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Your Business Relationships Will Thrive with the 5:1 Ratio

Your Business Relationships Will Thrive with the 5:1 Ratio

By now every successful business has learned the most important branding lesson: Relationships matter. A well-managed brand practices relationship selling. Its people support the brand when they provide customer service, when they work hard for customer success, when they communicate personally and add the human touch to organizations large and small.

It’s easier said than done, however, when everything from supply chain failures to personal difficulties seems to sabotage those all-important customer relationships. If you’re feeling that your business relationships are on shaky ground, start checking your 5:1 numbers.

The 5:1 ratio – 5 positive interactions to 1 negative interaction – was developed by researcher and interpersonal expert John Gottman, known for his ability to predict divorces with 90% accuracy. Decades of observation supported his theory that a healthy relationship could survive some conflicts as long as the positive behaviors outweighed the negative by a ratio of 5:1.

Gottman’s recommendations for positive interactions apply just as much in business as they do in marriages. His suggestions include:

  • Be interested – Listen to your customers.
  • Demonstrate they matter – Look for ways to show your customers they are valued.
  • Intentional appreciation – When your customer does something noteworthy, compliment them.
  • Empathize and apologize – Walk a mile in your customers’ shoes. If they’re uncomfortable, apologize and make it right.

None of this is new, but you have to do enough of it – 5 times over – to make up for a negative experience.

And it’s always easier to keep up the number of positive interactions if you have taken steps to make those positive behaviors easy for everyone. For example, if you have added RFID to your inventory system, you can quickly and accurately assure a customer that their purchase is ready for pick-up. If you have digitized your paper documents, you can give a patient instant access to their medical records or other secure private documents.

Keep track of your 5:1 interactions, and use the technology that makes it easy to maintain the golden relationship ratio. Your business relationships (and your personal ones) will thrive.

 

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