When I mention people, don’t confuse that with prospects only. I mean other awesome, interesting, compassionate, growth minded human beings who will bring you untold riches if you invest in them appropriately. Everyone “knows a guy who knows a guy”, and, “knows a guy who needs a guy.” By increasing the quality and number of your relationships, you’ll exponentially increase your opportunities. These can be friends, partners, referrals, connectors, fans, influencers. They are people. Welcome opportunity, wealth and abundance in all of its forms as it comes to your awareness.

Do: Treat people like wrapped gifts – You don’t know who they are or what they’ll bring until things unfold in due time. It doesn’t hurt to be kind to them. They could be fragile gifts. You don’t want to shake or drop that new chandelier or big screen!

Don’t: Limit your attention/focus to qualified prospects

Don’t make the mistake of limiting your connective vision to qualified prospects only. Doing so will ensure you have sales breath (desperation), and a taker’s attitude when you meet them. You hate this when people do it to you, so be sure to check yourself.  Also, you never  know where your next referral will come from.

Don’t use fake/pseudo relationship metrics to give you a false sense of influence.

The number of fans or followers on your Twitter feed are inconsequential compared to face to face relationships. These pseudo connections trick people into thinking they have enough “friends” and “connections” when in fact they have none. They are apples and oranges. They have some value but it is eclipsed by the capability of a good friend, partner, referral, etc.

Pro Tip: Reframe your attitude to align with this truth:

More and Better Relationships = More Wealth & Abundance

People are like wrapped gifts; they are for you and of untold bounty. The point of measuring relationships isn’t to make it easier to get, but also easier to give. That is, to recognize that giving more, a bit more time to make a personal connection, bake in a bit more time adding to quality of your product or service, is what will get you more wealth.

I can’t stress this enough. If you never ask yourself “Does this add value?” or, “Does this serve people?” your endeavor will stall out. This is more important than revenue. If you’re sacrificing the people to save the numbers, the corruption and lack of integrity will destroy trust with your team, employees, community and customers sooner or later. On the positive side of things, relationships yield infinite and untold truths to those who treat people in such a way. Your attitudes and beliefs produce your actions and results. And if you place more trust in money than people, you’ll surround yourself not in riches but in problems.