I’ve just had a wonderful weekend, sharing time with my friends and it got me thinking about my business life.

I went along to a creative workshop (Silversmithing) with a small group of local friends and we had a brilliant time! We chatted, laughed, made something unique, helped each other, shared our time and skills and left the workshop feeling inspired. We had a shared experience that made us that little bit closer.

Being with friends is fun, it makes us relaxed, more optimistic, more caring. It also strengthens the connections we have with each other. When friends struggle, we are there to support them. When they ask for help, we help them.

Sounds, great doesn't it? Wouldn't it be wonderful if this was how your business interactions worked? If you were there to actively support your clients and connections as friends, not just as people that buy your goods or services.

We have all experienced the disconnect of big businesses, treating customers as numbers, with little interest in us as consumers, other than to consume their offerings. How did you feel when you were given a bad experience or received awful customer service? Bad right? As an employee, have you ever felt undervalued or experienced stress from poor relationships with your colleagues, manager or boss?

The way we interact with each other in a business setting greatly influences our mood, motivation and productivity. I agree to some point, that we don’t need to be friends with everyone we meet but we should always try to find similarities in each other, common interests, hobbies, lifestyle choices, something that can build a connection in order to value each other better.

I love networking, I really do but to some it creates fear and that is a natural response to something new. However, if you run your own business, you need to overcome fear and reach out to people. For me, the key to having a great networking experience is to be a good listener. To listen out for things that connect us. Listening doesn’t come easy to everyone, it needs work, practice. Just like any relationship does. If you project a cold exterior, don’t listen to people, hide emotion or keep yourself to yourself, you will find it hard to connect with anyone. It took me years to really open up to people as I suffered from chronic shyness at school and through my early years in employment. But what I always did was listen to people and that showed that I valued them.

I have heard people say that ‘it’s not personal, it’s business’ or ‘I’m not here to make friends’. Both these statements seem alien to me and pretty cold and insular. When did those people become so separated from making good connections with people? We are also told that ‘time is money’ which breeds impatience and builds limitations. Isn’t it just as important to invest in your working relationships?

Great teams are ones that support each member, adapt to change and create strong connections. Each person is valued and supported and their strengths acknowledged. If you ask yourself what is one of the most important aspects of a great business, customer service should rate very highly. Why? Because it makes us feel good, valued as customers. It also makes us repeat buy and grow loyalty. When service is bad, we tend not to return and even share our experience with others.

Feeling valued is something we all respond to positively and should be an essential part of working relationships. We should find things that connect us, nurture each other, support each other, to help bring out the best characteristics in us.

Personally, as a freelancer, I always take the time to get to know my clients, to seek out connections and learn about what makes them love what they do and why they do it. To me, that is the vital ingredient in working with anyone, that brings me a wealth of insight, the knowledge the tools I need to deliver a great service to them. It also means that I’ve gained some great friends who are clients and business connections.

Why does this matter to me? Well, I’ve been on a self-development journey for the past 9 years and I’ve learned the real value of listening and supporting others. I’ve read books on marketing, business, change hacking, entrepreneurship, creativity and more. I’ve seen many inspirational TED talks and I’ve been in the audience to see presentations by motivational speakers at local and national events, as well as being fortunate to have met and worked with some inspirational coaches. I’ve seen how by caring about others, you create good in the world, by understanding each other, you build bridges, resolve disputes, heal wounds. By taking an interest in people, you find connection, create trust. We all want to be liked in life, right? How do we get to be liked? Usually, it’s from shared interests or experiences, from recommendations or good words from others. You may think that it’s all about being liked but that is a small part of the benefits of friendship or compassion. I take great pleasure from helping others and it’s infectious. If you help someone, they tend to feel good about it and are more likely to not only help you but others they come into contact with and that is a wonderful thing!

Do you make friends in business and if so, how well do you value them and support them? Is it time to take a look at how you interact with your contacts and build stronger and more positive relationships?

Mahatma Gandhi is famously quoted for saying '‘Be the change that you wish to see in the world” and that’s why I’m spreading friendship and positivity to those that I meet.

This article is by Jason Conway, a freelance creative professional, writer and artist based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK. If you’d like to find out more about his creative services visit www.cre8ubrand.co.uk