“What Have You Done for Someone Lately?”

I’ve been on the road more than usual last few weeks.  Too many miles, not enough smiles.  I wanted to share a couple of experiences and lessons learned, or lessons reinforced, from meetings I had in the last two weeks.  I had a meeting with El Presidente of a midsize company with $500M annual revenue.  He talked about what matters to him in business, and it was not revenue or profit, but trusted relationships he has with his customers.  Of course, it could be just words for him, especially if you have summer homes and access to a private jet.  But not this guy.  He is a humble, caring and honest man who is successful because he relies on the basics, and builds trust by doing what he says!   A few hours after my meeting, I met one of his customers, who happened to be a prospect of mine, as well.

This senior exec at the second company found out I had breakfast with El Presidente.  He made it very clear: “…you treat me like El Presidente treats me (and my staff), and you will benefit like he does, with multi-million dollar contracts!”

Sounds simple, but that is the challenge. Because it is simple, we too often complicate it.  Build trusted relationships by delivering on what you say and profitable business will follow.

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John Bonapace has been an active MCWT member for 7 years, and co-chairs the MCWT Advisory Board.  He works for Oracle Corp. as Sales Vice President.