My Dad’s the best salesman I’ve ever known and also the best storyteller and that isn’t by accident as he taught me very young that you must relate, engage and build relationships if you want to be remembered and be a good salesman. Well I never took on a sales job but even as far back as high school my friends would ask me “How do you know everybody” as I was always someone who prided myself on being friends with the captain of the football team, the lead thespian in the school play and the president of the school council. In college I played college hockey, was the president of my fraternity and worked in the computer lab, not one of these activities had the same people but it allowed me to grow my knowledge and have friends in all places. This same strategy is what has allowed me to excel in my career and get noticed by people who had no business knowing who I was.
I co-host the Social Selling Hour #SShour with Rachel Miller of Pipeliner CRM and this week our guest was IBMer and social business thought leader Jim Claussen discussing the power of what he calls “360 Networks.” Jim did an amazing job explaining the importance of connecting and building relationships to grow your network both internally and externally.
I was lucky enough to have a mentor and boss early in my career tell me to put a weekly event on my calendar that said “Connect with the 3rd Floor”, as I was working on the 1st floor and everyone on the 3rd floor were managers and VP’s. This weekly notification not only was a reminder of the importance of networking and making sure I wasn’t “Out of sight, out of mind,” but reinforced the importance of continuing these relationships and taking an hour of my week to do so was worth it. Fast forward 12 years and that weekly reminder is still on my calendar and the importance of building and growing relationships is something I work hard on daily.
It’s not who you know, but who you know that knows what you don’t!
Check out this replay of SShour to get a better understanding of what exactly a 360 Network is and why you should have space on your calendar each week reminding you to invest in your 360 network!
Want to find out more about 360 networks or stay-up to date with Social Business and Social Selling make sure to subscribe to Jim’s podcasts and checkout his Executive Social Academy.
While you’re marking your calendar for networking also make sure to add a calendar event for #SShour Monday’s at 4pm ET / 1pm PT.
Brian Fanzo is a partner and Chief Digital Strategist at Broadsuite Media Group (BMG). His focus is on helping companies utilize new technology like mobile, analytics, and cloud computing to be more productive. He is also an expert at working with audiences and brands who want to learn more about using social media and content marketing (including rich media content), to more effectively reach, inform, educate, and connect with their audiences and prospect bases. Brian is also an expert on the topic of Millennials. He speaks on this topic and works with organizations helping them understand the Millennial mindset, what motivates them, how to prepare your organization for the future workforce, and a myriad of other topics related to a new generation of leaders.
Brian is passionate about teaching change and he focuses on doing this in his work with brands as both an influencer and advisor, and he’s also a sought-after speaker and multi-media creator. In addition to contributing regularly to MillennialCEO, Brian co-hosts two weekly Twitter chats, #SbizHour and #CloudTalk, as well as co-hosting a a weekly podcast called SMACtalk. You can find Brian on Twitter@isocialfanz, or on LinkedIn or Google+.
