Business Success a Result of Net Work
Ken Olan
September 24, 2006
I’ve worked with hundreds of businesses during my 25-year career and have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people through speaking engagements, workshops and consulting.
Regardless of the type of business – small, professional service, corporate or whatever – one activity always comes to the forefront in determining the level of success the business will ultimately enjoy. That activity is networking.
Business networking is about making connections with others who can help you grow your business, or whom you can help grow theirs. But all too often when I talk to people about networking they think it’s just a matter of going out to events to meet new people, as if that alone will bring in the business.
While meeting new people is clearly one intention of networking, that activity will only get you so far.
It reminds me of my single days when I would go to parties. Sometimes I’d be lucky enough to meet a woman I was interested in. But that meeting was only the first step in developing a potential relationship.
The real payoff only occurred if there was some kind of follow up to the actual meeting. It might take the form of a phone call or an on-the-spot request for a date. But something had to happen after we met to take the uncharted relationship to the next level.
The same thing applies to effective networking.
We tend to assume that when we meet people and tell them what we do they intuitively know how they can help us. Then, all too often, we expect them to help us.
Effective networking in business couldn’t be a more different scenario.
If we meet someone and want their help, or want to offer ours, we need to be clear about it.
I’m not saying we should announce, “I want you to help me and here’s what I want you to do.” Instead we can take a softer approach and say, “I have some ideas on how we might be able to help each other. Can we set up a time to talk or grab some lunch to discuss them?”
In sales we call this many things depending on the context; deepening the relationship, following up, lead management, and so on. Regardless of what you call it, the key to effectively leveraging your contacts is to move to a next step beyond the introduction.
The bottom line is if you want to be a great networker you have to put some “net work” into it. Something that goes beyond the handshake and smile.
Nobody will beat a path to our door and try to help us, but many will be willing to help us if we can demonstrate a compelling, mutually beneficial reason to.
The immense power of networking really comes down to a mathematical equation. Networking is a geometric opportunity to grow, not a linear one. In other words, when networking we must always remember that we are not only networking with the person we are talking with but with everyone that person knows as well.
The formula I use when I speak or do workshops on business growth is this. On average we all know about 200 people we would feel comfortable picking up the phone to say hello to. If that’s the case, then each of the 200 people we know also knows 200 people in the same way.
Just do the math. Two-hundred times two-hundred is 40,000 people we have indirect access to assuming no two people know the same people.
Since that's not realistic, let's assume a 50% overlap of who knows whom. Even then we can see that the number of indirect networking contacts is very large. It would be about 10,000 if we reduce the number to just 100 separate contacts per person.
That kind of math can be taken to the bank, literally.
So the next time you decide to do some real networking, remember this.
First, you need to do something with the contact, not just make one. Be sure you have a plan of follow-up including, but not limited to a meeting, a phone call, an email, sending them an article of interest or some other activity that keeps you on their radar.
Secondly, make sure that your networking serves to not only get you connected with the person you have direct contact with. Make sure you develop that relationship so that you also have access to everyone they know.
If you do those two things – follow up and leverage the contacts each person you know has – you will be well on your way to dramatically accelerating the growth of your business.
By the way, please join my mailing list in the box to the right and perhaps we'll have the opporunity to network too!
Ken Olan is CEO of The Kenneth Olan Companies and of Every Advantage, Inc., a company dedicated to helping organizations and individuals achieve their full potential. You can contact him directly at KennethOlan@aol.com.
Regardless of the type of business – small, professional service, corporate or whatever – one activity always comes to the forefront in determining the level of success the business will ultimately enjoy. That activity is networking.
Business networking is about making connections with others who can help you grow your business, or whom you can help grow theirs. But all too often when I talk to people about networking they think it’s just a matter of going out to events to meet new people, as if that alone will bring in the business.
While meeting new people is clearly one intention of networking, that activity will only get you so far.
It reminds me of my single days when I would go to parties. Sometimes I’d be lucky enough to meet a woman I was interested in. But that meeting was only the first step in developing a potential relationship.
The real payoff only occurred if there was some kind of follow up to the actual meeting. It might take the form of a phone call or an on-the-spot request for a date. But something had to happen after we met to take the uncharted relationship to the next level.
The same thing applies to effective networking.
We tend to assume that when we meet people and tell them what we do they intuitively know how they can help us. Then, all too often, we expect them to help us.
Effective networking in business couldn’t be a more different scenario.
If we meet someone and want their help, or want to offer ours, we need to be clear about it.
I’m not saying we should announce, “I want you to help me and here’s what I want you to do.” Instead we can take a softer approach and say, “I have some ideas on how we might be able to help each other. Can we set up a time to talk or grab some lunch to discuss them?”
In sales we call this many things depending on the context; deepening the relationship, following up, lead management, and so on. Regardless of what you call it, the key to effectively leveraging your contacts is to move to a next step beyond the introduction.
The bottom line is if you want to be a great networker you have to put some “net work” into it. Something that goes beyond the handshake and smile.
Nobody will beat a path to our door and try to help us, but many will be willing to help us if we can demonstrate a compelling, mutually beneficial reason to.
The immense power of networking really comes down to a mathematical equation. Networking is a geometric opportunity to grow, not a linear one. In other words, when networking we must always remember that we are not only networking with the person we are talking with but with everyone that person knows as well.
The formula I use when I speak or do workshops on business growth is this. On average we all know about 200 people we would feel comfortable picking up the phone to say hello to. If that’s the case, then each of the 200 people we know also knows 200 people in the same way.
Just do the math. Two-hundred times two-hundred is 40,000 people we have indirect access to assuming no two people know the same people.
Since that's not realistic, let's assume a 50% overlap of who knows whom. Even then we can see that the number of indirect networking contacts is very large. It would be about 10,000 if we reduce the number to just 100 separate contacts per person.
That kind of math can be taken to the bank, literally.
So the next time you decide to do some real networking, remember this.
First, you need to do something with the contact, not just make one. Be sure you have a plan of follow-up including, but not limited to a meeting, a phone call, an email, sending them an article of interest or some other activity that keeps you on their radar.
Secondly, make sure that your networking serves to not only get you connected with the person you have direct contact with. Make sure you develop that relationship so that you also have access to everyone they know.
If you do those two things – follow up and leverage the contacts each person you know has – you will be well on your way to dramatically accelerating the growth of your business.
By the way, please join my mailing list in the box to the right and perhaps we'll have the opporunity to network too!
Ken Olan is CEO of The Kenneth Olan Companies and of Every Advantage, Inc., a company dedicated to helping organizations and individuals achieve their full potential. You can contact him directly at KennethOlan@aol.com.
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