Don't Burn Bridges



The toughest things I had to tame in my life was my ego – and I’m still working on it.

For the most part, I have it under control. I’m OK with asking for directions, getting help in a Home Depot, etc.

Being served massive slices of humble pie along the way helped me – and it’s still being shoved down my throat. I don’t recommend looking for humble pie, but take advantage of it when you get to eat it.

Anyway, what I’ve observed in my nearly 3 decades of leadership is that ego (also known as arrogance) is one of the biggest reasons organizations falter. One big sign of this is burning bridges.

Revenue is in relationships, and so cultivating relationships is one of the most important things you can do to grow your business. This is one of the most powerful features of most CRMs – helping you nurture and maintain your relationships.

Arrogance, though, drives business people to devalue relationships that aren’t directly related to bringing in immediate revenue; they may even foolishly burn bridges (end contact). Some outcomes of this behavior are:
  1. Flat or steadily decreasing sales, 
  2. Little to no network value (they have nothing really to offer others in terms of access, relationship building, etc.), and
  3. Loss of key employees
Because it’s driven by arrogance, and not neglect or laziness, the leaders allowing this to happen will blame others - or other externalities - for their sales problem. They won’t address their trivialization of relationships. As a result, the problem either never gets fixed or doesn’t get addressed until the company hits rock bottom.

Revenue is in relationships, so maintain them, and – for Pete’s sake – don’t burn bridges. If you, or your company, are/is having a problem related to poor relationship management, e-mail us or give us a call. We’ve helped others and we can help you.

Ingar Grev

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