Relationship Equity (my single most important email of this year)

Your ability to create relationship equity is the #1 way to make your life easier and make yourself more successful. 

Let me explain.....

I like to think of Relationship Equity like a bank account. Deposits increase the balance of the account. And withdrawals decrease the balance of the account. To make a deposit into a Relationship Equity account, you must give value to the person you are in a relationship with. And when you ask the other person for something or receive value from the other person, that is like a withdrawal to the account.

Like a bank account, you never want your balance to go negative. If you do, the relationship goes bankrupt. As business owners, we know how stressful it can be to have cash flow issues and wonder if we will run out of money. I know there have been parts of my career where I have checked my bank account multiple times a day – even though I knew the balance only changed in the morning and then again at the end of the day!

This critical concept of Relationship Equity applies to every single relationship we have with another human. We have an account with each of our clients. We have an account with our spouse, each of our kids, each of our extended family members, and each of our friends. And we have an account with each of our team members, vendors, suppliers, and work colleagues. 

In each of these relationships, we give (add value), and we take (we receive value). The key is always to add more value than you receive in as many relationships as possible. When you do this, you will create a magnetic attraction to yourself and your business. People will love you. They will see that you are a giver and will love to give to you. They will also see you as an amazing deal because they always receive more than they were expecting from you and your business.

Once you become magnetic in your relationships, the sky is the limit! Your referrals will increase (because you are referable), you will be more likable, you will be more loved, and your life will become easier.

Why don’t most people focus on giving more than they receive? Because it takes effort to constantly add value and keep that spark in the relationship. And once you scale your business and relationships, you have to shift to systemizing the value you add. Right now, I have more than 40,000 relationships – mostly clients, team members, family, and friends. You can actively manage up to about 50 relationships by yourself, but once you surpass that number, you have to create systems to always be adding value to your relationships.

An example of a system might be to acknowledge the birthday (in a meaningful way) of anyone you are in a relationship with. You might send a video email to your clients, send flowers to your team members, a card to family members, and give a gift to your top 10 relationships. And that is just one added point of value, acknowledging and celebrating them on their birthday. That seems like a lot of work, but it can all be systemized.

Always be asking yourself: 

How can you add more value?

Once you do, you will always have positive balances in your Relationship Equity accounts. And this is the most effective way to scale your business, your success, and your happiness.

Have an awesome week my friend!

-Dave