Success in business can be linked to the number of people you shake hands with, or possibly something like how many business cards you have. And yes, a handshake can also be virtual.

A large portion of my success can be linked back to connections at events like conferences, and many of those connections resulted in surging business revenues. Additionally, you will find that the people you connect with want to continue to work with you on future projects; particularly if they’ve benefitted from you in some way.

Let me tell you a story of how a handshake led to business success.

One of my most lucrative business connections was made initially by way of virtual handshake. But soon after, we set up an in-person meeting. Since we sold similar products, we decided to do business together. There were a few benefits for my business: 1) we were able to obtain products with favorable pricing and 2) we had favorable payback terms. The benefit for them: they were able to appear larger than they were by listing two warehouse locations on their website. So they had their main warehouse location on the east coast, and then used our warehouse and retail location on the west coast.

So if their west coast customers called in with questions, they would tell them to contact their west coast distributor, which was us. The second benefit was they had a partner who could deliver products quicker to the west coast.

This type of partnership led to a massive sales increase because they were funneling their customers into our retail store; initially to buy the partner’s products, but what would happen is their leads, their customers, purchased our products due to proximity and convenience.

The partnership lasted for years. But unfortunately, it ended when they decided to sell the company. As part of the sale, it was stipulated contractually that they could not compete with the buyer. Now this is standard whenever you sell a business to a new owner.

Fast forward three years and the no-compete clause has expired. Can you guess what the original owner of the business did next? He reached out to me to continue where we left off.

This all came about because of a handshake: people skills. The more people you shake hands with, the greater your chances of success, because you’re establishing a powerful network of resources.

I’m Justin Leonard. Please visit LeonardInnovation.com to learn why many of the wealthiest people in the world are mediocre entrepreneurs. Leonard Innovation is the business school for entrepreneurs with limited resources. Thanks again for tuning in.