You never know when you are going to meet someone that will change your life. The woman you had a conversation with while waiting for take-out might turn into the future you’s best customer, or your mailman who you see every morning may become your best source for referrals. How are your current, everyday connections shaping your future success?

Tricky question, right? Some of you are natural sales people who do not struggle with asking the “right” questions or directing conversation in order to learn more about others. Unfortunately for the rest of us, connections and the act of networking, does not come as easy.

The MRAA team recently attended a conference that held an entire session on networking. The speaker introduced the idea of ROR, return on relationships. His idea was that when you turn the conversation away from making a sale you could find yourself building a lasting relationship that will continue to drive ROI well into the future. Any interaction in any place could lead to a relationship that leads itself to a sale.

This idea isn’t exactly profound. We have all heard that relationships = ROI, but are we truly taking full advantage of this idea? Just think about this and don’t forget to say hello to your mailman in the morning!