Blog
Stories, tips and ideas about creating the connections that galvanize success.
Relationship Marketing Strategies That Pay Off
Relationship marketing is often the difference between and success failure in business. Sometimes called "loyalty marketing" or "retention marketing," relationship marketing is about creating connections with customers and prospects that lead to loyalty and referrals....
To Build Better Relationships, Think Different
In the "Science of Making Friends," Wall Street Journal writer Elizabeth Bernstein describes going on a series of "friend dates" in an effort to expand her circle of connections. She explains how looking with intention is key to making new friends and building...
Be Remarkable: Customer Service That Inspires Referrals
To grow customer referrals, you need to give people a reason to talk about what makes your business unique. In other words, make your business remarkable. Consider a few examples: You won’t find a receptionist in any of Umpqua Bank’s “retail stores” (i.e., bank...
How to Help Others Succeed
Along with a connector's mindset comes a conviction that helping others leads to personal happiness and professional success. Yet finding meaningful ways to be of service to other people is not as simple as it sounds. Helping others takes time, effort and commitment....
How to Become a Better Connector
"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." - Jane Howard (1936-1996) Jane Howard was an American journalist, writer and editor whose most well-known work was a biography of Margaret...
Always Be Connecting: How to Grow Your Network (Even If You Think You Aren’t in Sales)
As the brash, trash-talking "sales motivator" in the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin delivered the performance of a lifetime. In an epic scene, he drops a torrent of insults on a bewildered team of real estate salesmen. He tells them that in order to keep...
The Sweet Secret Behind Positive Word of Mouth
As a professional speaker, I deliver a speech called “Galvanizing Your Business with Word of Mouth Marketing” to CEOs and entrepreneurs around the country. Without exception, audiences are intrigued by a simple yet powerful concept that I call “the thirteenth cookie.”...
Disconnect to Connect: Why the Off Button On Your Smartphone May Be Its Smartest Feature
"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity." - Simone Weil Many of us cannot imagine life without our iPhones. Yet the latest mobile technology can be more of hindrance than a help when it comes to cultivating personal and professional relationships....
Presentation Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking
Public speaking is the second most common fear among Americans, right behind snakes according to a Gallup poll. This fear can manifest as glossophobia, an extreme fear of public speaking, to lesser yet still stressful states of anxiety. "90% of how well the talk will...