How quality interactions help a business thrive.

• Author: Hall, Robert
• Position: Marketing Solutions

Why do doctors who relate well to patients get sued less, even when their medical performance is lower than doctors who relate poorly? Why do sports teams have significantly better records at home than on the road? Why do those in counseling who have faith in their therapists have better outcomes? Why do students tend to perform better when they have a strong connection to the teacher?

At the risk of stating the very obvious, it's because bow we are treated affects our performance. Being welcomed, valued, understood and respected generally brings out the best in us.

There is overwhelming research across many fields that affirms this truth. It appears that positive interaction creates a positive energy. It affects learning, healing, and motivation, and it and impacts performance. How much is hard to quantify.

An interesting example: In major league baseball this year American League teams playing at home have won 54 percent, and playing on the road, have won 46 percent of their games. This means that out of 739 games played on the road, 59 more losses (8 percent) occurred based on where they played and who the audience is--on the surface, a minor factor. Yet it produces a margin of difference that in school can change a letter grade; in politics, alter the outcome of a presidential election; and in business, be the difference between success and failure. How many individuals or organizations have an excess 8 or 10 percent of performance lying around that they don't need?

When customers are ill-treated

Let's look at the converse. What happens when we are treated really badly--even humiliated? Thomas Friedman in his excellent book "The World is Flat" talks about the causes of terrorism and the role that humiliation plays, summing up: "Humiliation is the most underestimated force in international relations and in human relations."

The word humiliated comes from "humus"--a kind of dirt--being treated like dirt. Humiliation causes people to act in destructive ways--either passive or aggressive. It's been said that "vengeance is a lazy form of grief."

It is not only lazy. It is inefficient. Why is this? How we are treated matters because it affects the way we as human beings create and allocate our energy. When we experience positive interactions, we have energy available to do positive business. Whether it is as a customer looking to buy things or a worker looking to produce things, energy is directed constructively. But when we experience...