There are a handful of golden rules, depending upon which set of books you were raised on, but one that I’ve witnessed time and again in the business of networking, those who give, usually get.
It’s not too hard to grasp this concept, everyone in business has experienced the “what goes around comes around” phenomenon, but I’d like to suggest that something more intentional and perhaps deeper exists in the true networking mindset.
When a give to get thinking pervades your entire business thinking you begin to approach customer relationships by asking “what am I here to give” or “how can I serve” as opposed to “what can I sell.” You begin to look for and develop strategic partner relationships with a view on adding value to your existing customer relationships instead of as a means to get in front of new prospects.
Accepting this way of looking at the world in business can change the entire architecture of your organization and open up substantially higher levels of attraction inside your marketing efforts.
Some successful small business owners adopt this habit as the primary driving force of their business relationships.
Dixie Gillaspie, a business coach located in the Midwest, has built a substantial reputation as someone who connects people and looks for ways to grow her business by giving leads, introductions and networking to help others get what they are looking for.
Dixie’s referral philosophy can be summed up with this statement, “Your network is your safety net and your fishing net. It will save your life and feed you for life if you build it well and treat it right.”
Dixie is a diehard networker and has even created a coaching program based on the best-selling book, The GoGiver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. In the GoGiver we meet an ambitious young man named Joe and are introduced to the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success.
Joe learns that changing his focus from getting to giving—putting others’ interests first and continually adding value to their lives—ultimately leads to unexpected returns.
Burg and Mann further claim that all wealth is created out of the practice of the first two laws. Law #1 “Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.” And Law #2 “Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.”
Gallespie says that, “In the last five years I’ve only worked with two clients who did not come to me as a result of networking. Referrals have been from networking connections and from clients who were originally referred by networking connections.
As a network and client building philosophy giving has a lot to offer.
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June 19, 2009