My name is Jason “Jay” Scott and my primary focus at GraySquare is business development. Being heavily involved in sports during my youth gave me the fundamentals of teamwork and relationship building. My military experience later in life forced me to develop relationships quickly with my fellow airman because you never knew when you would be sent to a distant corner of the world and would never see someone again. The sales industry was a natural transition for me due to my understanding of relationships.

Now, living by the motto

has catapulted me past my peers in my career. Here’s some of what I’ve learned about the art and science of fostering strong bonds with others.

Building relationships is a lot of work. It is not a one-time event, but rather an ongoing activity that needs to be part of one’s daily routine. Building relationships require authenticity. Be genuine in your motivations. Remember, it’s about the relationship, not the transaction.

There is risk in building a relationship because it requires openness and transparency. You have to give of yourself first before you can expect any degree of openness in return. Also, understand this…Trust builds when commitments are met.

A relationship is a personal thing. Therefore, talk about personal things. Sharing personal information with the people to whom you connect enables the relationship to expand beyond just business. Relationships do not have to be a “business” relationship or a “personal” relationship. Relationships are just relationships.

Leveraging relationships in business means building a base of relationships. This does not mean a database of online customers. Rather, it’s the top clients who already do business with you. It’s the top 20 people you want to connect with to explore doing business together. It’s the people in your organization who represent the business every day.

If you focus on building your relationships and treat it as a top priority, success will follow.