​Who do you care about most when it comes to building your business – you or your business contacts? You might answer “both”, but if you had to prioritize between you and your contacts, who would come first?

Some might argue that it is important to take care of yourself before you are able to take care of anyone else. Like what the airlines remind you to do with the oxygen mask during the safety talk. I agree with this to a certain extent. You need to take care of your health and personal life if you want to be effective in the professional world, yet what about beyond this point?

Once your health and personal affairs are in order, how are your decisions and actions influenced? Are they affected by your need for acknowledgement, promotion, and wealth, or are they fueled by looking after the best interests of your contacts?

I recently spoke with one of the top revenue generators of a large international law firm client of mine about his approach and mindset when it comes to building a successful practice. He consistently generates an $8-10m book of business year over year. He is good at practicing law, but in today’s competitive market, being good at your craft isn’t enough. He told me that he doesn’t look at business development as selling to his network but rather caring for his network. He truly cares about the best interests of his contacts whether it is a client, colleague, or a referral source.

This approach may seem basic, but let’s look at what he is probably doing to set himself apart from his competitors.  

• If a client came to him for a specific need, he would be sure to have the best-qualified professional address those needs. It might be him, but it could often be someone else at the firm or even outside of his firm.
• He would be sympathetic to the client’s budget constraints and not try to pad his own profits to get closer to his revenue goals.
• He would not press his client’s agenda only because he wants to close the deal.
• He would stay in regular contact with his network to see how they are doing or acknowledge any of their accomplishments/activities.
• He would look for ways to help his contacts that would not necessarily have a bill attached to it.
• He would be himself and not try to portray someone he is not. What You See Is What You Get.
• He would be fully engaged in conversation and ask thoughtful questions to learn more about what is important to his contact.
• He would be mindful of his response time to show respect and make his contact feel important.

The list can go on, but I think you get the point. Too often, professionals become self-absorbed and lose sight of who is most important. Whether it is someone basking in their success, or desperately trying to bring in business, the spotlight tends to be on them rather than on their contacts.

There are givers and there are takers. Which one are you, especially during challenging times? Are you the one who reaches out to your contacts with your hands out looking for work, or the one willing to give a hand without worrying about whether it turns into work?

If you really want to show your contacts that you care, think of things you can do to acknowledge and help them proactively without keeping score. Building this type of karma credit will pay dividends down the road.

We live in a business world where the cost of doing business continues to go up, especially in the professional services market. Most firms (law, accounting, and consulting) raise their rates every year. The question is, are these firms raising their client service efforts at the same time? I would venture to guess that most are not.

​As I recover from the gluttonous holiday break, I quickly realize that it is that time of year again. That time when you assess what went well and what fell short the year prior.  The time to set new goals -professional and personal.

I had to chuckle the other day when my wife, Aja, and I were discussing which gym we wanted to join, if any at all. Were we really going to benefit from an annual membership or quickly become another statistic from which the more than 31,000 fitness gyms across the U.S. thrive? Bodies in the gym spike to unusually high numbers in Q1 but return to normal by April.