Imagine a business culture in which we treat each other with respect and build each other up, not break each other down. At the heart of all business transactions, there must be a fundamental respect for the people with whom we interact — peers, subordinates and customers. Some might argue that at the core of all business problems is a lack of respect for each other.

It feels great when others treat you with respect. You enjoy the experience. When others treat you with disrespect, you want to abandon the situation and avoid it in the future. Customers, peers and subordinates feel pretty much the same way. Everyone feels good when treated with respect.

At a gut level, it feels right to treat each other with respect. It's also good business. People want to do business with those they trust. Trust begins with respect. Respect begins with the acceptance that we all have value, that we are all important, that we all matter. As we treat each other with respect, we trigger the boomerang effect: We get back what we throw out. Thackeray expressed this clearly, "Life is like a mirror. We get back what we put into it." When we show respect, we encourage others to treat us in kind. When we treat others with disrespect, it triggers a similar reaction in them. They mirror us.

For salespeople, treating others with respect begins by subordinating one's ego for the greater good of serving customers. Value-added selling is a team sport. "We" is greater than "me." You may sell the first experience with your company, but it is the total experience with your organization that brings customers back. Value-added salespeople realize that they play a vital role in securing business, but they accept the reality of John Donne's passage: "No man is an island." As salespeople, you depend on others in your company to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively. As you treat them with respect, you're telling them that you recognize the important role they play in serving customers.

Treating customers with respect means that you begin by trying to view life from their perspective. Your solution must reflect and respect the buyer's priorities and your priorities. Your priority to close a deal today may conflict with the buyer's priority to make a deliberate buying decision. By respecting the buyer's priorities, you're letting him know that you understand what's important to him. He, in turn, will respect your approach. In many cases, this will be a differentiating factor between you and all other salespeople who are only interested in making deals.

A culture of respect begins when someone makes the decision to be a catalyst for change. And it won't be a revolutionary change — it will most likely be evolutionary change. But it will catch on. You can be that catalyst. Treat others — inside and outside your organization — with the same respect you hope they would show you.