The Commercial Shift | Issue Five

From connections to compounding

One of the most powerful things about investing is compound growth. The returns you make begin generating returns of their own and over time, the value becomes significantly greater than the original investment.

I've always thought relationships work in the same way.

When I hear businesses talk about growth, so much of the conversation is about finding new customers, meeting new people and creating new opportunities.

What about the value already sitting inside the relationships we've spent years building?

The Shift

From connections →  to compounding

Think about the people you've known professionally for five, ten or even twenty years.

I bet you understand their businesses, ambitions and challenges far better than when you first met. Why? Because you've built experiences together, developed trust and helped each other along the way.

The relationship you have with them has become more valuable, not simply because you've known each other longer, but because of everything you've invested in it.

Now imagine having hundreds of those relationships.

However, relationships don't compound automatically. Value grows because of what you continue to put into them. Your time, curiosity, attention, generosity and genuine interest in the other person's success.

It's not just about knowing more people. It's about building an ever-growing network of increasingly valuable relationships.

The magic really begins though when great relationships create other great relationships.

You are only a relationship away from changing your life!

The Gap 

Are you growing your network or growing its value?

Think about how much time you spend meeting new people compared with developing the relationships you already have.

How many customers have you worked with for years, yet still know relatively little about their wider business or the challenges they're trying to solve?

How many relationships have simply gone quiet because you've stopped investing in them?

We spend so much time looking for the next opportunity that we can overlook the enormous potential sitting inside relationships we've already established.

The Question 

If you stopped meeting new people tomorrow, how much more commercial value could you unlock from the relationships you already have?

The Action 

Invest in what you've already built

Identify five relationships with the potential to become much more valuable.

They might be existing customers, people who've moved into new organisations or contacts you haven't spoken to for a while.

Get in touch.

Just to say hello and to understand what's happening in their world. What's changing? What are they working towards? Where might you be able to help?

Look for an opportunity to create some value, whether that's sharing an idea, making an introduction or simply giving them your time.

Then keep investing in the relationship.

Because the most valuable commercial relationships are rarely built through one big moment.

They're built through hundreds of smaller investments that compound over time.

Until next week,

James

The Commercial Shift™ is a three-minute weekly newsletter accompanying our commercial performance programme, designed to help you think differently about your customers, your relationships and where the opportunities for growth really are.

The Commercial Shift Programme helps your business sell more, win bigger opportunities and unlock greater value from existing customers by changing how your people think about and approach sales.

Want to unlock more commercial growth in your business? Contact me directly [email protected] and let's talk about what's possible.

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