Connective Blog

Relationship First. Always.

As the leader of the revenue organization at Connective, I follow a very simple but critical formula.

Establish trust early. Through listening. Through empathy. And ultimately, by fixing the problem people come to us with.

That is it. No tricks. No shortcuts.

Trust should never be rushed. It takes time. It is earned, not claimed. And when you finally establish it, you have won on both a professional level and a personal one.

Before going further, I want to pause and share one of my true-life beliefs. I have always believed something very simple about life and work. I will never have too many friends. There is always room for more.

Now back to the formula.

What is the common denominator with anyone we consider a true friend.

It is trust.

If you are following along, you probably see where I am going with this.

In our line of work, especially in sales, you are often invited into conversations because you may have a solution. A product. A perspective. Something that could put a person, their company, or even their life in a better place.

That is not a small responsibility.

If you do right by them. If you humanize the situation. If you genuinely listen before you ever prescribe a solution.

You earn their trust.

And when you earn their trust, something powerful happens. You often earn their friendship.

That can be hard for some people to fathom, or even admit, especially in sales.

Yes, people do like their sales partner.

Not because of a pitch. Not because of a contract. But because they feel heard, respected, and understood.

Let us be honest for a moment.

For those in my profession who focus only on the close, the number, or the quota, smart people can sense that immediately. They know when their best interests are not truly the priority and when the focus is solely on getting something signed.

In some situations, short term or one time selling may make sense.

In my world, it never has.

My motivation has always been getting to know like-minded people. Building real relationships rooted in trust and mutual respect. Letting professional relationships evolve naturally into personal ones.

Relationships that do not end when an agreement does. Relationships that last decades.

I am now 27 years into my professional chapter as a seller, and I can say this with complete honesty. I have friendships today that span that entire timeframe. People I have worked with, partnered with, learned from, and grown alongside for most of my adult life.

That feels pretty incredible.

At Connective, this mindset is not something we just talk about. It is how we show up. Relationship first. People before process. Trust before anything else.

Because when you lead with trust, everything else tends to fall into place.

And if I am lucky, I will keep doing what I have always done.

Working hard. Listening closely. Helping where I can.

And continuing to build friendships that last the rest of my days.

-andy