When networking—professionally or socially—everyone always seems interested in knowing specifically how people know one another. And when you get asked the question, “So, how do you know so-and-so?” at a gathering, it’s possible that your response might be: from….university; childhood; work; neighborhood; health club; recreational sports team; spiritual or religious group; and so on.
Yet, other times, your response might be: “from another friend or work colleague.” From my personal experience of living in a very active urban community, there are many times when you might gain good friends or successful business connections through a friend of a friend. If you were to diagram the connections, you would likely discover that some of your strongest connections are actually closer to you than those people who connected you in the first place! At some point, our circles mesh, intertwine, unfold, and cross-over–between one another and between professional and personal. Our worlds of face-to-face-frequent-interaction become condensed–even in one of the largest cities in the country.
Why is this relevant to a business blog? Well, it’s fun and inspiring for AEC leaders to educate your staff on how and why specific clients were won. {Notice I say client, rather than project, as that is the attitude we should always hold when thinking about new business}. I have a fairly forward-acting client that does exactly that by including ‘how we won this client’ into the agenda for their all-office quarterly meetings. A partner uses a flipchart to demonstrate in real-time how a specific client was won: who was involved; what was their role (buyer, influencer, informant); timing; and so forth. You can even share the origin of your relationship with the various players involved. For example, maybe one of the players was a vendor source that you’ve known for years, but never actually did any business with—proving that continuing to nurture contacts in your broader network can pay off in the longest run.
Diagramming contact connections as they relate to your client wins is a simple, yet motivational format to demonstrate the true value of connections to your staff. Stay tuned for Part II, which will discuss ideas to encourage staff to explore their personal networks for the benefit of your firm.
