Power Relationships Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

Brief Summary

Power relationships are critical, but you have to put in the work to cultivate and maintain these strong bonds.

You need a network of people that you can trust to support you and be there when you need them. Developing these relationships requires you to have conversations and build connections. A solid relationship requires trust, empathy, honesty, and encouragement. The right relationships are long-term investments that can pay off big time in the end.

About the Author

Andrew Sobel is an expert in fostering customer loyalty and lasting business relationships. He has written eight books on creating lifelong customer relationships. Two of these books were international bestsellers.

In addition to being an author, Sobel has worked as a strategy advisor for over 35 years. His previous clients include major companies such as Deloitte, Xerox, Experian, Bank of America, and others. He also spent 15 years working at Gemini Consulting. Sobel has an MBA from Dartmouth.

Jerold Panas is the founding partner at a firm focused on developing financial resources and building campaigns. The firm, Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners, has worked with organizations in the education, medical, cultural, and social service fields.

Panas is a well-known speaker and contributor in the field of philanthropy and governance. He has written several books and journal articles about these topics. His book Asking is a key resource in fundraising.

Topics

Career & Success

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Key Insights

Your life is shaped by your relationships. Professionally and personally, the people you surround yourself with are critical. These are the people that you go into business with, fall in love with, and go to for support.

Some relationships will be good and some will be bad, but the ones with the greatest impact are power relationships. During your ups and downs, these relationships are the ones that will make or break you. For the average successful person, they usually have around 12-15 relationships that have defined them.

A power relationship is one that helps you grow. The other person encourages your talents and challenges you to improve. They also support you when you’re struggling. Power relationships go both ways. You will offer that same support and encouragement to the other person.

What you’ll learn

How to form power relationships
Who to surround yourself with
What it takes to nurture power relationships
How to apply power relationship strategies to clients

Who this is for

Entrepreneurs
Business executives
Professionals
Anyone looking for deeper relationships

Conversation can spark a power relationship.

How do you form a power relationship? Well, you can’t just ask someone you don’t know to be that person for you. But you can get to know them in a meaningful way by focusing on your conversations.

Conversations are the root of connections. They go beyond the product or service you’re selling by creating a bond with you directly. For example, there was a financial advisor who used to rely on presentations. But his competitors were trying to poach clients. With some advice from his client’s assistant, he realized he needed to focus on the informal conversation.

The financial advisor shifted his strategy. He went out to lunch or coffee with clients. They talked about what they wanted to achieve. The financial advisor was better able to help them get there. Two years after he took the client’s advice, he was making his greatest revenue from that client who was now more successful.

A conversation can also be a launching pad. You build a rapport and then you can make an ask. It may feel like you’re going out on a limb, but the connection built during your talks will make it easier to get what you want.

Questions are the backbone of a good conversation and the start of a relationship.

Talking about yourself is great for someone to get to know you, but you need to make sure you’re learning about the other person as well. Also, people like to talk about themselves.

You’re more likely to get someone to open up by asking the right questions. Jumping straight into business may seem like a good way to cut to the chase, but sometimes you need to ask personal questions. This allows you to better understand the motivations and character of the other person.

Some key questions that can ignite a conversation, helping you with the process of building a relationship. If you're trying to get to know a client, ask what they're looking for.

You also need to engage the other person even when you're talking. If they've...