My favorite coffee shop is Fluid Coffee. Yes, they make the best café au lait with almond milk, but the real reason I come back day after day is their baristas. They’re friendly. They’re engaging. They know my name. They smile and talk to me. They know I run a business called Say It With Gratitude, that I love Virginia basketball, and that I’ve traveled to Guatemala. They give me a simple hello and ask me how I’m doing. They treat me like a human.

Imagine that!

Conversely, when I lived in another part of Denver, there was a closer coffee shop I went to probably at least a dozen times. Even though I loved the atmosphere and location, I felt no connection to it. Not once did any of the baristas ask me how I was, get to know my name, or say, “Have a good day.” I started to resent going to that place. It felt like a transaction.

You want to have a relational business, not a transactional one.