Moses Richu

The importance of developing a long-term connection with those around us can never be overstressed. Be they our classmates, colleges at work, or even our customers, they have helped mould us as individuals, and consequently deserve appreciation for their role. However, far too often we loose sight of this, and focus only on the tangible contributions that these individuals can make to our lives. We focus on how the customer can add that extra dollar to the bottom line, instead of attempting to deliver value. We try figure out ways to divvy up our own work up instead of seeking opportunities to parter. We actually focus so intensely that we fail to realise when  things begin to head downhill.

As a result, we fail to see our workmate’s frown for making him carry our weight. We fail to see the disappointment written on our customers’ faces when they realise that the product isn’t as good as we had claimed. We fail to see anything around us besides completed assignments and fatter bottom lines. And then, ultimately, we fail.

In order to prevent ourselves from unplugging from these people (and ultimately powering down), it is paramount that we keep our eyes trained on what we can do for them. If we focus on providing genuine valueto them, the other cards will fall into place. This ties in well with what Steve Pavlina, an accomplished personal development guru, states in his blog post. In this post he discusses ways to connect with the individuals visiting your website. Most notably, he speaks of being genuine in our interactions, being original (thoughtful, for our purposes) and keeping our goals in the right place, such that we don’t become obsessed with them and run roughshod over everyone.

Therefore, by serving your role in each individual’s life, we provide the best  value that we can. Naturally, this has its costs; referring a customer robs us of that instant bump in revenues, and giving our honest opinion to friends may occasionally get your head bitten off. However, the ‘profits’ from this decision far outweigh these costs. The long-term loyalty of ours customer or the respect and trust of our frienda are both worth infinitely than these small sacrifices.

Reconnect this weekend.