The power of connection, why you need to invest in yourself and get a network
In his book "Tipping Point", Malcolm Gladwell, tells the story of the 1773 Boston Tea Party
It was this that was the tipping point for anger from the American colonists against their British rulers
There were lots of anti-British groups, but nothing to bring them together
But it was Paul Revere who would often ride out and meet with these groups
On the 18th April 1775, a stable boy overheard a plan from the British that there were going to wipe out descent
So who did the stable boy go for help? Paul Revere. He was the one with the network
It was Paul Revere who rode out to the different groups and told them to be ready
History books also talk about William Dawes, William was also told about the British, but he didn't have the network so wasn't able to mobilise the people that Paul Revere was
Malcolm calls Paul Revere a connector, whereas William Dawes was not
Malcolm also goes onto explain the power of having a network, being a connector
Why should you be in a network?
1. First and foremost, humans like to work in networks, committees, communities, unions, you name it we found out that when we were walking the serengeti that when we worked together, we survived
2. We've seen in the latest data on social media, that people under 30 now use social media to search than they do Google
The way search works on LinkedIn, is it's based on people close to you
If you want to be found by buyers on Linkedin, they need to be in your network. Which means you need to be connected to them
3. There is a certain amount of "connection snobbery" on LinkedIn, people are more likely to connect to you if you have (many) common connections
I connected to a total stranger in a target account the other day and they came back and said, "wow we know 150 people in common"
4. Leading on from 3., if you want to connect with senior people, they are going to check how many people in common you have, this is validation as to how "trust worthy you are"
5. By having a network, you are more likely to have serendipity
The wikipedia definition of this is "is an unplanned fortunate discovery"
One of our clients has just put a $0.5 Billion (that's billion not million) deal in their pipeline
Totally understand that this deal was through serendipity
But like a lottery, you have to "be in it to win it"
If they hadn't built their network as we taught them, they would have not won the lottery.
#socialselling #sales #salesleadership #marketing #leadership
Growth Operating Partner | Maximising ROI for high growth PE and VC invested entities | Sales Transformation Specialist
2yJust been doing this today again Timothy (Tim) Hughes 提姆·休斯 !!! Anybody who posts a poll ❌ Self congratulatory post (self or family) ❌ Anybody announcing a promotion ❌ Bland corporate messaging ❌