The Relationship Thermometer

"How To Instantly Determine The Value Of Any
Business Relationship And Skyrocket Your Sales And Profits"

This could very well be one of the most important subject matters we've ever discussed

How To Instantly Determine Whether Or Not A
Relationship Is Enhancing Or Destroying Your Business!

There are certain relationships in your life that you have very little control over.

For example, you can't choose your family members. So, if you don't like your Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters, sons or daughters

You Basically Have To Deal With It!

Personally, I think these can be the most rewarding and fulfilling relationships in your life IF

You Come From A "Functional" Family!

If you have the misfortune of coming from a completely "dysfunctional" family, my recommendation is to try to forgive (your parents, siblings, children, etc.), and focus on their better qualities instead of their "dysfunctional" ones.

In the most drastic cases, it may make sense to sever ties if a family relationship is literally ruining your life, but I only recommend this in the most extreme cases after exhausting every other possibility for forgiveness and reconciliation.

I could literally devote an entire article to family relationships, but this is a business article so it's my job to focus on the more "practical" aspects of relationships, specifically business relationships.

First, let's spend a moment defining what types of business relationships most of us are involved in.

Here's a brief list of some of the most important long-term business relationships:

Partners
Employees
Clients
Vendors
CPA
Attorney
Financial Planner
Insurance Agent
Industry Peers
Mentors

Every single one of these relationships can have a dramatic impact on your current and future success in business.

That's why it's critically important to make the right relationship choicesand if you make the wrong choice, you must know when it's appropriate to terminate an existing relationship that's no longer working for you.

Basically, the quality of your life and your business is in direct proportion to the quality of your relationships.

Therefore, it is your responsibility to constantly evaluate all of the important relationships in your life, and determine whether or not they're still working for you.

To make your job easier, I've developed a "Relationship Checklist" which consists of 18 critical questions you must ask yourself to determine the value of any business relationship you're currently involved in.

If you follow this process, and honestly ask yourself these 18 critical questions, I absolutely GUARANTEE your profits and your happiness will skyrocket.

So, without further ado, here are the 18 questions on the "Relationship Checklist":

Question #1: Does This Person Increase Or Decrease Your Energy?

This is a pretty simple thing to determine. Next time you meet with or talk to one of your key business relationships, see if you feel energized after talking to them or exhausted.

If you feel energized, that's a good sign. That means you're both on the same "wavelength."

If you feel exhausted, this generally means you are not in "sync" with one another, and it's probably going to be difficult to get things accomplished with this person.

Question #2: Does This Person Make You Feel Good Or Bad About Yourself?

I don't know about you, but I sure like surrounding myself with people who make me feel good about myself. People who take a genuine interest in me, my family, my business, etc.

On the other hand, there's nothing worse than spending time with people who make you feel inadequate, stupid, angry, depressed, etc.

Bottom Line: Try to surround yourself with positive people if at all possible.

Question #3: Is This Person A Giver Or A Taker?

I love givers... and I hate takers.

Givers tend to give without expectation of return. The interesting thing is - you always want to give something back to the givers in appreciation for all their help.

Takers simply want to know what's in it for them. They are far less concerned with delivering value and service, and far more concerned with what they get out of the relationships. I hate working with these types of people - they tend to be selfish and self-serving. They are not value-creators, they are value-takers.

Surround yourself with givers and avoid takers!

Question #4: Do They Respect And Acknowledge Your Unique Genius?

Whether you know it or not, each one of us has qualities that make us unique in very different ways.

Our journey on this planet is about discovering what makes us unique, honing those unique skills and abilities, and then packaging and delivering those skills in the form of a product or service to other people.

First and foremost, it's your job to figure out what makes you unique.

After you've discovered your "talents", you must surround yourself with business relationships that respect and acknowledge your "genius" and help it to grow.

Question #5: Do You Genuinely Like This Person? Could You Be Friends With Them?

If I gave you a choice of working with someone you liked versus someone you couldn't stand - who would you choose?

Pretty simple - most of us would choose the person we liked.

Yet many of us surround ourselves with partners, employees, clients, and vendors who we don't enjoy being around, and certainly wouldn't be friends with.

It's been my experience that it's just as easy to find a partner, employee, client or vendor that you like as it is to find one you hate, so why not spend time locating and cultivating relationships with people you enjoy being around?

Trust me - life is way too short to be miserable.

Surround yourself with people you like, and watch your happiness and productivity soar.

Question #6: Is It Effortless To Get Along With One Another, Or Do You Constantly Have To Work At Your Relationship?

I don't know about you, but I've discovered that my most successful relationships also tend to be the easiest to maintain.

Many people operate under the assumption that you have to work hard at making relationships work.

I don't buy this. Let me give you a perfect example. I've been married to my wife for 6 years. We've been together for close to 12 years. We've never had to "work" at liking or enjoying one another. Sure, there have been some stressful times and an occasional argument now and then, but overall - we "click" with one another. And, I'll let you in on another little secret - I had a "gut" feeling I was going to marry her the moment I was introduced to her. The rest of our "courting" period was spent justifying my initial "gut" reaction.

Bottom Line: Trust your gut about people more, and don't override it because you don't think it's "logical." Consider your gut a "sixth sense", and respect its ability to prevent you from making mistakes. And remember, the best relationships also tend to be the easiest to maintain. If it's too much effort, consider dumping the relationship.

Question #7: Do You Trust Each Other?

You can like someone, even love someone, but if you lack trust in their ethics or ability to get things done, the relationship is destined to create problems for you.

Trust is the cornerstone of every great relationship, and it must be 100%. There is no "gray" area here - you either completely trust the person or you don't.

If you don't, consider finding a new relationship where trust exists.

Question #8: Would You Refer This Person To Your Friends And Family?

If you can't immediately say "yes" to that question, there's a problem with the relationship.

You don't trust or respect this person's ability to perform. Otherwise, you would gladly refer your friends and family to them.

Question #9: Is It A One-Sided Or Two-Way Relationship?

Do you feel like you're always getting the short end of the stick? Do you feel like the other person is deriving all the value out of this relationship?

If so, find a more equitable relationship. One where both parties bring equal value to the table.

One-sided relationships rarely, if ever, work out. One party is bound to feel dissatisfied at some point in the not-so-distant future.

Question #10: Do They Show Up On Time?

There are many employees and vendors who are skilled and capable of doing their job responsibilities.

The problem is that only a handful of those people will respect and meet deadlines.

Yes, they do the job - they just don't finish anything on time.

I personally consider this almost as bad as not being able to do the job at all.

You need to surround yourself with employees and vendors who respect deadlines, and get their job done correctly and on time.

If they're incapable of doing this, find a new employee or vendor - it's as simple as that!

Question #11: Do They Finish What They Start?

There are some people who can't meet deadlines, and there are other people who simply never finish a task that they start. They're always "working on it."

I call these people "perpetual procrastinators", and they are poison to a business.

If you currently employ any of these types of people in your organization, I have one suggestion for you

Fire Them!

Question #12: Do They Show Appreciation For Your Business?

Call me crazy, but when I give someone my hard-earned money, I like to know they appreciate my business.

Little things like returning my phone calls, going the extra mile when there's a problem, sending me unexpected thank you cards and gifts, etc. go a long way with me.

The most important thing is that they do their jobs properly and on time, but a little appreciation for giving them my business never hurts either.

Question #13: Are They Genuinely Happy For Your Success?

I like to surround myself with people who are genuinely happy for me and my success.

I've had several experiences where this was not the case.

I've had vendors who I was paying $50,000 a year turn around and bad mouth me to my clients.

Why? Because they were more consumed with envy than appreciating the value of the relationship.

We've all heard the saying, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

Pretty simple and straightforward advice. Give genuine thanks and appreciation to the people who help you become more successful. Certainly, don't envy them for their success.

If you have any of these types of relationships, I have only one suggestion

Give Them The Good Ole Boot!

They don't deserve or appreciate being a part of your "inner circle."

Question #14:Do They Want To Grow With You Or Do They Fight Progress?

You need to surround yourself with people that are flexible enough to change and grow with you.

This may sound simple, but I've discovered that most people fight progress and growth.

Over the years, I've had to change bookkeepers, accountants, printers, vendors, joint venture relationships, staff members, and clients because they were unwilling or incapable of handling my company's growth.

Don't be afraid to "upgrade" relationships when they are no longer working for you.

Question #15: Are They Consistent In Their Business AND Their Personal Life?

Ross Perot once said this about doing business with men who cheat on their wives

"If their wives can't trust them, why should I?"

I don't want to play amateur psychologist, but it seems pretty logical to me that if a person is willing to lie to their spouse, they're not going to have much of a problem lying to me.

Bottom Line: Try to surround yourself with people who are honest, ethical, and trustworthy in both their business AND personal relationships.

Question #16: Do They Have Lasting Relationships?

As I mentioned earlier, I think it's a good idea to replace or upgrade relationships that are no longer working for you.

But, I have to wonder about people who can't maintain a "core" group of business relationships for a reasonable period of time (at least 5 years or longer).

Whenever I start a new relationship with someone I don't personally know, I ask for a list of 10 references of people this person has done business with for a period of 5 years or longer.

If they can't furnish a list of at least 10 people, I take a pass on the relationship. You should too!

Question #17: Do Other People Say Good Things About Them?

As you know, no matter how good a person you are, there's always going to be someone out there who doesn't like you no matter what you do.

I'm not worried about what those types of people have to say.

I do, however, make it a practice to call "A" clients and peers in my industry before starting any new relationship, and asking what their personal experience has been with a person I'm thinking of doing business with. If more than 2 people have something bad to say that's legitimate, I take a pass on the relationship.

You can save yourself a lot of headaches by doing some simple "detective" work upfront before jumping into any new relationship.

Question #18: Would You Replace Them If You Found A Less Expensive Option?

If the answer is "yes", you consider the service this person provides to be a "commodity", and you would probably be best served by working with someone who adds more value to the relationship.

I rarely do business with the lowest priced vendor. I always look to do business with people I trust, respect, and who offer the greatest level of value and service regardless of their price.

Interestingly, they usually end up being the least expensive choice in the long run.

Well, that about covers it.

Use this 18-point checklist to instantly determine the value of any current or future business relationship.

Use it consistently, and watch your profit and happiness soar.

If you would like more information on how to get qualified leads, sales and referrals for your business, CLICK HERE to get a copy of our FREE Report "How Any Insurance Agent Or Financial Advisor Can Add An Extra $5,000 - $25,000 Per Month To Their Existing Business With No Cold-Call Prospecting."

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921 Port Washington Blvd., Suite # 3 Port Washington, NY 11050
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