Think about the people in your life. Do you associate these people with warm fuzzy feelings? Do you picture your greatest memories surrounded by your friends and family? Relationships are what make the world go around! As a Christian, we recognize that relationships are extremely valuable because Jesus himself exemplified love and connection. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (Holy Bible : NLT Study Bible., 2017) Jesus commands us to prioritize compassion for others just as he showed us.                                                                                         
      Not only is this crucial in your personal life, but within the business realm, relationship and rapport building will set you and your organization apart. DiJulius points out that to build rapport one must be authentic, obsessively curious, a great listener, must have incredible empathy, and must love people. (Dijulius, 2019) Authenticity is hard to come by in the age of technology and AI. Real human to human communication is proven to build trust for a company and all of the people involved. By being obsessively curious about who you're working with and what they need, you are diving into someone else's world and creating a space for more personal conversation. Great listening skills elevate relationships by showing others that you are interested in what they have to say. This takes the focus off of yourself and places it onto the person with the want or need. Empathy is what leads to one's ability to connect on a deeper level and deliver solutions that lead to satisfaction. Finally, we circle back to the idea of LOVE. Every good thing is rooted in LOVE. Love has the power to skyrocket the success of a business simply because every human is designed to crave and nurture it.

      Within this realm of building relationships, DiJulius elaborates on the importance of great customer service. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like the person that you are asking for help is inconvenienced by doing their job? It makes you feel small, unimportant, and like a burden. These types of interactions with one person unfortunately break your trust for the company as a whole. Now, think of a time where the customer service worker smiled at you, pleasantly asked how they could help, and have you a service or solution in a timely manner. I bet this interaction, on the other hand, made your day. You were probably more confident in returning to that organization. Customer service makes or breaks the success of the company. DiJulius introduces this idea of collecting the customer's FORD: family, occupation, recreation, and dreams. (Dijulius, 2019) This model helps customer service professionals gain knowledge so that the person on the other end becomes more than just a business transaction. It makes each interaction personal leaving the customer feeling better than before. "FORD represents people's hot buttons, what each individual cares about the most. FORD is what people are passionate about." (Dijulius, 2019) Rather than placing pressure on making the sale, the representative is more focused learning something personal about the customer that will eventually lead to loyalty and trust.

     All in all, Dijulius' The Relationship Economy was very impactful in the way I view the world of business. As a Christian in the communication industry, I recognize that the value of creating lasting relationships within the workplace is unmatched. As I look forward to a career in communication, I will hold onto the idea that relationships are the biggest treasures in life.





Dijulius, J. R. (2019). The Relationship Economy : Building Stronger Customer Connections in The Digital Age. Greenleaf Book Group Llc.


Holy Bible : NLT Study Bible. (2017). Tyndale House Publishers.