How many of your ‘friends’ on Facebook do you speak to regularly? If you’re like most people, it’s probably not a great deal. If you’re a small business owner, how much of your business comes through social media? Again, if you’re being honest, it’s probably not that much. That’s not to say that social media isn’t a great tool for publicizing your business and interacting with people, but there needs to be more to a relationship than simply clicking ‘Accept’.

Let’s flip that around the other way. How much of your custom comes from those that you have a real relationship with? It’s probably a much higher figure than comes through social media. In today’s business landscape, social media is big news. We’re all on it, our competitors are all on it and our potential clients are all on it. And it is fantastic for many reasons, but in order to forge real relationships with others we can’t rely on just connecting with each other once.

These less than real relationships don’t serve anyone in business or in life. The only meaningful relationships that we should be pursuing are those that are genuine. Our guest on this episode of the number one small business podcast is Mike Muhney, the inventor of ACT! and the CEO of VIPorbit, and he’s going to be discussing how you can form and sustain real relationships that will have a fantastic impact on your business and your life.

When Mike was working as a salesman at IBM, he was taught to check out what people had on their office walls. People will only have things on their office walls that they genuinely care about or are passionate about. This can tell you a great deal about a person, their values and interests. These are the things that you should be asking about and listening to. Plenty of people see business as transactional. I want to sell X and then get onto the next sale. If making relationships is important to you, then that’s not the way to go about things.

In this episode, Mike it going to explain why his company’s relationship statement is, “We believe in the infinite potential of closer relationships”, and he’s going to leave us with three pieces of actionable advice that will help you hone your skills so that every time you create a new relationship, it is real and meaningful for both parties.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I create relationships that translate into results?

About Mike:

Mike Muhney is the CEO of VIPorbit, an entrepreneur and an in-demand public speaker. Mike’s also one of the inventors of ACT!, the contact manager tool that is has been used by millions of people around the world. After switching to using a Mac, Mike realized that there wasn’t an equivalent product for the system and so set about creating Vipor CRM which allows users to bring their calendars, contacts and tasks all into one sleek app.

Mike has also published a book, Who’s In Your Orbit?: Beyond Facebook – Creating Relationships That Matter, and it’s this question of how to create real relationships that Mike is going to discuss with us on this episode.

Actionable Tips:

* Make sure your attitude reflects your desire to create meaningful relationships. Mike’s company not only has a mission statement, but it also has a relationship statement that illustrates his thoughts on building relationships – “People matter. We believe in the infinite potential of closer relationships.”

* Maintain your reputation. How you conduct yourself in your industry will affect how others view you. Keep an excellent reputation by taking the time to foster great working relationships with everyone that you come across. Potential clients will remember that you were professional, that you cared and that you listened to them. Some of your competitors may not have left should a good impression!

* Keep swinging!

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