Life can be a real kick in the pants. In her 1983 commencement speech at Vassar College, Meryl Streep expressed her genuine surprise when she figured out that “real life is just like high school.” She went on to explain, “In high school there’s generally one acceptable way to be, and it’s dictated by the exigencies of dating.”

I found these ideas to be so true and on point that I wrote a book about it. Kiss Your Customer: 77 Reasons Why Sales and Service Are Just Like Dating and Relationships, (Hawthorn Publishing, 2011) takes a fresh and creative look at the eerie similarities between business success and relationship success. In it I explore not just the irony, but what we can learn from relationships to apply to business, and what we can learn from business to apply to relationships.

So, how are business and romance similar?

It’s about the process: Find ‘em, and then keep ‘em happy. There is a great irony between the sales process and romantic courtship. There is also a great irony between keeping your customer happy, and keeping your significant other happy.

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