Relationships require investments that most likely will not deliver an immediate return. After all, building true relationships requires trust and acts of kindness such as delivery of favors with uncertainty both of return and timing. Although it takes some of the romance out of relationships, organizations need to measure progress. Once the Relationship Management Strategy has defined clear objectives, the Manager of the Network can be made accountable for the investments.

Chapter 8 will explore the economics of relationship management. The impact can also be visualized in a network with social network analyses (digital) techniques, which we will discuss briefly. After describing the variables that define the economic value of a relationship, this chapter will conclude with the cascaded approach from Relationship Management Strategy to a defined Relationship Management Plan.

Return-on-Relationship

Successful relationships are pleasant, authentic, and durable connections with another individual. As discussed in Chapter 2, royalty leveraged relationships to strengthen kingdoms and safeguard future generations’ siblings. There was little romance in arranged encounters of nobility; they were highly staged. Similarly, in current business, relationships serve a purpose for the broader benefit of the organization.

As mentioned earlier, a sustainable relationship has a mutual benefit that is continuously (re)balanced; it is balancing the value to the stakeholder with the value derived from the stakeholder. Stephen Covey even uses the term emotional bank account as a metaphor for the balance in a relationship. He defines the emotional bank account as “the amount of trust that's been built up in a relationship.” One can make a deposit into the emotional bank account (via an act of kindness, for example) or a withdrawal from the emotional bank account (by asking for a favor). Covey has identified six ways to deposit into the emotional bank account:

• • Understanding the individual. Listen to what the other person is saying and empathizing with how they may feel.

• • Keeping commitments. Arriving on time, following through on promises however small helps build up credit in the emotional bank account.