I’m back in New England in the cold and snow with lots of follow-up tasks after the hyperstimulation of HIMSS19 and a much quieter visit with a friend and colleague on the Florida coast. Yes, that meant a daily walk along the beach. As I prioritize and re-prioritize my to do’s, I am reminded that this business is all about relationships.

To show how important the relationships are that I’ve built in my 30 plus years in health IT, here’s some of my scheduled and add-on meetings/calls this week:

• A discussion with someone who worked on my IT team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital many years ago. She is now a sales director for a security vendor and needed a CIO perspective – she reached out on LinkedIn and I agreed to do a call.
• Conversations with a few CIOs who are interested in working with StarBridge Advisors as potential advisors. Mutual connections introduced us.
• A search firm I’d been in touch with years ago contacted me and now I am interviewing for a board position with a vendor.
• A business partner of a colleague invited me to discuss with an investor the potential to join their advisory board.
• Talking through an opportunity to host monthly podcasts with a colleague I’ve known for 3 years.

Yes, it’s all about relationships. But it’s not just about who you know. It’s about who you are and how you show up with people. You need to be capable and competent with the right knowledge and experience, but also honest and authentic with high integrity. That’s what it takes to be successful in a business that is all about relationships.

One of the best pieces of sales advice I got from a colleague last year was the “know-like-trust-need” model. People need to know who you are and what you can do, they need to like you, and they need to trust you. If you have all that, when they need you, they’ll call you. Simple. That’s why I focus on relationships.

My daughters and sons-in-law are in their late 30’s. They are many years behind me in building their networks. One of my sons-in-law, Andy Ochiltree, recently started his own consulting firm, AYO Consulting. His expertise is brand marketing. He has his own network and I am helping with more introductions based on my network. Everyone you meet knows five more people that they could introduce you to. That’s how you build your network. Andy worked on our initial StarBridge Advisors branding and website design back in 2016 and we recently hired him again to help with our branding for our new service, C-change. We know, like and trust Andy so when we needed him, we called him.

We are currently working on four interim management deals – back to the “know-like-trust-need” model. None of these were cold calls. We knew someone at each organization and when the need for an interim arose, they called us.

If you’re in sales, this probably resonates. If you’re a buyer and don’t like salespeople and consider vendors the “dark side”, remember it’s about relationships. Work with people you like and trust. They will serve you well when you need them.