Let’s take a little pop quiz: Who are your most valuable clients? Or, let’s put it another way, from a consumer’s perspective: Which companies do you prefer to do business with?

Sure, simple numbers are important: Who’s spending the most money with you? Which company gives you the most bang for your buck? We base a lot of our decisions on the answers to those questions.

But if you think hard, there’s another factor that’s just as important, if not more important, than the bottom line. In fact, it’s something that can contribute to the bottom line.

It’s your relationship with your customers, your relationship with the companies you do business with. Strong relationships between companies and their clients breed loyalty that stands the test of time. Those relationships can often be the most important factors in the dynamic between companies and clients.

And if you don’t believe me, ask Steve Yastrow. He’s a corporate consultant and author of the 2007 book We: The Ideal Customer Relationship.

Yastrow argues that companies who have “we” relationships with their clients – as opposed to “us-vs.-them” relationships, who collaborate with their clients, rather than merely transact with them – will be significantly more successful in the long run. Yastrow explains why in this MACPA podcast.

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Back to the pop quiz: Did you answer, “The ones with whom I have a strong business relationship?” How are you building those relationships?