In fact, replace great with superior. People who make things happen make superior relationships first. Relationships are the power source, if not the very soul, of doing good business—the kind of business where clients smile and believe your value simply dwarfs your fee.
People who sell don’t develop nearly as much business as people who develop relationships. New business flows to those individuals and companies who can move beyond a transaction to a relationship. People, especially executives, don’t want to work with the person with the best sales skills. They want to work with people who are emotionally invested in helping them and will pay significant premiums for this rare commodity.