When I attended a Dale Carnegie Management Course, the trainer, Deon, told us a story I'll never forget. He owned a successful jewellery store in a mall. After attending his first Dale Carnegie course, he decided to treat the security guards in the mall, whom he'd always ignored, in a friendly and respectful manner. He started asking them about their families and greeting them. Suddenly, they started arresting thieves in his shop, for shoplifting. He called a meeting of the security guards and asked them what they thought had caused this rash of shoplifting.

To the best of my recall, this was their reply, as Deon conveyed it to me: “Sir, there has always been shoplifting and theft in your store. But you treated us so badly that we simply chose to ignore the thieves. Since you started treating us well and showing a genuine interest in us, we started catching the thieves.” Deon estimated that he had lost tens of thousands of dollars over the years because of his uncaring and haughty attitude towards the security guards.

We tend to underestimate the tremendous untapped profit that can be released when we start to treat our employees well. I'm not talking about being soft or compromising our standards; I'm talking about being sincerely interested in their wellbeing, dreams and goals. Remembering their family members' names and their birthdays is a good start. One simple exercise that works well for me is to have a piece of paper in my pocket where I jot down personal information about employees and file it for later reference.

As a group exercise, we hang a paper card around their necks, on their backs, and have them each write a positive, upbuilding, sincere and honest compliment about the person on the card on his or her back. At the end of the exercise, each person has a whole list of good things that other people think about them. I have known employees to keep these lists for years. Many people seldom receive specific, honest compliments. They dress as well as they can and nobody notices or remarks on it. They have their hair done, and no one says a thing. They work overtime and it's taken for granted. Notice their contribution, reinforce good behavior and reap the rewards. And, if you really want to massively increase your sales, stop whining about your staff and attend the Dale Carnegie Management Course. It all starts with the owner of the business. That's where the buck stops. And that's YOU.

The same principle applies to Joint Ventures, the most powerful business tool ever discovered. Good relationships are the basis for good business. Together, we can dio amazing things. Check out the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum.