YOU Magazine - May 2009 - You Never Know Who They Know By Dr. Ivan Misner
Follow Me On:            
Subscribe to YOU Magazine and other timely market alerts from Derek Egeberg - NMLS#180899.

YOU Magazine
Derek Egeberg - NMLS#180899     Derek Egeberg - NMLS#180899
Branch Manager, Loan Officer
Academy Mortgage (NMLS 3113)
Phone: (928) 247-9089
License: BK 0904081
derek.egeberg@academymortgage.com
www.academymortgageyuma.com
Academy Mortgage (NMLS 3113)
May 2009



April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008


    
You Never Know Who They Know
By Dr. Ivan Misner


You Never Know Who They Know  - By Dr. Ivan Misner

What does this mean? Well, simply put, it means that we don't walk around wearing signs with the names of everyone we know on them. It would probably shock you to learn about some of the influential people your best friend knows but hasn't told you about. You can't assume that your friend, acquaintance, or referral partner doesn't have powerful contacts that can help you, or your business, in important ways.

Never underestimate the depth of the pool that your fellow networkers are swimming in. There's a well-known story among referral networkers about a project management consultant who did business with large manufacturers and was asking for referrals. He was talking with a woman who owned a small gift-basket business, and she expressed interest in helping him. The consultant loftily informed her that he didn't see any possible way she could help him.

"Well, tell me what you do," she said.

"I go to manufacturers and help them with their processes. I'm sure you've never heard of any of the people I need to meet." He turned and walked away.

The gift-basket woman smiled and said nothing. She had a secret. Among her clients were several large manufacturing companies. She knew personally many executives at higher levels in these companies. Moreover, her father-in-law owned the largest manufacturing company in town. She was the best referral source the consultant could ever have, and he had rudely turned his back and walked away without realizing how much money he had left on the table. She smiled, but she wasn't going to be saying good things about him.

The value that you bring to a referral network or to a strategic alliance is directly related to the number of relationships you have and the quality of those relationships. In a typical referral-networking group of 20 to 40 people, the number of referrals that could be created, among all the possible contacts within one or two degrees of separation, is almost incalculable. And it doesn't take a corporate executive to connect you with another corporate executive, or a rich person to introduce you to another rich, influential person. That's not the way the world works anymore–and quite honestly, I'm not sure it ever was.

A friend of mine tells of a high-end property developer who was invited to a networking group's golf tournament as a guest to see what referral networking was all about. He came, but only because he loved golf. As a big-money developer, he "didn't need to network." He came to the awards dinner afterwards only because his foursome won.

At the dinner, he happened to be seated next to a financial advisor who had grown wealthy through referral networking and become a property investor. Through conversation, the guest mentioned to the financial advisor that he was having trouble getting a bank loan on a big property deal. Hearing this, the financial advisor told him that he might be interested in investing. Within a few days, the two were negotiating a six-figure deal.

The moral of that story? Always pursue the networking opportunity of an event–you never know whom you're going to sit next to!

An associate of mine tells another great story about a financial advisor who received an enormous amount of business referred to him by a gardener on Cape Cod. Now, how can a gardener be a primary referral source for a financial advisor? Well, not only don't you know who they know, you also don't know how well they know who they know.

The gardener was a very upscale gardener, who worked at a number of very big houses owned by some extremely rich people. He told the investment advisor that he would bring him some referrals. And the investment advisor thought: This person can't possibly help me. He's a digger in the dirt. He's a peon. What leverage, what credibility could this laborer have with his rich bosses?

Well, the gardener worked all summer long at these big houses. And who lived in these houses in the summer? The wives, of course. Who made the decisions about the gardens? That's right, the wives. So all summer long, the gardener was developing good professional relationships with the wives.

At the end of the summer, the gardener approached one of the wives and said, "Mrs. Gottbucks [not her real name, I hope], can I run something by you? You're doing well and I imagine you guys have a financial advisor–you know, an expert to help you with your investments. Can I ask you for some advice? See, I've managed to save up a bit of money, and there's this guy in my referral group–who has a really unique way of packaging investments and getting a bigger return–and he says that by using article 32.3(e) in the tax code, I can save a lot on my taxes. He says he's saved dozens of clients thousands of dollars this way. Can you tell me if that sounds right? I suppose your financial advisor's saving you a lot of money that way, right?"

And the wife said, "Gee, I don't know. . . . I'll have to check on that. By the way, what did you say your advisor's name is?"

Whether you are talking about a gift basket lady, financial advisor or gardener you never know who they know.

Called the "Father of Modern Networking" by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world's largest business networking organization. His latest book The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com.




LO# 0915245 BK# 0904081 Corp NMLS# 3113 Corp CA# 4170013 CA-DOC180899 Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act.

You are receiving a complimentary subscription to YOU Magazine as a result of your ongoing business relationship with Derek Egeberg - NMLS#180899. While beneficial to a wide audience, this information is also commercial in nature and it may contain advertising materials.

INVITE A FRIEND to receive YOU Magazine. Please feel free to invite your friends and colleagues to subscribe.

SUBSCRIBE to YOU Magazine. If you received this message from a friend, you can subscribe online.

UNSUBSCRIBE: If you would like to stop receiving emails from Derek Egeberg - NMLS#180899, you can easily unsubscribe.

Academy Mortgage (NMLS 3113)
1375 W. 16th St., Suite B
Yuma, AZ 85364

Powered by Platinum Marketing

© Copyright 2024. Vantage Production, LLC.