In the many, many years before social media, the Internet, and the written word, humans were communicating face to face. You know, speaking with their mouths. The pace of business now requires those words be to be transmitted second hand, either by sealed letter or tweet, but all along, we remind ourselves of the importance of meeting in person to grow a business (or personal) relationship

And, some recent posts from some of my favorite people underscore the importance of “being there” to grow relationships. Peter Kim talks about the imprtance of Being There, and Christine Perkett hosted a lively discussion of the pro’s and con’s of offline vs. online networking.  Recently, the Curbside Marketer posted about the paradox of strengthening online relationships: you need to have a face-to-face relationship to maintain a strong online relationship. The author, Jackie Adkins, cited a story from the NYT that said a “physical touch, whether it be a high five, a pat on the back, or a nice big hug, can communicate a wider range of emotions than words ever can and communicate these emotions more accurately.”  ”

Sure, handshakes, hugs, and pats on the back are great at solidifying our relationships, but these physical gestures are proving to be less and less necessary. Humans are biologically programmed to crave physical contact, but I argue that the feeling of “belonging” isn’t weakened by a community of individuals scattered around the world. It’s not that you NEED to shake someone’s hand and sit at the same table in order to have a truly meaningful relationship with that person, it’s just a plus.

I’d like to suggest that as time passes, an electronic touch will be enough for your customers. It’s nice to talk about fostering in-person, close relationships with your clients, but that’s only
 feasible to a certain degree. Your goal as a business is to provide high quality products and services, to be accessible to your customers, and  to provide the best possible consumer experience for them.

Don’t get too caught up worrying if your clients see enough of you -just make sure you’re giving them something to talk about.