Who’s Your Daddy?

Think back to when you were last in love. How did you feel when you were in the presence of the person with whom you were in love? You felt wonderful. Most importantly, you felt wonderful about YOURSELF. The real reason why you loved that person so much, when you really delve down into your bitter, cold heart, is because they made you feel so great in their presence. They “brought out the best in you”, they made you feel accepted, important, smart, beautiful (even if you’re a real dog), manly (in some cases), wise, valuable and good. They hung on your every word. They longed to help you, spend time with you, give you gifts and make your life work well. They agreed with you, supported you, and told other people how magnificent you were. They overlooked your shortcomings. When you snored like a pig, they told you they loved to hear you purr… And of course you reciprocated – you wined and dined them, wrote them nice letters, bought them pricey gifts, called them too often and loved them right back. You might even have held hands and skipped through daisy fields.

When I trained hair stylists to improve their lackluster customer service and sales skills, I suggested they “fall in love with their clients” and that when they were shearing their clients’ collective fur, they should “Make love to their clients”- figuratively speaking, of course. When people genuinely care about your wellbeing and goals, when they show that they like you, by listening carefully to your inane prattle, and trying to make you comfortable, don’t you feel a subtle urge to reciprocate? When they relinquish their favorite armchair so that you might be more comfortable, sacrifice their place at the fire for your benefit and urge you to eat the last chocolate on the plate, do you soften somewhat toward their cause? How about that waitress that goes out of her way to make your stay in the greasy spoon less, shall we say, greasy? Do you perhaps lean towards increasing her tip by some miniscule amount?

The reason why Joint Venture Brokers make more money than the regular, self-employed salesperson, who masquerades as a business owner, is their innate understanding of reciprocity. They seek to sow before they reap. They understand, somehow, that half a loaf is better than no loaf at all. They seem to believe that unity is strength and that we can accomplish more when we share resources and base our business transactions on relationship rather than the proverbial fast buck. They shun the fast-talking, the slick and the desperate and prefer the steady, sincere, big picture type of business partner. They buy the person before the product, and when confronted with an offensive, egocentric, sales type, they don’t even consider the product he is pushing. Think about it: would you buy a used car from a Tom Cruise type?

Successful Joint Venture Brokers work with people whom they like and respect. They build solid relationships and create value before expecting, or worse still, demanding rewards. They are sensible, professional, caring, ethical and decent. And by being nice, they turn into money magnets. Love your work, love your business partners and clients, and your Joint Ventures will flourish. The best JV I ever did was marrying Rika. After 20 years, she still makes me feel like a king and I still think she purrs. Actually, she does. Build your JV’s on the strong foundation of mutual deference, care and genuine camaraderie and you will make a lot more money and have a lot more fun.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com