Relationship Business

You hear it all the time, “This is a relationship business.” Sports tourism certainly qualifies. Heck, ALL businesses are built on solid relationships. No matter the industry, if you have great connections and trust from those stakeholders, it is likely you and your company will do well over time.

When I was on the destination side of our industry, three of the largest events we ever hosted came to us with no bid process. No RFPs, no presentations, nada. Just a phone call from someone that needed our help and trusted us to pull it all together. In one case we actually signed the event hosting “agreement” on a napkin in a restaurant. That is trust at the highest level.

So how do we build these relationship bridges?

We would respond to that question with one key word, “Intentionally.”

Sure, building great relationships can happen organically over time. However, the duration that you know someone doesn’t automatically build trust and secure a great foundation between people. It takes more than that. At some point, the two parties (or more) have to execute a game plan together. Solid execution will lead to more opportunities in the future, where success can continue building on success.

Beyond getting things right on game day and repeating that each time you are entrusted with an event (or a task), consistency is also key to relationship building. If you are the kind of person that needs a reminder to do something (I certainly am), you can literally put that action item on your calendar, just like a meeting. For instance, you could put on your calendar every Thursday afternoon at 2 PM to “call a stakeholder.” We like to call that a “touch.” A one-on-one conversation that, if handled with regularity, will help build relationship bridges with people.

Take it one step further. Something we have used in our business over the past 20-plus years is the “4 touch rule.” In this game plan, you actually list all of your key stakeholders and track every time you “touch” them. Coffee on a Tuesday with Steve, that is one touch. A Zoom call with Sally, that is another. Track these interactions over the course of 12 months, with the intent of touching every key relationship four times a year. The 4 touch program certainly is intentional and consistent, two major keys to building great relationships with deep roots.

Tracking the 4 touch program can also show you who is being ignored, which is every bit as important as who we are regularly connecting with. Making sure the entire team can see the tracking document on a regular basis is key. Post it on a wall in the office, refer to it in staff meetings, make sure it is transparent and visible to everyone.

One year we had a very powerful board member that our team was ignoring. As the year went on and the touches were recorded, this person had nothing next to their name. When I asked the staff why nobody was connecting with this individual, they all said pretty much the same thing – they were intimidated by him. This board member was a key cog in everything we did, so I knew we couldn’t just avoid him. So as the leader of our little tribe, I had to be the one to connect with him and keep him engaged. It wasn’t always perfect. He was a big time businessman that could indeed be intimidating, even to me. At the end of the day however, one person cannot be ignored if you are going to be real about building up your organization. All relationships matter.

(Editor’s note: the individual in the previous paragraph at one point “quit” our organization temporarily, however the relationship we had built with him helped us keep him in the fold and he eventually become a great mentor to me and our team. Our relationship today is just as strong as it was then, some 20 years later).

Be intentional. Be consistent. Block the time if needed.

Relationship building is a bit of an art form. For the easy ones and the challenging ones. Everyone counts.

Those that spend the time win in the long run.