Another great post written by expert performance coach and life coach Nicholas Townsend Smith of Clearpath Training. Please share this with your network.
Clearpath TrainingFrom Learning to Earning- Performance and Life Coaching
In this video I teach a BNI organization when to expect profitability from a relationship. This is one of the principles of networking as taught in The 29% Solution.
Life coaching, productivity coaching and executive coaching are all designed to help you and your organization reach capability, attain time management and realize success.
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Nicholas Townsend Smith
the Expert Productivity Coach
I really like the points you made here, Nick, in a short amount of time. The seed analogy is appropriate. I also think it’s helpful for the parties involved to 1. know up front whether this is going to be a “friendship” relationship or a “business” relationship because the expectations are very different, and 2. how long both parties expect it may take to become profitable.
I once worked with a person who wanted my products and services (as part of a potential deal on his end) and it started as a business relationship with a lot of profit potential for both of us. Because the deals didn’t develop on his end, we kept in touch and maintained a friendship (while he was using my name as a key person in his marketing materials!). Later, he kept wanting me to put in free time helping him to “get the deal going.” Six years later he was still contacting me! At that point I said I couldn’t do any more “free work” and would need to be paid as a consultant. He was offended because of our “friendship.” I especially felt bad when he said his company now had stock and it was going up–and he hadn’t cut me in during any of those years. A real mess because things hadn’t been clarified or be beneficial to both parties all along.
Roy, Thank you for your comment! You really drove home an additional point. Communication is key to any relationship! If people would slow down and communicate their intentions clearly, many problems could be avoided. Defining the relationship in advance could really assist people in determining if this is right for them or not.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dr. Roy Vartabedian, Nick Smith. Nick Smith said: See my latest blog post: Profitability in a Relationship http://ping.fm/nKVNM [...]
I really like the points you made here, Nick, in a short amount of time. The seed analogy is appropriate. I also think it’s helpful for the parties involved to 1. know up front whether this is going to be a “friendship” relationship or a “business” relationship because the expectations are very different, and 2. how long both parties expect it may take to become profitable.
I once worked with a person who wanted my products and services (as part of a potential deal on his end) and it started as a business relationship with a lot of profit potential for both of us. Because the deals didn’t develop on his end, we kept in touch and maintained a friendship (while he was using my name as a key person in his marketing materials!). Later, he kept wanting me to put in free time helping him to “get the deal going.” Six years later he was still contacting me! At that point I said I couldn’t do any more “free work” and would need to be paid as a consultant. He was offended because of our “friendship.” I especially felt bad when he said his company now had stock and it was going up–and he hadn’t cut me in during any of those years. A real mess because things hadn’t been clarified or be beneficial to both parties all along.
Roy, Thank you for your comment! You really drove home an additional point. Communication is key to any relationship! If people would slow down and communicate their intentions clearly, many problems could be avoided. Defining the relationship in advance could really assist people in determining if this is right for them or not.
Great Insight!!