Responsiveness Still Matters!
Updated: Mar 25, 2022
Have you ever stopped to ponder the fine ingredients that build and sustain your long-term personal, professional, business and client relationships? Baking powder is a small ingredient that is critical in many dessert recipes such as cookies, cakes or muffins. It is the catalyst that makes them rise into tasty treats. Responsiveness is a crucial ingredient in creating and building successful relationships.
What is Responsiveness?
Responsiveness = how quickly and well a person or organization acts on an inquiry, request or communication from someone else.
Please note that there is a time component, a quality component and a personal component. Neglecting to respond with all three of these in mind will decrease your effectiveness and ultimately impede your ability to forge strong relationships. Keeping these components top of mind and responding with purpose will enhance your relationship skills!
Top five questions to ask yourself when someone has reached out to you for any reason and through any channel of communication:
1) How much do I value the relationship?
2) What does this person, need, want or expect?
3) How will my response impact the relationship?
4) What is the optimal timing of my response?
5) What experience will I create with my response or non-response?
Why Responsiveness Matters!
Trust
Responsiveness by nature is a quality that builds trust. Trust is a foundational attribute in long-term successful relationships. Being responsive creates a positive experience with others and increases trust and rapport over time. It is a signal that you can be counted on and reinforces your connection. Responsiveness improves clarity and reduces uncertainty.
Brand
Responsiveness is a signpost of a strong personal brand and is a defining factor in your organizational culture. It can be one of the most powerful tools in shaping the client experience and making your team stand out. Being responsive creates a competitive edge because many individuals and organizations do not make responsiveness a priority. Many people are attracted to organizations that are highly responsive and will pay a higher price for it. It has become an important differentiator in the market place.
Value
Most importantly responsiveness is a characteristic that shows how much you care about people – your friends, your colleagues, and your clients. Your degree of responsiveness is directly related to the value you associate with these relationships. Most of us have felt disappointed at one time or another when someone else was not as responsive as we would have liked or expected. This can be a helpful reminder of how important responsiveness is to our relationships. It is one critical ingredient in how we shape our experience with those people that matter in our personal and professional lives.