It’s All About Relationships

Life is all about the relationships we have – at work, at home, family and friends, when we go out, and when we travel. The strength, breadth, and depth of the relationships we develop has a huge impact on our quality of life. Whether they are strong and deep, work related, casual, incidental, or even temporary, our relationships with others help define our lives.

A lot has been written about personal relationships so I’m going to focus on the impact of business relationships. If you are a business owner, or in a position representing the company you work for, you essentially are that business in the eyes of customers and clients. The way you approach your role, and those people, will determine your (and your company’s) success - or failure. The company’s reputation is based on the relationships you build. Those who focus on building solid long-term relationships will do much better than those focused only on the immediate sale or project. Same goes for managers and how they lead their teams. Leading and developing those reporting to you will yield far better results than managing those same people.

Early in my career, I was the sales manager for a company that made custom products for the plastics and food processing industries. When I told a friend that I was a salesperson he looked at me and replied, “no, you sell things.” I was a bit puzzled until he proceeded to explain that my approach was to sell solutions and build relationships based on helping my customers identify their needs and providing products and services to meet them. That is opposed to a salesperson who is simply hawking a product or products to capture the immediate reward of closing the sale. I gained access to many customers by asking a lot of questions about their production needs instead of starting by telling them about our products. Building relationships for the long term will always beat the short- term approach – though one has to have patience for those relationships to develop in order to realize the full benefits.

In retirement, many of those business relationships will be lost. The other relationships in the retiree’s life become more important to avoid feeling isolated. At the same time, some relationships may shift, particularly with friends who are still working. It’s important to accept that things will change, and adapt to the changes to ensure the relationships you value will continue. It’s also important to continue to build new relationships. That can be scary, and can take time, but it will make life more fun and interesting. These can take the form of talking to a stranger next to you on line or at the bar (my preference). No plan for the long-term, simply a brief connection that may or may not go any further, but no matter what, it makes the moment more fun.

For those who are hesitant to strike up such conversations, focus on your interests and look for groups to join. The Meetup app is a great way to find local groups of people with the same interests, hobbies or who play the same sport(s). No matter what path you take, nurture relationships in all aspects of your life to build a stronger you – and to make a positive difference.

I’ll be taking the next 2 – 3 weeks off for summer break. Look for next post early/mid-August.

I hope you all are enjoying the summer!

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com 7-17-2023