Relationships

"Take ownership of the relationships you've created". Hmmm....quote from a smart dude and mentor of mine. Been mulling this one over for the last week or so. Seems like a no brainer, but something that I thought had to leave with the job. As a part of my job requirement, I was tasked with forming relationships with people that move the needle for business. As a luxury, I got to choose them myself. If someone was a dbag, I'd be like...'hey, you are dbag and I am not going to work with you'. If I liked someone, I spent a lot of time with them and took care of them well. With being the brand expert, I was tasked with choosing well. These are people that in many respects, I would not have been friends with in every day life. Not that we wouldn't like one another, just that under different circumstances we may have not crossed paths.

Relationship Marketing at it's finest. If you have someone that doesn't know how to straddle the line or personal and professional, it can be a disaster. You have to know how to create boundaries to say 'yes we are friends, but we aren't not the you can text me at 3am kind of friends'. As a company, you also can't ask those you are tasking with forming the relationships to cut off all ties at the end of your time there. It doesn't work that way. And really for an effective relationship marketing program, it shouldn't work that way. You have to be fully engaged in the program, like the people in which you are investing your time, and create a credible and authentic bond. Authentic being the key word of all key words. I see it going like this:

1. Be the brand expert

2. Seek a community where you need to grow your business

3. Find the most credible person in that scene (don't forget dbag comment formerly mentioned)

4. Starting slowly, begin to build a relationship between that person, yourself, and your brand

5. End result has to be mutually beneficial. Don't use people and don't let them use you. Be AUTHENTIC.

Sounds pretty simple. I think it is. Although it amazes me how some people manage to totally screw this up. This was by far my most favorite part of my job and an area that I invested a lot of time. In fact, a certain someone was so concerned about the strength of my relationships, that he tried to keep my phone number with the company. Fail. I guess it's really flattering in a way. In so many words, you just told me that I was really good at what I do. As I search for what to do next, this is something that has to be a part of my next venture.