It's Not Who You Know, But Who Knows You

     When I was part of a sales leads group back in the early 1990's, one of the most important parts of the meetings was the one titled, "Who Do You Know?"  The group leader would begin the discussion by asking something that related to the services that he offered, rather than coming right out and stating his main line of work.  For instance, he was an investment counselor, but rather than asking the group, "Who do you know that needs investment counseling," he would say, "Who do you know that would like to retire before age 55?"  That was the market segment that he was targeting.  Anyone could use investment counseling, but he focused on a particular segment of the population that could create a win-win situation for both him and his clients.

     All of us gathered around the table would then try to think of people we knew that fit that target, and would offer leads to him.  It was a great way to open the door, too, since he could say he was referred to that prospective client by someone he knew, and a relationship was on its way to being developed.

     Sadly, the concept of "who do you know" deteriorated into precisely that, rather than a multi-faceted approach to relationship building.  Let me explain.  The concept of "who do you know" works because of the underlying principle of "who knows you."  The people in the sales leads group had created a relationship with one another.  In fact, its how I met our auto insurance agent, whom we've been with for the past 17 years.  No one can beat the service and value we've received, and it's kind of difficult to sever a 17-year relationship to go with another company that we have had no experience with, yet offers "exceptional service and value."  All of us around the table knew one another since we met on a regular basis.  It was at a restaurant, so some of us could have dinner together before the meeting, then stay for the meeting which began with soft drinks, and then an hour-long roundtable conversation as what our most memorable "sale" was from the month before (round 1), what our goal for this month was (round 2), and "who do you know" (round 3).  And nothing builds a relationship like having a meal with someone.

     Today, many "who do you know" sessions at the corporate level have become confused with a brainstorming meeting - a placed where people around the table think of all the people they know in a particular business and feed it to one individual that has the sole responsibility of following up on every lead given to them.  The difficulty is that many of the people around the table feeding the leads to the unfortunate funnel then say, "But don't tell them I told you to call."  Well, forget that!  The "who knows you" component has been taken out of the equation, creating a potential cold call rather than a warm lead.

     As you work through your day to day marketing efforts, are you a person that practices integrity (which is, "doing the right thing when nobody's watching"), is dependable, and follows through with promises made?  If you become known as a person who does those things, your reputation is being built.  As the Book of Proverbs states, “If you have to choose between a good reputation and great wealth, choose a good reputation.” (Proverbs 22:1)

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2007

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