At the end of the day, relationships are what matters.

Those in the film industry understand this more than most.  Their career lives and dies on relationships.

The summer of 2007 saw me working as an additional production assistant on the spectacular movie "The Dark Knight".  I witnessed things I never thought I could possibly see: gigantic explosions, speeding car chases, flipping semi-trucks.

But the most important thing I witnessed was the power of relationships.  In the film/television industry, everyone is a freelancer.  When one job ends, who you know decides what your next job is.

Who you know decides whether or not you get a job after your current one.

Who you know decides whether or not you get a better job after your current one.

Who you know decides the fate of your entire career.

I think businesses in any industry can learn from those working in the film/television industry.  Yesterday, businesses weren't as worried about relationships with their customers.  Customers tolerated bad behavior and dealt with horrible business conduct.  The power was largely in the hands of the businesses.

Today, the power is largely in the hand of the customers.  If we don't like you today, we're going to tell everyone we know.  And then they're going to tell everyone they know.  There's a chance thousands of people are going to know within hours.

You better care about your relationship with your customers. If you're solely worried about return on investment, understand that broken relationships and trashy customer service will yield no return on anything.

At the end of the day, relationships will make your business more money.

At the end of the day, relationships are going to make your business stronger.

At the end of the day, relationships are what matters.

(This post was written in relation to the upcoming SOBCon).