What if finding your next client looked less like a sales pitch and more like joining a traffic roundabout?

In Episode 006 of Better Bible Business, Paul Erickson explains The Roundabout Principle: a practical approach to meeting people, earning trust, and discovering opportunities without forcing the relationship. Instead of colliding with people at an intersection, learn to come alongside them.

Three actions to remember:

• Be where people are.
• Be interested.
• Come alongside.

“We don’t trust people we collide with. We trust people we collaborate with.”

And remember: business isn’t merely about turning relationships into opportunities. Business also gives us opportunities for relationships—because people matter to God.

Be smart. Be good. Be humble. Be active.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction: The Roundabout Principle
01:33 Why I Love Roundabouts
02:41 Why I Loathe Intersections
03:29 We Trust People We Collaborate With
06:13 The Three Steps of the Roundabout Principle
11:06 People Matter More Than Opportunities
13:53 The Biblical Roundabout
18:02 Be Active: Map Your Roundabouts
19:30 Closing Thoughts & Resources

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SOURCES & FURTHER READING

The Holy Bible, King James Version
Galatians 6:10
Matthew 5:41
1 Thessalonians 5:11
John 14:16

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
Chris Voss with Tahl Raz
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Transcript

[00:00:00] Voiceover: You’re listening to the Better Bible Business Podcast with the world’s greatest host, Paul Erickson Is that good, Dad?

[00:00:13] Paul: Howdy friend, and welcome to Better Bible Business. I’m Paul Erickson. You might think I’m crazy for saying this, but I’m a fan of traffic roundabouts for a number of reasons. Hear me out.

[00:00:26] Intersections, not so much. There are a lot of business cliches that invoke the intersection. Most of them are very ad hoc, the intersection of technology and art, the intersection of the known and unknown, the intersection of this and that. I’ve seen some that include three or more intersecting items, which makes it less of an intersection and more of an accident, doesn’t it?

[00:00:53] Look, I understand what’s being communicated, and there are the mathematical concepts of intersections in geometry and set theory, but I’m not referring to those. I’m referring to what most of us think of when someone uses the intersection as a metaphor. We think about vehicles and traffic signals because that’s what we’re culturally used to.

[00:01:15] Today, I want to give you something better, something that I believe makes more sense when we’re talking about meeting and acquiring clients, because clients are people. I’m going to share a principle with you that I really do and frequently share with my clients. Why do I love roundabouts? Here are a few reasons.

[00:01:38] They keep traffic flowing. The only time you stop is to yield, and then you get in the flow. They are generally safer. If you get in an accident in a roundabout, it’s a fender bender, not a fatal collision. According to the Federal Highway Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, roundabouts reduce fatal crashes by around 90% and injury crashes by 75 to 80%.

[00:02:05] They require more attention. This might be what aggravates us the most about roundabouts because of the cognitive interruption, but I actually think that’s a very good and useful thing. They require no electricity except maybe a streetlight at night. If the local power goes out, it doesn’t matter. The traffic flows.

[00:02:27] They require very little maintenance. They can often be beautified in the center. They often require less lands for approaching lanes. They can reduce fuel use and emissions because there’s less idling and hard acceleration. I could go on. Why do I loathe intersections? Almost every opposite reason I mentioned above.

[00:02:49] They inhibit the flow of traffic. They’re responsible for much of the stop-and-go traffic that we hate about rush hour. We’d like to think that we’re paying attention, but drivers tend to become inattentive at intersections They require electricity. If the power goes out, most traffic laws require us to go into four-way stop mode.

[00:03:11] But again, we’re back to stop-and-go traffic, even if a traffic officer arrives to direct traffic. They require maintenance, and more importantly, they’re more dangerous. A collision in an intersection is potentially much worse than a roundabout because of the angles involved. But what does this have to do with acquiring clients?

[00:03:34] I’ve both heard and read phrases similar to meeting somebody in the intersection of life, and that sounds very wonderful, very philosophical. The problem is, when have you ever met someone in an intersection? I mean, think about it. If you’re meeting somebody in an intersection, doesn’t that imply that it’s because an accident was involved?

[00:03:59] However, with a roundabout, when you meet somebody, you’re not colliding with them, you’re coming alongside them. You are collaborating with them. Now, think on that for just a moment. We don’t trust people we collide with. We trust people we collaborate with. Historically, I know this to be true that the vast majority of my best, longest clients are people that I have met organically in the circumstances of life.

[00:04:32] But the not-so-great clients I’ve had were usually because of responding to an ad or a cold call. Now, I wanna be careful here. I’m not saying that those are bad. Not at all. Depending on your business model, obviously, you have to have ads, calls, or other inorganic marketing campaigns. And this doesn’t only apply to clients, I might add.

[00:04:54] It applies to vendors, coworkers, and… Well, just hang tight. I’ll explain that in greater detail later What I’m talking about is meeting your clients and customers where they are. We’re all in the roundabout of life. We’re all trying to figure out where to enter and to proceed to the next direction in life, and where to exit to move on to, to the next road in our journey.

[00:05:22] And it’s in those roundabouts where our circumstances change. We see potential new opportunities, and we meet new people, people that don’t have the same destination as you and I perhaps. But prayerfully consider that the Lord has possibly directed both of you into the same roundabout in life in His timing, and that’s no accident.

[00:05:47] Uh, no pun intended. You want new or more clients or customers, right? And I’m guessing you don’t want bad quality clients. We want good quality clients, clients that we enjoy working with, who are happy to pay you for your products or services because they appreciate you and what you provide. So hey, here’s the big question: where can you meet new clients?

[00:06:18] Here’s very simply how the roundabout principle works. First, be where people are. You can’t meet ’em if you ain’t among ’em. You don’t have to be a social butterfly to do this. In fact, you can be a member of Introverts Anonymous and do this. As I said a moment ago, my best clients are people that I’ve met organically in some of life’s roundabouts.

[00:06:43] Maybe you’ll find a client because of showing up at an event where there’s a shared common interest. It could be church, it could be a social gathering of some kind, a shared hobby or interest. It can even be in an online forum or group as long as it’s not against the group’s rules. I’ve met my clients because of friends we’ve shared in common.

[00:07:06] I’m an avid endurance road cyclist, so I’ve met clients and potential clients that way. But don’t exploit every social gathering as an opportunity to gain a client. Be humble Back in episode three, I mentioned the importance of recognizing that God owns our businesses. He’s the majority shareholder, and we are the stewards of his business.

[00:07:32] With that in mind, when he allows us to enter one of life’s roundabouts and discover we’re alongside someone else in that junction, perhaps there’s a reason. Is it really that God is simply wanting to bless you with a new client, or can we consider that God has equipped you to help meet a business need in that person’s life?

[00:07:56] The former is about you. The latter is about the other person. Second, be interested. Listen. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable in social gatherings or you have a difficult time conversing Former FBI kidnapping negotiator Chris Voss has some advice. Try a technique called mirroring. Mirroring is simply repeating back what the other person said.

[00:08:26] I went on a bike ride today.

[00:08:28] You went on a bike ride?

[00:08:29] Yes, it was a group ride.

[00:08:31] A group ride?

[00:08:32] Yes, it was really tough.

[00:08:34] Tough?

[00:08:34] Oh, yeah. Those guys were painfully fast.

[00:08:39] Now, obviously, don’t make it weird and awkward. Is this disingenuous? No, not if you’re trying your best to overcome something that’s difficult for you or if you’re doing it to take an interest in the other person.

[00:08:52] And what happens is people engage because you are listening, and they know you’re listening because you’re repeating back to them what they just said. Voss, the former kidnapping negotiator, says something memorable about this technique. Interested people are interesting, meaning people will take a liking to you simply because you took the time to hear them.

[00:09:18] I mention Voss’s technique just in case conversation is something that you struggle with. After doing this a few times, you may even find you no longer need it. One really important piece of advice, though: don’t kidnap your clients. Okay. The big lesson here is simply this: listen to the people next to you in the roundabout.

[00:09:39] Sometimes that’s all it takes because many times we just need to know someone is listening. Third, come alongside them. No one likes to be looked down on or prodded from behind. A roundabout gives you the opportunity to come alongside. It’s asking the potential client, “How can I help you? Is there something I can do for you?”

[00:10:05] The answer might be no, but they’ll likely appreciate your concern. I’ve seriously lost count of how many times my proposal, estimate, or offer was rejected, but I graciously left that door open. I stayed in my lane, and I let them pass, so to speak, or even helped them find the roundabout’s exit, only to have the person or company come back and say, “You know what?

[00:10:30] We made a mistake. Can you help us?” Well, yes, of course. I’d love to Simply because they knew I was there alongside them, ready to go along for the ride with them. As I said earlier, we don’t trust people we collide with. We trust people we collaborate with. You just showed the person you were trustworthy by staying in the roundabout with them, coming alongside them.

[00:10:55] You showed them that you care about their success and are willing to exit together onto the long road. You just created some trust, and now you have the opportunity to build on that trust. Maybe they take the exit with you and become a new client. Maybe they don’t, but there’s something more important that’s happened.

[00:11:15] A few decades ago, my wife and I attended a church that was going through a major building program. One of the core philosophies that came out of that experience stuck with me. I brought that philosophy with me when I became an associate pastor at a church in my local area, a church that grew and started a building program.

[00:11:36] This was the philosophy. We don’t use the people to get the church building done. We use the church building to get the people done, meaning our goal shouldn’t only be to make a building. The church isn’t really the building, it’s the people. And the building program was a physical opportunity God was giving us to build the people spiritually.

[00:12:04] Buildings are temporary. Souls are eternal. If you get anything from today’s episode, please don’t miss this. The roundabout principle isn’t ultimately about turning relationships into business opportunities. It’s about recognizing that business gives us opportunities for relationships because people matter to God Maybe you don’t have a business model that is as service-based as everything that I’ve just described.

[00:12:39] Maybe your business is more product-oriented. This still applies to you. Why? Because your product should come alongside people in life’s roundabout as well. Famously, in the early ’90s, Calvin Klein tested a new fragrance that was aimed at the Generation X audience. The marketing research tests failed, which led the marketing executives to doubt its potential.

[00:13:07] The problem was their testing was done in department stores alongside all the other fragrances, and Gen Xers weren’t going to department stores. Where were they going? They were going to record stores. Calvin Klein entered an agreement with Tower Records, and CK One became one of the best-selling fragrances in history.

[00:13:31] Did you notice what happened? They asked, “Where is our audience?” Then they entered the roundabout with them, which brings us back to the very first roundabout entrance: be where the people are. By the way, your product is a service, but that’s another episode I haven’t mentioned any scripture yet. Why? Well, obviously you won’t find a verse about roundabouts in the Bible.

[00:14:02] I’m using a traffic roundabout as a picture of how biblical principles of love, service, and encouragement can guide the way we do business. We’re all trying to navigate life’s roads and roundabouts. If there’s one thread through this episode I hope you’re picking up on, it’s the importance of simply being with others and listening to others.

[00:14:24] It’s not really about sales or marketing, but shouldn’t your sales or your marketing be biblically informed? It absolutely should be. But not to build up your numbers, but to build up the people in the roundabout with you. Meet people where they are. Listen to them. And if there’s an opportunity for you to offer business help, well, praise the Lord.

[00:14:45] If there’s no opportunity there but you encourage someone, well, then praise the Lord. Both are good outcomes in God’s economy. Check out these verses and see if you notice something that they have in common. Galatians 6:10, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

[00:15:10] Opportunity, not to gain, but to give. That sounds a lot like coming alongside someone in a roundabout who needs help. And this one’s interesting for our context, Matthew 5:41, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” Go the extra mile. That’s where that phrase comes from, Matthew 5:41.

[00:15:37] Jesus said that in the context of responding graciously to mistreatment and even coercion. And if that’s how He calls us to respond when someone imposes upon us, how much more should we be willing to serve the people we encounter in everyday life? 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as also ye do.”

[00:16:04] In other words, encourage one another. Help build each other up. The Greek word translated comfort there is a form of parakaló, which means to encourage, exhort, or comfort someone. It’s a wonderful instruction to believers. Encourage one another and build one another up. There’s a related Greek word, parakletos, that Jesus uses in John 14:16.

[00:16:32] “And I pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit. The word comforter here carries the idea of a helper or advocate. And notice what Jesus promises. The Holy Spirit will abide with His people forever. Now, I’m not suggesting that our coming alongside someone in business is the same thing as the Holy Spirit’s ministry.

[00:17:03] Far from it. But I do think there’s a beautiful illustration here. We can come alongside someone for a time to listen, encourage, or help them through a difficulty, but the Holy Spirit’s presence with those who belong to Christ is permanent. We might accompany someone for a portion of life’s journey. The Holy Spirit abides with the believer forever.

[00:17:26] Now, isn’t that comforting? When you meet someone in one of life’s roundabouts and you sincerely come alongside them and help them and they become a client, that’s a good thing Even if they don’t become a client, perhaps you’ll gain a friend. And if not a friend, then maybe you simply lent an ear and a word of encouragement for a single day to someone God put in the roundabout with you.

[00:17:52] And that’s a great way to navigate life, I think. That’s the roundabout principle. Be where people are, be interested, come alongside. Here are some ideas on how you can put that into practice this week. Map your roundabouts. Write down your five best clients. You decide on what best means. Not necessarily your highest paying clients though.

[00:18:18] Just write down five. Then consider three questions. Where did I meet them? Was it through a friend, hobby, professional organization, church, online community, something else? How did the relationship begin? A shared interest, conversation, problem, or opportunity to help? And what can I learn from that? Where might I begin showing up and building relationships today?

[00:18:46] I think you’ll find it interesting to discover how very roundabout-like those relationships began and fostered. Then with that in mind, think of another roundabout you may already be in with someone right now. Just one roundabout. Then write down if there’s a service you can offer them or a way to help them.

[00:19:07] Or is there simply another call or email that needs to happen where you can listen and find out more? Or maybe they just simply need encouragement, and then pray for them and get in that roundabout alongside them. And by the way, the roundabout principle applies to all of life, not just business. Thank you, my friend, for taking time to listen today.

[00:19:34] In this episode and the previous one, I’ve mentioned about the importance of listening to your audience. Well, I wanna listen, too. If you have questions or topics you’d like to see covered, depending on the platform you’re listening to this on, please mention it in the comments below, or visit betterbiblebusiness.com/ask and drop me a request.

[00:19:56] I do take time to read them, and I’d love to hear from you. I pray this has been a blessing to you. If so, please like and subscribe and share, and then go grab my completely free gift, the Seven-Day Biblical Entrepreneur Devotional. It’s seven short daily readings sent to your inbox that will realign your heart, head, and business with God’s heart in one week.

[00:20:19] The link is in the show notes below, or visit betterbiblebusiness.com/7days today. And remember, be smart, be good, be humble, be active, and we’ll see you in the next episode

[00:20:37] Voiceover: Thank you for listening to the Better Bible Business Podcast with your awesome host Paul Erickson. Awesome? Really, Dad? Anyway, you can subscribe to this podcast and social media channels at betterbiblebusiness.com.

[00:20:51] So smash that like button, hit subscribe, ring the bell, and follow on social media All right, Dad. Five bucks is five bucks!