3 Keys to Cultivating High-Return Relationships

Today’s post is by Gary Polsky, author of Selling Healthcare (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

If you’re reading this, odds are you’re looking to take it to the next level in interacting with customers and colleagues (which includes just about everything except cyber crime). I’m convinced you will experience greater professional success—and happiness—if you cultivate mutually fulfilling relationships. I know this not only from my own 30-plus years in healthcare—from my tenure as a hospital administrator to my calling as a hospice pioneer—but from recognizing this same core component for success in the stories of my idols, peers and employees.

Those who excel in business and in life are masters at grooming and growing the key connections that I like to call High-Return Relationships.

High-Return Relationships are pre-qualified connections elevated beyond the professional level by a genuine desire to connect as individuals, with shared goals and passions and a long-term outlook.

A Five-Pronged Approach to Relationship Building

In Selling Healthcare, I explore the five strategies I’ve identified for forging High-Return Relationships:

1. Project a magnetic presence
2. Light the spark of rapport
3. Listen to understand
4. Show appreciation, admiration, and respect
5. Write relationship development plans

Sounds fairly fundamental, right? Would you be surprised that a lot of talented, highly motivated professionals fail to understand the mechanics of the most basic step in relationship building? In our rush to “seal the deal,” to “close the sale,” many of us fall short in creating a presence that inspires connection.

Good Chemistry

A well-respected healthcare account executive once told me, “In this industry, with so many people vying for the referring physician’s attention, you have to make a strong impression fast, and you have to make it last.” I think the same holds true for professionals in most industries. From the “first touch” onward, you want to ignite a 100-percent professional attraction on intellectual, emotional, and even physical levels. This whole-person attraction can transform a routine meeting into the start of a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship. How?

Make the First Time Count

Starting with your all-important first impression, you want to project an energy that’s exudes confidence yet is calming—an alluring presence that both relaxes and inspires those around you. You’ve got a split second. One study showed that it takes one-tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger—especially their trustworthiness—from their face.

If you want to boost your chances at connection, pay attention to the first thoughts that pop into your head when you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning:

– Is your first impression overwhelmingly positive?
– Does your clothing reinforce or detract from the image you want to project?
– Does your reflection scream confidence and competence?
– Would you want to get to know the person looking back at you?

Disengage to Re-engage

We go non-stop, running from appointment to appointment, barely taking a breath between point A and point B. The high burnout rate among high-achievers isn’t really that surprising, is it? Productive playtime can give you the deep, rejuvenating breath you need to keep moving forward with energy and enthusiasm.

Success in building High-Return Relationships—especially in our competitive, fast-paced world —relies heavily on our ability to balance mind, body, and spirit through healthy practices of self-renewal. By proactively scheduling healthy habits and routines throughout the day, we can stay sharp and focused. The strength you gain from periodically disengaging to recharge enables you to lead with what author Greg Reid calls “relaxed intensity.” I love that!

Plus, by reducing our own stress, we become stress-reducing machines for those around us. And who doesn’t want to spend time with someone who relaxes them?

Embrace a Positive Outlook

It might sound cliché, but it’s true: although many things in life are beyond our control, our attitude isn’t one of them. No matter how big the challenge we’re facing, I really believe things always work out better when we look at the glass as half full. It’s contagious. We all want to spend time with people who brighten our experience. Without a doubt, an optimistic outlook is one of the greatest sales tools in the world.

Here a few quick tips to stay positive:

– “Come to center” in the morning by give yourself enough time to eat a healthy breakfast and prepare for the opportunities ahead. – Visualize positive outcomes.
– Remain focused on opportunities, not obstacles.
– Make it a habit to record daily triumphs.

It Is Who You Know

All my experience in the world of business and the nuggets of knowledge I’ve gained from studying the human condition through my work in hospice have made it abundantly clear that success and joy truly hinge on the people around you and the experiences you create together. Human capital is absolutely critical for continual growth.

The most fulfilled and successful leaders feel a burning sense of urgency to systematically build close personal connections with their collaborators—both clients and colleagues—because they understand that loyalty underscores phenomenal long-term growth. How do they create and nurture these key connections? Like anything worthwhile, it’s not altogether easy. It takes focused planning, a commitment to consistently communicate with honesty and respect, and a willingness to cast aside a selfish agenda. And it starts with creating a presence that inspires High-Return Relationships.

– Gary Polsky is President and CEO of Solari Hospice Care, with headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ. He is the author of Selling Healthcare (CLICK HERE to get your copy). He also is the creator of the Apex Lifestyle Design program. He has decades of experience as a healthcare CEO/owner. Connect with Gary on Facebook and Twitter.