“Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If you want to touch people and change lives, you have to touch them relationally first. Don’t tell them what you know. You don’t impress them with your knowledge; you impress them with your compassion.” – Dr John C Maxwell
People do business with people they know and trust…and how better to build trust with someone than showing them that you care about them, their business, or their situation in general?
You go to church, listen to the sermon, but you can’t relate. Could it be that the pastor doesn’t show that he cares about where you’re at in your spiritual growth?
Your boss gives you a task to do. You don’t understand how it fits in the big picture. You question it but are given attitude in response.
A client wants you to change something on their website because they read somewhere that it would help the search engines find their site. Do they know your concern for doing anything that could actually harm their site? They surely won’t care that you got certified in search engine optimization so that you could help them – unless they know you care.
Relationship building is all about caring for others, finding what is important to them, and making a connection.
Some suggestions for showing that you care:
- Know what your audience/team wants.
- Ask them what’s important to them and why.
- Get a feel for their dreams, desires and needs.
- Don’t assume anything.
- Don’t decide for them what they want.
Showing people that you care is the first step in building a relationship and a doorway to them caring about what you know.
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