Bridge To Networking

SalesManUp

Bridge To Networking

We build too many walls and not enough bridges.
- Isaac Newton


One of the challenges in networking is everybody thinks it’s making cold calls to strangers. Actually, it’s the people who already have a strong trust relationships with you, who know you’re dedicated, smart, a team player, who can help you. -  Reid Hoffman

Who hasn't ever “burned a bridge” and later regretted it ? No matter how big or sophisticated a business is, true success is all about people and relationships. If we leave a company and  figuratively ( or literally) slam the door on our way out, we have just burned a bridge that we may need to cross again . This is never a healthy thing- for our consciences or future opportunities. Whether we are the CEO of a prominent architectural firm or a junior sales rep starting in a brand new market, relationships Rule ! What we know is vitally important, but WHO we know could determine our survival and success .

From my own experience, I have witnessed the power of relationships over the years, as I have transitioned into various sales positions with several great companies . I have made the effort to maintain a friendly channel of communication with every company I have served. Some of the managers and former teammates in sales have become my closest friends and allies . They have been my endorsers, counselors, and fellow soldiers in the sales fight. Many have given me strong customer leads, fed me project information, and personally walked me into client meetings with warm introductions. If we choose to be kind and forgiving, then kindness and grace comes back to us; but if we elect to be spiteful and vindictive, guess what eventually boomerangs back to us ?

Along this vein, years ago, when I stepped into a new sales role that expanded into a market where I virtually knew no one; I reached out to a vendor contact who was the spouse of a former colleague. He was entrenched in this market, and knew all of the people that I wanted to know. Buying breakfast for him was a small price to pay, compared to the education that he gave me on this market. I took fastidious notes, as he not only provided me with the names of companies, but specific contacts within those companies along with emails and phone numbers. It would’ve taken me months to ferret out the information that I was able to garner over one Cracker Barrel meal.  I was even permitted to use my friend’s name as a reference when calling on these new contacts, which made my introduction much warmer. If I had burned that bridge with my former company, I would've missed out on this meeting, which set my business on a fasttrack like Hans Solo moving into hyperspace !

Who do you know ? Some researchers state that all humans on earth are connected by only six degrees of separation. ( see https://www.sciencealert.com/are-we-all-really-connected-by-just-six-degrees-of-separation) If that is the case, then someone you know, is already connected to someone you want to know ; and you know people that other people want to know. The only thing missing is an Outlook reminder for a meeting with a friend, and a cup of coffee or chai tea. We have to make sure that networking is a healthy win/win proposition. If we are proactive in sharing quality information with other business professionals that we trust, then a harvest of opportunity will show up on our doorsteps. I can attest to that. Keep those bridges open for business!

Networking is an essential part of building wealth. - Armstrong Williams

Get Real - Part 2

Sales Man Up

Get Real - Part 2

That walk around the block, that fresh air, is going to help you work more quickly and effectively when you get back.   - Daniel Levitin

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.  - Steve Martin



Choosing what is Real , continuation of a blog by John Eldredge…

I love March Madness. I can watch hours of it in a stretch. But I feel like crap afterwards. Just compare how you feel after binge-watching hours of screen anything—TV, video games, YouTube—with how you feel when you come off a mountain bike ride or a swim in the ocean. Living in an artificial world is like spending your life wrapped in plastic wrap. You wonder why you feel tired and numb and a little depressed, when the simple answer is you have a vitamin D deficiency; there is no sunlight in your life, literally or figuratively. Our body, soul, and spirit atrophy because we were made to inhabit a real world, to draw life and joy and strength from it. To be shaped by it, to relish in it.

The world we inhabit substitutes real community with artificial community through social media. Now, I do understand the benefits. But having a “friend” on Facebook is nothing like having beers with an actual human being, and eons from taking a road trip together. They’re not even in the same universe. No text, no post, no update can ever replace engaging a person in person. But we have come to prefer the quick text, even quicker emoji reply. Because of the convenience. Our ability to relate is atrophying by the hour.

The world tries to make up for its artificial hollowness through spectacle and hype, trying to make small stories seem like big stories. Watch any pro sports—the media surrounding it, the graphics, the pounding music, the “drama”—all trying to make it seem important, when the truth is, it’s inconsequential. Who cares who won the Superbowl last year? Thus we accept artificial meaning over a real life.

The artificial world lies and cheats. It seduces us with the worst of all lessons: that life is easy, and comfort is the goal. Thus it kills initiation at every turn. It cheats us of nourishment and strength and the very training we need. The answer is not only online filters. The answer is to choose a life where you prefer the Real over the artificial everywhere you possibly can. Reality was meant to shape us. The artificial is built almost entirely around our comfort and ease. Take back your soul. Re-engage the process of your initiation by choosing the Real everywhere you can.

Get outside, every day. If you work out in a gym, take it outside with a run, bike, swim, hike. Encounter the weather whenever you can. Walk around outside your office building every day. Turn off the A/C and roll down the windows in your car. Turn off your screens and do something with real things. Change a tire; change your own oil. Learn to sharpen a knife. Plant some vegetables. Eat real food. Cooking is a surprising access point to the real—an encounter with textures, with heat and cold and spices—and it shapes you. Brew your own beer. ( or kombucha…)


Have a look around your world; notice how much is artificial. Begin to choose against the comfort and ease of the fake for the bracing trueness of the Real. You will love it!


How can our kids really understand the moral complexities of being alive if they are not allowed to engage in those complexities outdoors? - Richard Louv