Interview with Relationship Economic Expert, David Nour

Written by dabney on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 with 0 comments

David Nour is our next featured speaker, who specializes in managing Relationship Economics. He teaches businessmen how to develop long-lasting and profitable relationships that can mutually benefit both parties, all while avoiding the pitfalls of losing touch in social media. He explains his philosophy in his book, Relationship Economics: Transform Your Most Valuable Business Contacts Into Personal and Professional Success.

As a speaker, David strives to be engaging, entertaining, and above all informative. He makes sure that every member of his audiences walks away with practical knowledge that they can immediately put to use to improve their personal lives and businesses.

***

How did you come to be an expert on business relationships and social networking?

Three attributes continue to help me remain a student of business relationships; what makes them work, when they don’t work, how we screw them up, and how we can leverage them to accelerate our ability to get things done:

1. My early childhood – born in Iran, relationships are the fabric of that culture.  My parents, even in the winter of their lives, continue to be amazing role models.

2. My experience – having spent the last 3 decades working in a variety of companies, industries, and geographies, in a vast array of roles and realm of responsibilities, gives you a very broad perspective into relationship-development styles, team dynamics, and battle-tested best practices.

3. My thought leadership – Relationship Economics® is the hybrid of the art & science of business relationships.  It’s traditionally perceived “soft skills,” combined with a systematic, disciplined process that is repeatable and predictable.  Return on Impact™ – my most recent work on the business impact of social media, is focused on leadership strategies to align off-line and on-line relationships (social networking, social media, social collaboration) to bring them in-line with desired business results and target audiences.  If you think about it,  social networks – done well – are about great relationships!

It’s hard to put a dollar sign on relationships. Do you think business owners sometimes undervalue relationships because it can be hard to see the concrete, long-term benefits?

I’d actually say that relationships are the greatest off-balance sheet asset business owners possess, regardless of the size of their organization.  I’d challenge them to think about how they found some of their best employees, partners, customers, suppliers, or investors.  They tend to be more often found through relationships rather than ads in the paper!

I believe relationships can be qualified – take growth for a minute.  Relationships can accelerate the speed, the slope, and profitability of that growth.  Every attribute can be assigned dollar signs.

What’s your one pet peeve about the world of social networking?

Unfortunately, the tools (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) is the tail wagging the dog!  Tools are transactional.  Success from any social campaign will come from a more strategic and transformational approach.  Return on Impact – my 4^th and most recent book – is probably my best, because it takes an innovative approach to creating business outcomes from social media.

How are building business relationships, social media relationships, and speaker-audience relationships different? How are they similar?

There are some fundamental laws in all three: gratitude, reciprocity, and pay-it-forward.

Here are the differences:

Business relationships must have mutually-perceived value-add aligned with the value-received.  They take a longer-term to mature, nurture, and bridge relationship creation to relationship capitalization.

Social media relationships are more transactional with a strong sense of immediacy.  If you can add value to my Twitter experience, I’m happy to follow you or become a fan of your Facebook page.  But there is not permanency in that interaction.  I may comment on your blog post but that doesn’t make us friends or colleagues.  There’s a good chance that we don’t even know each other that well.

Speaker-audience relationships are an interesting one: audiences want and need expertise from their speakers.  Help me think, feel or do something differently because of you and this session.  Rah, rah, motivational stuff is great, but if I can’t remember your points 20 min later, how am I better off?  Speakers need audiences for great energy, interaction, tough questions to keep them sharp and defending their positions, not just regurgitating it.

What’s your best and worst moment as a public speaker?

Best – the client is elated, they feel that they got more than what they paid for, and they or others in the audience invite you back.

Worst – you experience logistical challenges to get there, have an off-day in your delivery style, or have a micromanager who is telling you how to deliver your content!

I see that you came to the U.S. without being fluent in English. Did your journey to learn the language and culture help you to learn the value of relationships?

Absolutely!

What made you decide to come to America?

The American Dream: great education, unlimited opportunities, better life for my family, do what I’m passionate about and build a nest egg for when (IF) I ever decide to slow down!

What is your favorite thing about public speaking?

My wife heard me speak a couple of years ago for the first time.  She pulled me aside afterwards to tell me that I’ve found my calling!  I’m passionate about the topic, I’ve been blessed to work with some amazing clients, and I see brighter days still ahead.  It’s the only profession I know of where you can plant a seed and help diverse audiences really think about something they may have taken (or continue to take for granted).  I’m reminded every day that common sense isn’t commonly practiced!

Because you stress relationship building, what relationships have helped you to develop your skills as a public speaker?

Countless mentors, other friends who are professional speakers, speaking coaches, comedy course instructors, and just observing those who have been at it for 10-20 years longer than I have.  Watching other speakers is a barometer of how good you are / can become!

How is social media influencing the ability of people to build and maintain relationships? Does social media enable people to interact in a beneficial way that was previously unimaginable, or does the digital medium water down human relationships?

Nothing will ever replace face-to-face interactions.  What social media allows us to do is to engage and influence one another in between those in-person interactions.  Think of social media as an enabler of your relationships, not something you can abdicate your relationships to!  Social can also extend our reach – much more instantaneously: with the amazing ability to share ideas, pictures, videos, and our parallel universe of relationships.

David Nour, CEO – The Nour Group, Inc. www.RelationshipEconomics.NET 404-419-2115 dnour@nourgroup.com