Business is Business is Dead. Today, Business is Always Personal

Your guide to relationship marketing for the future of work

Do you want your business to grow and be around twenty years from now? Do you want to have an amazing career and reach massive success? Then I wrote this article for you! I write about career, business, sales and marketing, and mindset. Thanks in advance for reaching and please consider subscribing to my newsletter and/or following me on Linkedin or Twitter if you aren’t already.

In the world of instant everything (Services on Demand, 5G, Instant Payments, and more), we crave more humanity. We notice it, appreciate it, and reward the business through our sales and long-term brand loyalty.

The business that doesn’t follow up, who doesn’t have a friendly approach, and who treats their customers like ‘leads’ or ‘conversions’ will not last. We don’t just want commodities; we want relationships with our brands. This applies to both B2B and B2C businesses.

It isn’t limited to business either. The job candidate who doesn’t have a personal brand will severely lessen their hiring chances compared to others who do. Individuals can’t afford to be without one.

Welcome to the era when business is personal. No brand can afford to ignore this anymore. The rules of the game have changed and business will suffer if you don’t realize it and adapt before it is too late. GenZ is less materialistic and more purpose-driven. They value the brand first and the product second.

Here are my golden rules of relationship marketing.

1. Make It About Them, Not You

A) B2B BUSINESS CASE STUDY

The worst sales tactic ever...

…is to focus on your offer rather than the customer’s need.

But, Krista, isn’t that the same thing?

Nope. No! Nooooooo.

Example of a Bad Sale:

Coach Ted: “I’ve got a super offer for you, Jenny: three coaching sessions with me for 1 billion dollars! This is 78% cheaper than my usual rate since I’ve usually got a waiting list for 10 million years. I’m in such high demand and am very famous. Everyone is dying to work with me. It’s your lucky day since a spot opened up for one new client. What do you say?”

Now, if I were Jenny, I’d be thinking about how to get away and run for the hills. Seriously, even if I admire Coach Ted, my entire focus will be on the price. My thoughts are that I’m losing 1 billion dollars. Reaction? Not happy….even if I have a billion dollars.

Example of a Good Sale:

Coach Bob: “Jenny, Congratulations! I know you recently started a business and I’d love to ask if you already work regularly with a business coach. Especially before you hit a regular 6-figure income, there are so many pitfalls and most business owners actually fail within the first two years and end up having to go get a job again. Even worse, many end up deep in debt. It doesn’t have to be that way! I’ve been coaching new business owners like you for 10+ years on how to get great sales numbers and see steady growth each quarter. Can we set up a free consultation so you can tell me about your business and we can see if we’d be a good fit to work together?”

See the difference? Who would you hire, Coach Ted or Coach Bob? And more importantly, who are you, Coach Ted or Coach Bob?

I get pitched all of the time by Coach Ted types but I hire Coach Bob types.

I sometimes block those people as spammers but once in a while, I reply….and I tell them exactly how terrible their sales strategy and offer my services:))

B.) B2C CASE STUDY

Take a brand who knows its’ customer: Nike

Nike built an empire around its’ community. People first, product second. All its’ ads are about the people, not the product. They also have a famous ambassador program. People go to Nike and feel like they are not buying a product but joining a community of athletes, even becoming part of the brand itself!

On the contrary, a brand who did little to focus on customers: Forever21

Forever21 built its business around cheap, fashionable clothes. People went there to buy the products. They never developed a connection with customers nor loyalty to the brand. When Forever21 declared bankruptcy, it was no surprise at all. Companies that fail to focus on the community first are doomed.

C.) JOB CASE STUDY

Technically the person with the best skills is supposed to get the job. But in reality, it’s the person with the best personality and often brand who keeps the job. Soft skills have never been more important for your career than now.

Being self-confident, funny, and charismatic won’t save you if you can’t deliver on the hard skills but it can help your career a lot. The most important way is to get others to want to help you. If you like someone and they make you smile, you’ll want to work with them.

I can speak from personal experience: I beat out MBA candidates for jobs where I was technically under-qualified but I knew how to brand and present myself to win. I used to be introverted but I learned to overcome challenges in social settings, in addition to my low self-esteem and insecurity around others, and since then, I thrive among people. So can you.

Have you ever met someone who was super smart and had an impressive resume but was terrible to work with? So have I. And I won’t be making that mistake again. Arrogant, finicky, rude, and without an ounce of loyalty, these “rock stars” seem to be the perfect hire, the unicorn, until you realize what a mistake you made to hire them. Or what about an employee who struggles with learning any new skills and may even actively resist?

You are your brand. — Krista Mollion

I want to work with someone who brands themselves as having the following soft skills: Integrity, Positive Attitude, Empathy, Learner/Adaptability, Communicator, and Well-Organized. How do I vet them? By their brand, of course! It is enough to follow them for a while online and consume their content to see if they demonstrate those desirable skills. Combine that with recommendations and looking at their popularity and you’ve got a winner.

2. Don’t Just Build a Brand, Build a Community

When I think of branding, I think of a lifestyle. When a customer discovers us, I want them to feel immediately like they found their tribe. They should be valued, understood, accepted, and cherished. The sense of belonging is the future of marketing. CEOs and CMOs who ignore this will regret it.

Maybe you thinking “This is nice but it doesn’t apply to my business.” Yikes! Then we need to get your HR and Marketing leaders together right away and find out how to change it. On the internal side, we call this “company culture” and on the outside, we call it “branding”. But it is the same thing. If your employees aren’t using your products and buying and referring them to their friends and family, your brand is in trouble.

Let’s look at some success stories of brands who understand the importance of community.

Apple has a cult following. People who are creative generally identify themselves as Mac users, not all but enough to make it feel like the creative community favors Apple over PC.

Salesforce is another successful branding story. Offering a certification program was brilliant. Opening up their app platform to third-party developers was brilliant. Organizing a massive annual concert, complete with parties and entertainment, was brilliant. What do all these initiatives have in common? They all foster community and a sense of belonging.

Linkedin has done some great things for the community too. Organizing community events and demos for their products is a wonderful idea. Inviting users to become beta testers for their newest products is another example. And of course, like many good brands now, getting all that Linkedin swag doesn’t hurt either. I should know since I’ve experienced this first-hand with Linkedin. We Linkedin content creators have dubbed ourselves #Linkedinfamily.

Side Note: In 2017, a Linkedin user in Australia, Anna McAfee, posted on Linkedin a simple question: Who wants to meet up in-person? The hashtag #Linkedinlocal was born and exploded almost overnight, reaching hundreds of cities all over the world in a little under two years. If this isn’t proof that people crave community, I don’t know what is.

3. Get Personal

The days are long gone when “Business is Business.” In today’s world, people care a lot about people. In fact, they want to know everything about those they work for, buy from, and follow. In old times, only celebrities and Fortune 500 CEOs received much attention from the public. Today, thanks to the Internet, love it, or hate it: the fact is that your business is everyone’s business.

Show us some leg! Inject your personality into everything you do. Show up on video. Send me direct messages. Say ‘thank you’ more often. Ask people how they are doing, really doing. Be yourself offline and online, at work and outside of work, all of the time. Don’t produce ‘fluff’: high-level content that uses big words is lengthy, doesn’t have any storytelling, and bores us to death. Avoid the 5 Most Common Content Mistakes.

“Wake up every day and ask yourself not only what is the 1% improvement I can change to make Zappos better, but also what is the 1% improvement I can change to make myself better personally and professionally. In the end we, as Zappos, can’t grow unless we, as individuals, grow too.” Tony Hsieh,

Why are people afraid to be real? It mystifies me. If you don’t touch people with your message, you are doing it wrong. Put soul into everything you put out into the world! My goal is to stop the scroll, to get people to reflect on my message, and hopefully to take an action, anywhere from liking my article to subscribing to reaching out to me.

4. Do Something to Impact the World

People are looking for brands to show leadership both inside and outside of the company. Be the brand that does good for the world. Find a cause, a mission, something very important that your brand can become involved in.

“To be truly successful, companies need to have a corporate mission that is bigger than making a profit.” — Marc Benioff

By involving a brand in philanthropy and good causes, companies can build more respect and love from customers towards their brand and do good at the same time. Win-win! Why aren’t more brands recognizing and using this?

5. Go The Extra Mile for Your Customers

The whole point of the company should be to serve clients. Figure out how to make the entire customer journey as wonderful for them as possible. Never save money on customer service. One example that makes me smile is from the late Tony Hsieh. His company, Zappos, is the Amazon of shoes, and his book, Delivering Happiness, is one of the best I’ve ever read. In today’s world, customers have too many choices. Wow them. Find a way to stand out and bring back the human touch. Your reward will be brand loyalty.

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