By Keith Ferrazzi

One of the most common mistakes people make when building relationships for career success and revenue growth is treating business contacts differently than personal friends. Just think for a moment about the people you work with on a professional level who are also close personal friends. Aren't they always more forgiving when you slip up and more helpful when you're in need than new acquaintances are? Of course! I guarantee your work will be easier, more joyful, and more successful if you make more of your business relationships personal.

How to do it? The same way you make genuine friends. Build trust through intimacy; show them that besides being professional, you're human. Skip the small talk and go deep into what really matters -- your dreams or fears, your children or the business issues that keep you up at night. Even better, have new clients and contacts spend time with you and your family and friends.

A new friend of mine, Dr. Ajit Singh, CEO of the Oncology Care Systems Group of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, started taking his two daughters on periodic business trips a few years ago so he could spend more time with them. Ajit recalls a dinner during one such trip when his daughters were interspersed among eight adults at the table. "The conversation quickly took on personal overtones because everyone wanted to interact with my kids," he says. One potential customer asked Ajit's youngest daughter, "So, what are your dad's greatest weaknesses?" Ajit's daughter whispered something in the adult's ear, and the table roared. Soon there was talk of the latest Britney Spears gossip, and to this day, Ajit's daughter and that now-customer's daughter are "Internet buddies."

This is more than a great story. It's a best practice because of how many constituencies benefited from the experience. Ajit's daughters got to see firsthand what their father does at work, and through their travels they are consistently exposed to different cultures and parts of the country and world. Ajit spends time with his children he wouldn't have otherwise; and his presentations keep improving because his daughters, as Ajit reports, never fail to point out flaws in his writing on whiteboards or to alert him if his eye-contact is not evenly distributed among an audience. What about Ajit's customers? They are endeared to Ajit so much that they invite him -- along with his family, of course -- into their lives, to spend time with them and their families and friends.

As it turns out, there are also benefits for the bottom line... READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

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