Stop Being a Transactional Arsehole: The Birthday Hack That'll Save Your Relationships (and Your Business)
Stop Being a Transactional Arsehole: The Birthday Hack That'll Save Your Relationships (and Your Business)
Stop everything. You're drowning in Slack messages, your pipeline's a mess, and the last thing on your mind is Betty from accounting's birthday. But here's the thing—while you're out here optimizing your CAC and LTV like some kind of spreadsheet wizard, your relationships are dying a slow, lonely death.
And guess what? In health tech and medtech, where sales cycles are longer than a CVS receipt and every deal feels like herding cats through a burning building, those relationships are literally the only thing keeping your company alive.
The Nuclear Truth Bomb Talia Just Dropped on Me
I sat down with Talia Solomon—former Head of Marketing at Pizza Hut, Amazon alum, brand whisperer—and she hit me with the most stupidly simple relationship hack I've ever heard. I'm talking "why-didn't-I-think-of-this" simple.
She tracks everyone's birthday. In her phone. With a recurring annual reminder.
That's it. That's the tweet.
Every year, her calendar lights up with birthdays of people she worked with last month, last year, or ten freaking years ago at Discovery Channel. Kids' birthdays. Former colleagues. Current clients. Everyone.
And here's where it gets beautiful: She actually reaches out. Not with a LinkedIn auto-message. Not with some "Happy birthday! Hope you're crushing it! 🎉" garbage. She sends a real message. She celebrates them. She sees them.
Why This Works (And Why You're an Idiot If You Don't Do It)
Talia dropped this wisdom bomb: Birthdays are introspective moments.
We're all doing an audit on our birthday—who remembered? Who cares? Who's still in my corner? It's vulnerable as hell. We want to know we mattered enough for someone to remember us.
And when YOU show up in someone's inbox on their birthday—not because you want something, not because you're "circling back" on that proposal, but just because you genuinely see them as a human being—you're not just making their day. You're building unshakeable business relationships.
She even takes it further. Someone mentions their kid Decker has a birthday coming up in a random Zoom meeting? Into the calendar it goes. Every year, she reaches out. "Happy birthday, Decker!"
The response? "How do you even REMEMBER that?"
Because nobody else does. And that's your competitive advantage.
The Concrete and Rebar of Business (AKA: Stop Being So Damn Transactional)
Here's the deal: We've all become transactional robots. Every interaction is a value exchange. Every coffee chat is a networking opportunity. Every message is "just following up."
It's exhausting. It's hollow. And it's killing your deals.
The transaction is the rebar. The relationship is the concrete. You need BOTH to build something that lasts. Just rebar? Good luck putting anything on top of that spiky mess. Just concrete? It's gonna crack under pressure.
Talia's birthday strategy is the concrete that makes your professional rebar actually functional. It's the difference between "that vendor who's always pitching me" and "that person who remembered my daughter's birthday and is also really good at what they do."
The Meta Campaign That Proves This Isn't Just Touchy-Feely BS
Still think this is just warm-and-fuzzy nonsense? Talia used this exact insight at Weight Watchers.
They built Facebook campaigns targeting people approaching milestone birthdays—30, 40, 50, 60. Starting one month out, they'd hit them with messages like "It's time to invest in yourself" and "Get the confidence you've always wanted."
The results? People approaching milestone birthdays showed massively higher receptivity. Because birthdays trigger introspection. They make us think about who we are and who we want to become.
This works in B2C. It DEFINITELY works in B2B.
Your six-month enterprise deal? That's being decided by a human being. A human being who has a birthday. A human being whose kid has a birthday. A human being who's tired of being treated like a procurement department.
For the Leaders: This Is Your Cheat Code
Talia told me something that hit different: When she joins a new team, she doesn't just ask about birthdays. She LEADS with it. She tells everyone upfront: "I'm gonna ask your birthday because I want to celebrate you."
Imagine being a new employee and having your boss say that on day one. Not "What's your LinkedIn?" or "Send me your KPIs." But "I want to know about YOU. All of you. I want to celebrate you."
In a world where "human connection" has become another corporate buzzword slapped on ping-pong tables and free LaCroix, this is what actually building human relationships looks like.
And here's the kicker for all you MedTech and HealthTech founders grinding through this market: Your employees are mad. Recent data shows workers are increasingly frustrated because they don't feel connected to leadership. The transactional slog is real.
This birthday thing? It's the simplest possible catalyst to rebuild those connections. To make people feel seen. To remind everyone that we're humans building something together, not just cogs optimizing metrics.
The "I'm Not Asking for Anything" Power Move
Talia also mentioned learning this from networking coach Smiley Comer (incredible name, btw): The "How are you?" call.
No agenda. No ask. Just "Hey, I'm thinking about you. How are you doing?"
Most people are terrified to do this because it feels like an imposition. "What's the REASON for my call?" We've been so conditioned to transact that just being relational feels weird.
But birthdays give you the perfect excuse. There's your reason. It's their birthday. You're celebrating them. Nothing transactional about it.
And in an era where everyone's inbox is a wasteland of "quick question" and "just circling back," being the person who reaches out with zero ask is basically a superpower.
What You're Gonna Do About This
Here's your action plan, hot shot:
Right now, open your phone calendar
Think of 5-10 people important to your business or life
Create recurring annual reminders for their birthdays (and their kids' birthdays if you know them)
When those reminders pop up, actually send a message
Don't ask for anything. Just celebrate them.
That's it. You're not solving quantum physics. You're just remembering that the people you work with are, you know, PEOPLE.
And in health tech and medtech, where you're already dealing with complex stakeholder relationships, long sales cycles, and regulations coming out your ears, this simple human connection strategy might be the competitive edge you're missing.
The Bottom Line
Your churn problem? Your retention issues? That deal that's been "90% there" for six months? Maybe it's not your product. Maybe it's not your pricing.
Maybe you're just being too transactional.
Talia's been doing this for 14-15 years. It's her secret weapon. And she shared it with us because—wait for it—she's genuinely just generous like that. (Also her birthday strategy probably means she has 10,000 people who'd go to bat for her, but that's beside the point.)
Listen to the full episode. Talia drops even more wisdom about decentering yourself, showing up for people, and building relationships that actually last in a world that's increasingly hollow.
Because at the end of the day, whether you're B2B or B2C, we're all really just H2H. Human to human.
And humans have birthdays.
Watch the full episode with Talia Solomon here
P.S. — If you're reading this on your birthday, happy birthday. I see you. You matter. Now go add 10 birthdays to your calendar before you get sucked back into that "urgent" email that can absolutely wait until tomorrow.
Karl Pontau hosts The Human Connection Podcast, where we talk about the stuff that actually matters in business: the humans running it. Because whether you're B2B or B2C, it's really H2H, human to human. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode where we probably say something that'll make your HR department uncomfortable.
