To Become a Better Businessperson, First Become a Better Person To give your best to your business, you have to be in a good place personally first.
By Tyler Leslie Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Most people running their own company want to become better in business as they progress. In order to continually grow, you must look for ways to improve sales performance, market products better and create a more enjoyable buying experience. What if there was one key element that you could implement to boost all of the above and become an overall better businessman?
The key element to becoming a better businessperson is to become a better person first. In order to create a loyal customer, you need to be the kind of person that you would want to buy from. Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Would you buy from you? If you can't say yes, then you need to re-evaluate the type of businessperson you are.
Related: Want Big Things Out of Life? Expect Big Things Out of Yourself.
Here are three ways to become a better person, which will help you to become better in your business:
1. Learn to truly care about people.
Unfortunately, a lot of businesses don't show they truly care about their customers. This is wrong in so many ways and will eventually hurt your business. Learning to care about your customers comes down to learning to care about human beings in general.
Showing people empathy and actually proving to them that you don't just care about their money, but about them as a person, will attract loyal customers. Become a better person by being kind to people. When they talk, actually listen to what they're saying and try to understand. Show them you're listening by the actions you take. Building a connection with your customers will keep them coming back.
2. Be consistent in business and personal relationships.
It's stunning to me how business owners are completely different to their partners, employees, kids and friends than they are to their customers. You will see the same business owner be as nice as they can be to their best customers but when they see employees outside of the office, they're completely rude.
Think about how many loyal customers would stick around if you were always rude and unpleasant to them. I can promise you, not very many would continue to do business with you. So why not be consistent in all your relationships? In order to become better in business you need to become a better person.
Related: Do These 50 Things Regularly and You'll Become a Better Entrepreneur
Try being as nice and courteous to your employees, friends and family as you are to your most important client or customer. See how much your life can improve. Remember, if your best customers or clients wouldn't stick around if you were negative towards them, why would your family, friends or employees stick around?
3. Always be authentic.
Being authentic in business is one of the most important elements. But being a dishonest and fake person will slowly catch up to you. If you're known to be untrustworthy, you will have a hard time finding friends, employees or customers.
Authenticity is the key to building a business and building friendships and relationships. Being genuine to every single person you meet can take you and your business a long way. Show honesty to your customers. If you made a mistake, claim that mistake and figure out how to make it up to them. Show them you genuinely care about their experience, and you're willing to go above and beyond to satisfy them. Being authentic doesn't cost anything; it only requires your awareness to the people you are around.
Related: Why An Authentic Purpose Is the Best Differentiator
Most people want to improve their business but they forget about improving themselves first. Focusing on becoming a better person each day will ultimately help you improve your daily interactions with the people that are buying your products.