Everything is always about relationships

My father, Harry, used to say, “Everything is always about relationships.” It’s a belief I learned from my family, and one that I see reflected every day and put into practice. Of course, running a business is all about good products, fair prices, and reliable service. But ultimately, people do business with people.

That may be more important than ever. Yet I feel that we’re losing sight of that more and more often in our industry. We’re busy with our own organizations, our own goals, and our own slice of the market. We’re guarding our own little island, while the biggest opportunities sometimes lie right outside it. Not by giving up our identities or merging everything, but by strengthening each other wherever possible.

I’ve experienced firsthand how much can come of it when you really get to know each other. A partnership doesn’t start with a contract, but with a conversation. Only then does trust grow. And trust is ultimately the foundation of every business relationship. That does require effort from both sides. You have to be willing to reach out, but there also has to be someone willing to accept that hand. Without that reciprocity, any partnership remains nothing more than a good idea.

Meanwhile, I see the market changing. Major players are getting bigger, while smaller brands are disappearing, being acquired, or fading from view. That isn’t necessarily good or bad, but I do wonder if smaller players sometimes cling to their own little worlds for too long. Collaboration is still too often seen as a last resort, when in fact it can be a conscious choice to make each other stronger.

I see that same trend reflected in our interactions with the market. We’re centralizing, digitizing, and organizing with ever-greater efficiency. Account managers are disappearing from the field; decisions are being made further removed from the market; and personal contact is increasingly being replaced by processes. That may lead to greater efficiency, but it also creates distance. Yet it’s precisely the conversation in the showroom, at the dealership, or around the kitchen table that reveals what’s really going on. For me, the sale doesn’t begin with the order, but only after delivery. It’s precisely then that you build the relationship that keeps a customer coming back and fosters trust.

Perhaps these days we live more out of fear than out of trust. As a result, we want to document everything, control it, and make it manageable. Yet it is precisely trust that gives us the space to reach out to one another, work together, and be generous toward one another. Personally, I prefer to choose that trust. Not because everything will then automatically work out, but because I believe that lasting relationships ultimately always yield more than short-term interests.

What do I wish for the industry? That we spend less time pitting ourselves against one another and more time looking for ways to support one another. Because ultimately, it’s not the brands or organizations that make this sector special, but the people who work in it. As an industry, do we dare to step out of our silos and truly reach out to one another again?