Business Networking: Become a Rainmaker by Building Fantastic Relationships That Stand the Test of Time by Corder Honoree

Author:Corder, Honoree
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Honorée Enterprises Publishing, LLC
Published: 2024-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

The How-to: you’ll put the most likely category in the left-most column. From left to right, go from most likely to least likely with the identified strategic partner professions. From top to bottom, you’ll put the most likely individuals in the top boxes, descending to the least likely.

CPAs are most likely to receive referral business from business attorneys, tax attorneys, and financial advisors, so these three professions will occupy the three left-most columns. The three professions they are least likely (but still likely!) to receive business from are insurance providers and real estate agents, so these two professions will occupy the boxes on the right-hand side of the Matrix.

The twelfth category is miscellaneous. This is where you’ll put in key and effective centers of influence (the people you know who know everyone) that don’t have their own categories. This category can include business and executive coaches, recruiters and headhunters, consultants, or any other ancillary professional that is well networked, connected, and might be helpful (and vice versa).

The order of these categories informs and directs your networking efforts. Some categories will provide many more referrals than others, some will provide fewer, and some won’t provide very many at all. But all of your identified categories hold at least some promise, and you want to cover all of your bases and become the best-networked person in town. Right? Right!

Note: Your 12x12 Matrix is a living document. My two pieces of advice for you are: (1) go with your gut, and (2) don’t over analyze. You will create, revise, and continue to revise the Matrix. There are no right or wrong answers. No matter what, your actions now likely far exceed anything you’ve been doing up to this point!

Step Two: Organize

Once you’ve identified your complementary professional categories, fill in the names of the people you already know.

Only put the connections you have that make sense, i.e., they have a solid network, are well connected, and fit into a category (or could be placed in the Other category). Most importantly, make sure you like them, and they like you (more on this in a later chapter).

Put them in order, from left to right, from the most likely to least likely to refer you prospective clients or business. For example, if you are more likely to receive introductions from business attorneys than CPAs, put the attorneys first, then the CPAs.

Your Assignment: You probably have more contacts than you think. Go through your phone, that stack of business cards you haven’t touched in a while, and your LinkedIn contacts. Refer to current and previous client lists. Think about who you know from Business Networking International (BNI), Rotary, church, Toastmasters, the Chamber of Commerce, and any other networking or interest group you’ve visited or belong to.

Step Three: Discover

You have some boxes filled in—congratulations! You probably have between thirty-five and eighty contacts that actually qualify to be on your 12x12 Matrix. I’ve seen everything from three to over three hundred. In both cases, my clients didn’t have the business they wanted, not even close.

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