Do You Treat Your Network as Your Most IMPORTANT Business Asset?

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Is Your Network Your Most Important Business Asset?

Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to close a deal, convince one person to make a decision, or become overwhelmed in the day-to-day chaos of "fire-fighting", that we forget the lessons of Steven Covey to focus on the quandrant of spending time on important, but non-urgent matters.

For most personal service providers, recruiters like my self, Chairs, coaches, consultants, your network is your most important business asset where you should be investing time. Once you move past the low hanging fruit of getting referrals from your existing members, the next step is to generate referrals from your network. As I indicated in a previous post, most Chairs are highly frustrated by the lack of referrals they get from their network. The good news is that you're not the exception. Most high level personal service providers, CEOs, and sales executives are also extremely frustrated by their lack of referrals.

Unfortunately, generating referrals from the best connectors/influencers requires a high investment of time and energy. Do you treat this small group of individuals in your network as a golden goose? Do you treat them as your most important business asset? When you look at the amount of time invested with them, I'll bet you're surprised how little time you devote to nurturing those relationships and building trust?

Let's say for purposes of our discussion, you've got over 500 local senior executives, TAs, and referral sources in your network. However, only 25 are truly exceptional influencers/connectors who can generate continuous referrals. What do you do every month to ensure you're going to have a steady stream of referrals from this very small group of individuals?

  • When was the last time you spoke to each of the 25 on the phone - just to check in with them and chat?
  • When was the last time you bought them breakfast or lunch?
  • What have you done for them lately - by the way, when was the last time you asked them what you could do for them?
  • When did you last invite them to your home?
  • Did you take them to a sporting event they enjoy?
  • Do you know everything about this small group - the name of their kids, spouse, and dog, their hobbies, their kids sports, their business history, and so on? How do you track this information?
  • When was the last time for this small group of influencers/connectors, you sent them an article or link you came across in your daily digest of reading that you thought they might appreciate?

 

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that you should be touching every one of these unique and prized individuals within your network in some manner every single month. The first step is to figure out who these people are and if you have enough of them in "inner circle". Do you know who the most powerful influencers/connectors are in your network? Do you have a precise plan to add to this group and to improve your relationships with those already in it?

Nurturing and developing trust requires an organized, structured, methodical, rigorous, intensive, and proactive approach. The primary reason you don't get enough referrals is that you treat your network as inconsequential (or very small) element of your business, investing perhaps a few minutes here and there when you have free time. If you want to create a powerful referral machine and an abundance of great referrals, you've got to make your network (especially the influencers/connectors) your most important business asset.

Barry Deutsch

Are You Creating a False Sense of Networking?

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Will Kintish, author of the Being Kintished Blog, wrote an article that reminded me of the false sense of security you might have regarding networking.

Many professionals are falling into the trap of thinking that networking (with the ultimate purpose of gaining referrals) is being on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Like Will, I love social media, and think it can play a very valuable role in the networking process - But it's NOT the heart of networking.

Here's the quote from Will's blog article that reminded me to step occasionally away from my computer and meet members of my network:

 

Networking is building relationships:  know-like–trust are the 3 key steps to achieving this. How can you get others to like and trust you simply through the computer. I do believe you can start a relationship online and even reinvigorate and reinforce but no-one will ever convince me you can build a sustainable relationship with anyone.without the face-to-face meeting.

 

Of the time you invest in networking (5%-10% of your total workweek), how much time really goes into face-to-face meetings for the purpose of building stronger networking relationships? Don't include pitches, presentations, and meeting prospects. I'm talking about face-to-face meetings to foster stronger relationships to gain referrals to CEOs who could become part of your group. Everybody complains about not getting enough referrals. I'll contend that the number one mistake of seeking referrals is not having a strong enough relationship with the referral source along the three dimensions that Will talks about: KNOW-LIKE-TRUST.

What's your plan for building relationships with your best referral sources to get them to like you and trust you (by meeting with them personally and frequently) in the coming year?

To read the article on Will's blog, click the link below:

Network? Sure, I network. I’m on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook all the time.

Barry Deutsch

Word of Mouth Marketing is the PERFECT Strategy for Chairs

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Martin Davies writing on the business networking blog talked about the power that comes from Word of Mouth Marketing.

Martin made the following comments in his blog post about Word of Mouth (WoM) Marketing:

 

Word of Mouth is all about what someone who is not perceived to have an axe to grind says about someone else’s product or service. We pay more attention to positive (and negative) comments from our friends and associates about all sorts of things than what we see, read or listen to in the media.

In today’s world successful marketing is all about speeding up the person’s decision making through the value of a third party’s recommendation. They are valued because:

• They are seen as independent;
• They have experienced the product or service and are seen as knowledgeable;
• Advice they give is seen as relevant because they are thinking of that person.

 

I thought of his post on WoM Marketing in the context of chairs attracting new members to their group. Do you have a specific plan on how to use WoM beyond your existing members? How do you leverage your network to spread the good word about your work with CEOs? How do you leverage service providers (TAs) in your local community that constantly interact with CEOs to spread positive WoM about you and your group? Do you get local press - free articles - about your members and your group? Do you publish a blog that features member supplied stories and content about the value they get from your group. Do you leverage your members connections/contacts/networks in places like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other on-line sites to spread positive WoM through their networks.

Are you hopeful that WoM will be effective for you - or should you have a plan in place to leverage this?

If you would like to spend 15 minutes on the phone, I'll show you a variety of ways in which you could immediately and dramatically expand WoM marketing through your network and in your local community. Shoot me an email and we'll schedule a 15 minute call.

To read the full article on WoM marketing, click the link below:

Why Does Word of Mouth Marketing Work?

Barry Deutsch

Business Blogging - Should I Do It?

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Daily Blog Tips

This a little bit of a “devil’s advocate” post. Everyone is jumping on the blogging bandwagon. Should you join in the parade? Should you wait? Is Blogging NOT an effective strategy for your business? This article on Daily Blog Tips summarized many of the key points related to determining if you should be blogging or whether it might turn into an exercise in futility?

I liked the way the author laid out a set of criteria or a checklist to determine if you should launch a business blog? There are obviously many benefits from having a business blog – one of the major questions is whether you have the time, patience, and resources to devote to launching a business blog.

There’s a common opinion that your businesses should blog. And that’s true – a lot of them should, but that doesn’t mean you should blog just to blog. Many businesses do the blog thing wrong, and apply it for the wrong reasons. This can create productivity gaps and areas where resources are allocated improperly. Blogging shouldn’t be done just to blog – there should be a clear focus, goals, and actionable metrics applied to it. It shouldn’t be done just because people do it – for the same reasons that Facebook and Twitter accounts shouldn’t be created because you heard “social media’s good”.

To read the full article on Daily Blog Tips, click the link below:

Why Your Business Should – And Shouldn’t – Have A Blog

If you're currently writing a blog as a Chair with the intention of using it as a lead development tool for attracting potential members - what's been your success or frustration (failure) so far?

Barry Deutsch

Does Who You Know Matter?

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I came across this interesting article that reminded of an important element of networking:

It's not who you know that matters - it's who knows YOU!

Most professionals, speakers, consultants, trusted advisers, coaches try to build a rolodex of folks they know as their primary networking strategy. I'll suggest that this approach to networking is not nearly as effective as focusing on who knows YOU. Jason Jacobsohn makes this point on his Networking Insight blog in an article titled Who Knows You:

If you have done a good job of branding yourself, then you will have built a positive reputation in your community. Therefore, other people will know who you are even if they are not a part of your immediate network.

Once your name gets out there, more people will know you than you knowing them.  In fact, you will be surprised at how many people know you.  When this happens, new opportunities will present themselves and people will start coming to you.

 

What are you doing to put the word out in your local community about yourself, your group, and your value? Are you branding yourself and Vistage/TEC for other people to be attracted to, OR are you focusing on trying to collect names?  Branding yourself and your local group will attract and draw CEOs to you over time much more effectively than collecting names on LinkedIn or other social network?

Examples of creating a brand, awareness, presence in a local market that attracts others to you and gets YOU known to your CEO community include blogging, PR, connecting with local university MBA programs, writing, publishing, being active in business and civic groups, submitting articles to business media (radio shows, business editors, business newspapers and magazines).

What's your primary strategy for creating the awareness of what you do in your local community?

If you would like to read the full article, titled Who Knows You, click the link below:

Who Knows You?

Barry Deutsch

What is the Difference Between Networking and Marketing in Social Media?

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Business Networking Blog

I was in the middle of doing some research for my upcoming e-course on Social Media for Consultants, Speakers, and Sales Professionals, and I stumbled across this blog posting in my Delicious Bookmark Archive. The blog posting was made by Dave Nelson on the Business Networking Blog.

 

How to amplify and not dilute your message

Why does Word of Mouth Marketing work so well?

That was the recent headline of an article by my colleague in NRG Business Networks, Martin Davies. Stuart Harris Replied on Twitter,

"WoM marketing is great because it's personal but the person isn't paid ("hire a liar") - they recommend or not from the heart".

The subject came up yesterday at a seminar on Linkedin before the NRG lunch in Swindon. We know, and research confirms, that a recommendation or referral from a trusted 3rd party is much more powerful than any direct message of yours.

That's why networking is not about broadcasting your message to as many people as possible. Neither is it about meeting as many people as you possibly can yourself. That just dilutes your effort.

 

On the surface, Dave appears to suggest that a consultant or coach should not broadcast their messages – be it curated content or original content to their followers, friends, and connections. Rather he suggests focusing the message on your intimate group of relationships as a primary networking tool.

I believe there is a place for both types of messages/communication. Neither is mutually exclusive. Sometimes the groups overlap in their messaging from you.

For the vast majority of consultants and coaches, there are two distinctly separate approaches to communication. One level of communication is to your inner circle of contacts – those who already know you, who trust you, and who would refer you.

There is another group of  causal/virtual contacts (your Twitter followers, Facebook fan page friends, and LinkedIn contacts whom you don’t know well. This group you would like to qualify, filter, and move a few special and appropriate people into your intimate networking circle. There is nothing wrong with broadcasting thought-leadership notes, blog postings, email tips, or articles. Within this larger virtual contacts group, you’re trying to brand yourself, establish yourself as the expert, and create a sense that you are a leading thought-leader within your niche.

The difference is that when you’re sending messages to your intimate inner circle, that’s part of NETWORKING. Messages going out to your virtual contacts might be considered MARKETING.

Barry Deutsch

If you would like to read the entire article on Amplifying Your Networking Message, please click the link below:

How to amplify and not dilute your message

Who in Your Network are the Best Introducers to CEOs?

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Business Networking Blog

It’s Trusted Advisers of course.

Sometimes we make the process of getting referrals and leads too difficult. We try to get referrals and leads from people in our network that are terrible, horrific, and incompetent at making introductions.  I came across this article on Who are the Best Introducers on the Business Networking Blog. It started me thinking about why most chairs are disgusted with the amount of referrals they get from their trusted advisers.

As we went round the table it became clear that there was one category of introducers that were really desirable. They are the 'trusted advisors', those business professionals who help the business owner/director with specific issues. They might be outsourced finance directors, accountants, business coaches or virtual PAs. They all share the same thing - they understand the business owner's drivers and issues and they have that person's ear.

That's easy then. Just aim to meet those 'trusted advisors' and wait for that steady stream of referrals. Of course it doesn't work like that. It is one thing identifying these special people, it is another thing getting them to refer you. That's where relationship building comes in. Only when they know you, like you, trust you will they consider referring you. And only when they are motivated to do so.

This makes perfect common sense. So, why are so many Chairs frustrated with their lack of referrals and leads to CEOs from their investment of time “cultivating” relationships with trusted advisers?

First, many of the consultants you’ve attempted to cultivate a relationship with in the hopes of getting referrals and leads to CEOs are NOT trusted advisers. They are functional specialists in strategic planning, recruiting, benefits, human resources, sales training, etc. They are NOT perceived by their clients as trusted advisers giving advice and recommendations on a broad spectrum of issues outside of their niche knowledge.

Secondly, they may claim their primary contacts are CEOs; however, when you dig down deep to validate, verify, and vet their claims of having CEOs as clients, what you’ll actually discover is a small handful of CEOs and the rest are key executives running functional departments.

Third, these perceived trusted advisers stink at making introductions. They’re afraid to make introductions, they’re afraid to introduce you to their network, they think every introduction is a life/death case of their credibility, and they don’t receive very many introductions. In short, they are clueless about the process of making/receiving introductions and you don’t have enough time to teach them this fundamental skill of networking.

Finally, many Chairs tell me that they “invest” time in trusted adviser relationships. I’m going to suggest that for the most part, the vast majority of individuals put so little time into cultivating and nurturing these relationships, it’s a miracle when a referral does happen. Connecting to someone on LinkedIn is not nurturing a relationship. Having a 2 minute phone conversation once a month is not a relationship.

What does constitute a deep relationship from which referrals will flow? Getting to know the trusted adviser on a personal level is important. Once a month lunch, dinner with spouses, playing a round of golf, getting together for tennis, attending a sporting event together are all examples of the investment required to get to know someone. Frequent emails and phone calls to check-in, share a lead, offer an idea, pat them on the back for a great win all are important elements of nurturing a trusted adviser relationship. If you’re not willing to put the time and energy into developing this level of a relationship with a trusted adviser – you can pretty much assume you’ll never get a referral unless it’s random luck.

There is nothing easy about obtaining referrals to CEOs from real trusted advisers. Like anything else in life, if you want great results, it requires great investment. You have to “work it". Trusted advisers offer an opportunity for a great flow of hot referrals and leads – the question is whether you’re willing to invest the energy to get the desired outcome. Next to NOT selecting the right trusted advisers, the biggest failure point around receiving referrals is the lack of trust due to a lack of relationship nurturing and cultivating.

Attracting and keeping top trusted advisers is not different than hiring and retaining top talent. Here’s some questions to think about in terms of why you may be leaving referrals to CEOs sitting on the proverbial table because you’re NOT effectively managing your trusted adviser selection (hiring) and on-going relationship (retention):

  • Do you have the right group of trusted advisers surrounding you – regardless of your trusted adviser business model?
  • Do you track the number of referrals and leads your trusted advisers give to you?
  • When was the last time you sat down with a perceived trusted adviser and validated their claims of being a trusted adviser?
  • What are measuring your trusted advisers against as a yardstick of performance?
  • What’s your plan for nurturing and cultivating a relationship with a trusted adviser so that they will trust you “enough” to make good referrals of CEOs?

To read the full article, click on the link below:

Who Are the Best Introducers?

Barry Deutsch

P.S. I did a lot of work for Vistage a few years back adapting our Success Factor Methodology and creating a Trusted Adviser Success Factor Snapshot, a Trusted Adviser Selection Interview One-page Scorecard, and an entire “deep” selection interview that answers the question of whether someone is simply a subject matter expert OR a true trusted adviser. If you would like copies of these documents to use in your selection of trusted advisers, shoot me a note and I’ll be glad to send them your way.

Content Curation - What is it - Why Do It?

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I recently published a post in my Vistage Leadership Community Blog and LinkedIn Group, where I take some of the best material on leadership, sales management, leveraging social media, hiring, retention, and culture and share it with my network of Vistage Chairs, Members, Speakers, and Trusted Advisers. I've spent years combing the internet for the very best bloggers and content publishers in these areas - many times featuring members of our own Vistage Community.

I re-published something Mark Taylor published about something someone else published on Delayed Gratification and Emotional Intelligence. This is the basic premise to one of my recent blog postings on Ripples in Marketing. Extending yourself through other network connections through content and thought leadership. I put my own particular spin on the article, didn't republish the entire thing - just gave a little taste, gave Mark full credit, and provided a link to his original article in case someone was interested in reading the entire thing. The whole process took me approximately 15 minutes from start to finish. I'll admit I use a fair number of "automation tools" to leverage my time efficiently in finding, grabbing, writing, and publishing this content. Anyone can do it.

Here's the little PS at the bottom of my blog posting about Mark's Blog Posting:

PS: Mark did a great job of illustrating how you can manage content for your target audience and use it as a tool to engage, promote discussion, brand yourself, and establish your thought leadership. If you're a speaker, consultant, or sales professional, do you do this with your network on a frequent basis by leveraging social media, such as LinkedIn and Blogging? The additional lesson is that I find this interesting article that Mark wrote, quoted him, linked to his material, gave him full credit, and put my own thoughts around his blog post. This technique of sharing information with your network is called content curation - are you doing this with your most important connections?

What is Content Curation:

At the most simple level, Content Curation is the sorting of an overwhelming amount of digital information that you're network might be most interested in seeing - such as leadership topics. You then take that information, add your comments and thoughts, and then re-publish to your network. Since you're network views you as a trusted source, they'll appreciate that you're "filtering" important information that you think they should be viewing. This is really no different than you providing a handout every month to your members at their physical with information you believe is important for them to see. Leveraging blogging and social media is a way to take that messaging to your entire network of potential members and referral sources. There are lots of tools to automate these activities of content curation. Perhaps, one of our Chair e-courses will tackle content curation as a key subject.

There are three key steps in content curation. First, you must have a tool that allows you to easily digest the wealth of content in your chosen niche - such as leadership, or culture, or hiring. I use Feedly which is an add-on to Firefox and Chrome. Not sure if there is a version for Safari. Secondly, you must have a tool to publish the content so that your network can see it and engage with you on it. My chosen tool is a WordPress Blog. Finally, you've got to be able to distribute it to your network, connections, friends, and followers. Connecting your blog to LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook provides the primary distribution vehicle for your content.

It takes approximately 15-20 minutes to bang out a blog post based on curated content. It takes about 45-60 minutes to write an original blog post of your own content. I try and mix the two of these together to balance my blogging.

 

Why Do Content Curation As a Vistage Chair?

You have a goldmine of outstanding content that you've collected from members, chairs, speakers, and TAs over the years. The Village Library is bursting at the seams with extraordinary content. Why not share some of this outstanding content with your expanding network? You can take an article, white paper, blog posting that someone in your network has published and share it with other members of your network - like the example of Mark Taylor above. The only way your network is going to trust you enough to refer their best CEO contacts is by communicating and engaging. Unfortunately, it's not possible to do this at a deep personal level with everyone. The next best thing is blogging and content curation to brand and differentiate yourself, to seek engagement among members of your network, to show off your expertise and thought leadership, and finally so that they "see you out there".

Remember the old adage "out of sight - out of mind". This works in networking. I've discovered that most members of my network prefer to see my content on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or in Vistage Village as opposed to receiving emails from me. Most individuals seem to like the non-intrusive approach of having messages flash by in their "stream" on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Most of the individuals I know get frustrated by lots of messages appearing in their inbox. The best part of social media is that you can target what groups you wish to see your content.

If you're not blogging and starting to curate content that is useful to your network, you're missing a huge opportunity for pr, branding, differentiation, lead generation, referrals, building trust, and communication. Not to mention just plain old leverage. You only have a small amount of time to actually physically touch certain members of your network.

When does your plan call for launching a blog and starting to filter content through curation for your specific network?

Are you leveraging the goldmine of content you're sitting on? Are you encouraging your members to do this for marketing, sales, and lead generation? Are your Trusted Advisers doing it to establish their credibility and thought-leadership?

Barry Deutsch

LinkedIn Groups - Underutilized Opportunity

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The use of LinkedIn Groups for Marketing to your target audience could be one of the most underutilized tools-opportunities which LinkedIn provides. Have you tested this yet by joining groups, posting links back to your website/blog, or engaging in a discussion?

In a blog posting on the MarketingProfs Blog, the following comments were made:

 

Links in LinkedIn Groups tend to convert fairly well (57%), so post links in LinkedIn Groups. The added benefit of LinkedIn Groups is that you are allowed to message other group members even if they are not part of your network.

 

I'm not sure I would concur with MarketingProfs statistic that links posted convert at almost 60% - however, our experience is that links posted from your blog, especially if you have a high reputation for trust, quality content, and a strong personal awareness/brand, do convert at a much higher rate than other traditional forms of marketing and lead generation, such as cold-calling or email campaigns. Conversion is when someone in the group clicks on your link to read the link you've posted. There are numerous tools to track how many clicked the link and in which group did the conversion occur. Once group members start clicking your link and trusting you - they'll start to engage with you by posting discussion points, comments, and emailing you directly. Similar to my article on creating ripples in content marketing/blogging, posting into LinkedIn Groups is a simple, inexpensive, high leverage activity that creates viral (ripples) opportunity for your message/content to be distributed far beyond just the immediate members in your LinkedIn Group.

Where does your target audience hang out? How do you engage potential CEOs in trade groups, alumni associations, community based groups, and executive forums? It should be part of an integrated plan to leverage LinkedIn to find potential CEOs. We talk about leveraging groups in our Chair Advanced LinkedIn e-Course. Hopefully, by now, you've completed the first level-foundation Chair e-Course on using LinkedIn to Find Members.

To read the full article on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog, click the link below:

Getting the Most out of LinkedIn for B2B and Beyond

Barry Deutsch

Does Your Marketing Create Ripples?

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Mike Sansone writing on the Converstations Blog talks about amplifying your message by creating ripples in "your pond of CEOs".

One of the best ways to create ripples is to blog. You'll be found and heard by your target audience (CEOs), you'll gain free publicity by folks on radio, in business publications, and local newspapers, and your content will continue to be "re-broadcast" in expanding circles of influence.

You've probably resisted blogging - perhaps considering it a waste of time. Now might be the time to consider starting to blog so that you can create an effective inbound marketing program - where others seek you vs. you trying to find them (outbound marketing). Inbound marketing is less expensive, has a higher conversion rate, and is less complex than traditional outbound marketing programs, such as cold calling, email direct marketing, and advertising.

Here's the picture he paints in his blog article:

 

Let's look at it another way. Go to the edge of a lake or river. Drop a stone into the water close to your feet. The ripples extend only outward. Yet, give the stone a throw (complete with extension and follow through) and the ripples continue extending outwarrd, but also come back to you.

 

If you could generate returns/conversion/success at a 4:1 ratio compared to traditional cold calling or emailing techniques to reach potential CEOs - would the small time investment be worth it?

Perhaps, it's time to sign up for one of our Chair Advanced Social Media e-Courses on Blogging.

Barry Deutsch

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