From the Inside Flap
What's the most valuable asset you or your business possesses? Is it your physical resources? Your intellectual properties? Your workforce? Your skills and knowledge?
All are important aspects of business success. But you can't get the most advantage from any one of them if you don't make the right strategic investments in your relationships. Relationship Economics takes a unique and strategic view of business relationships as a platform for long-term business growth and success. This goes far beyond simplistic "networking" or the exchange of business cards. Thinking strategically about business relationships is a proven way to move your business or career forward.
Based on interviews with more than 1,000 managers, directors, and executives from a wide range of companies, Relationship Economics reveals that success comes from investing in people for extraordinary returns. It introduces new concepts in relationship management, including the exchange of Relationship Currency, the accumulation of Reputation Capital, and the building of Professional Net Worth. These are the fundamental qualities and measures of busi-ness relationships, and once you understand them, you'll be able to turn your contacts into better execution, performance, and results.
Many of us are so busy we forget to take the time to build and nurture the key relationships that lead to long-term success. Relationship Economics turns business relationships into quantifiable variables based on proven concepts from the fields of business development and process optimization. You'll learn to develop the three major types of relationships—personal, functional, and strategic—and how to gain the most opportunity and value from each.
Relationship Economics isn't about taking advantage of friends or coworkers to get ahead. It's about building and maximizing relationships for a better career and a better life. In business and in life, nothing is more important than the company you keep.
From the Back Cover
"If a man is judged by the company he keeps, David Nour's Relationship Economics provides a systematic approach to building value in that judgment. The concepts reach well beyond networking to building lasting and productive relationships."
—Dennis Sadlowski, President and CEO, Siemens Energy and Automation, Inc.
"Relationship Economics is so much more than networking—it's a systematic approach to building and nurturing relationships to get things done."
—William L. Koleszar, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Citizens Financial Group/ Royal Bank of Scotland
"Social capital is essential for success, and Relationship Economics provides an approach to enhancing its value."
—Terry C. Blum, Director, Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, Georgia Tech College of Management
"In the airline industry—or any industry for that matter—strategic relationships are instrumental to your success to drive profitable, long-term growth. David Nour has captured that essence in Relationship Economics."
—Randy Martinez, Col. USAF (Ret.) and former CEO, World Air Holdings, Inc.
"In Relationship Economics, David Nour highlights very timely concepts and successfully points out that with today's technology and global knowledge, we are able to formulate personal, functional, and strategic relationships essential to our success."
—Peter M. Sontag, Chairman, Orthopedic Development Corporation
"Forget cold calling. It's still about who you know, and Relationship Economics paves the fastest and most disciplined process for building a world-class portfolio of quantifiable and strategic business relationships."
—Greg Alexander, CEO, Sales Benchmark Index, and author of Making the Number and coauthor of Topgrading for Sales
"The Relationship Economics principles are critical to business, cultural, and diplomatic success. Look at any successful businessperson—they have done an outstanding job of managing their relationships, consistently over a long period of time."
—Ken Stewart, Commissioner – Economic Development, State of Georgia
"A fantastic read. Constantly weaving great ideas with practical applications. You'll never look at business relationships the same way again."
—Rick Frishman, founder, Planned Television Arts, and Publisher, Morgan James Publishing
