Business Networking and Sex - Ivan Misner [34]
Networking is the same way. You get out there and do it, and aren’t so good at it when you start, but don’t quit. Read articles and books, take classes, get a mentor, hire a coach, and keep networking. Every time you have some success, your attitude will get better and your success will increase. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. The better attitude you have, the more success you generate, and the more success you generate, the better your attitude will be about networking.
CHAPTER 3
Communication Transaction vs. Relationship
The Survey Says . . .
The Process of Visibility, Credibility, and Profitability
In order to appreciate some of the results of the survey that we discuss throughout the book, it is important to have an understanding of a concept I call the VCP Process®. Although the VCP Process® isn’t actually part of the survey, it is the foundation for our analysis of several aspects of the survey throughout this book.
When business professionals develop relationships, there are two different orders that usually take place, depending on the preference of the person. The first is to do business together first, then later work on the relationship. The second is to focus on nurturing the relationship and then begin doing business together. We wanted to know which style professionals prefer and what they are actually motivated by at networking functions when deciding their modus operandi. This preference by gender was one of the questions we most wanted our survey to answer, because as specialists in referral marketing we believe that the VCP Process® is the key to building relationships, and personal relationships are the foundation of a powerful business referral network.
An understanding of the VCP Process® is critical to an evaluation of these two factors. Any effective referral marketing plan involves relationships of many different kinds. Among the most important are those that professionals have with their referral sources, the prospects those referral partners bring to them, and the customers they recruit from the prospects.
These relationships don’t just spring up fully developed; they must be nurtured and tended to over time. They start out tentative, fragile, full of unfulfilled possibilities and expectations, and then grow stronger with experience and familiarity, finally maturing into trust and commitment. As they grow they’re fed by mutual trust and shared benefits, which allow them to evolve through the three critical phases of visibility, credibility, and profitability. This evolution is what I call the VCP Process©.
Visibility
In this first phase of growing a relationship, each of the players in the social circle becomes aware of the other(s). In business terms, a potential source of referrals or a potential customer becomes aware of the nature of your business, perhaps because of your public relations and advertising efforts, or perhaps through a mutual connection. This person may observe you in the act of conducting business or relating with the people around you. The two of you begin to communicate and establish a connection or perhaps explore a question or two over the phone about product availability. You may become personally acquainted and work together on a first-name basis, but know little about one another. A combination of many such relationships forms a casual-contact network, a sort of de facto association based on one or more shared interests.
The visibility phase is important because it creates recognition and awareness. The greater your visibility, the more widely known you’ll become. The more information you gather about others, the more opportunities you’ll be privy to and your public profile will grow accordingly, allowing you greater opportunities for being accepted and thought of when referral time comes. Visibility must be actively maintained and developed;