IF THE SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD NEEDS TO NETWORK, WHAT ABOUT YOU?

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I have always loved to read biographies & autobiographies.  In fact, the first real book I remember reading in elementary school was a biography of Amelia Earhart.  Why I chose that book, I will never know.

Since then, I have read as many biographies as I can get my hands on.  I guess I just enjoy learning about people—particularly famous people. 

I’m currently reading Albert Einstein, His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson.  Let me be quick to admit, I don’t understand any of the science in the book.  Please don’t ask me questions about the special & general theories of relativity, post-Newton expansion, or the deflection of light by gravity.

It’s pretty clear Einstein is one of the smartest people who ever lived & the word “Einstein” is synonymous with genius.

You would think that someone who published more than 300 scientific and over 150 non-scientific works, & won the Nobel Prize for Physics, would not need to worry about his business & personal relationships.

It’s very clear that if Einstein had not had help from his friends & associates, he never would have had the opportunity to be Einstein.

He had difficulty getting into top schools.  Friends & acquaintances came to the rescue.  After he graduated, it took him eight years to land a job in the Patent Office in Switzerland…a job he never would have gotten without a friend.  His goal had always been to work for a major university, & that wouldn’t have happened without a recommendation.

My goodness!  If Einstein couldn’t have been Einstein without the support of his friends & associates, what chance do we have? 

This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy saying once again, it’s not what you know, but whoo you know.

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE?

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We checked into the condominium in Destin.  I looked around & realized I couldn’t find the phone.  I yelled to my wife & she said, “There’s no need for a phone, everyone has a cell.”  Oh my goodness, she was right.  No one was probably using the land line anyway.

For some reason, this really made an impression on me.  I don’t know why I should have been so surprised.  I just read an article that 25% of American households don’t have land lines & that number is growing rapidly.

Things used to be so much simpler.  If you wanted to communicate with a friend or business acquaintance you either called them or sent them a postcard or a letter. 

Now the options seem to be unlimited.  Some people prefer to communicate by land line, others cell.  Some prefer Facebook, others Twitter.  Some by e-mail others prefer to text. 

And if you have teenagers, you know how they communicate.  The Pew Research Center recently found half of American teenagers send fifty or more text messages a day & one third send more than a hundred a day—that’s over 3,000 text messages a month.  And now teens have video chat…I’m not sure I even know what that is.

According to a New York Times article, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported American children & teenagers spend an average of 7 ½ hours a day using some sort of electronic device…smart phones, MP3 players or computers.

I have friends who walk around with their Blackberries & will respond almost instantly.  Others never respond to my e-mails at all.

To maximize business & personal relationships, not only do you have to know people’s likes & dislikes, but it’s now imperative to know how they want to communicate.

This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy, saying it’s not what you know, but Whoo you know.

THE BEST SINGLE IDEA FOR GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

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One of the best sales books I’ve ever read is the Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer.   In his chapter on networking, Jeffrey said the number one place to network is “Chamber of Commerce business events after hours.”  And the number two place is, “A high level Chamber of Commerce Event. ”  And as it turns out, that is exactly how it has worked for me.

Almost every client both at AmSher, our collections agency, or WeMentor, our social media management business, has originated through our Chamber of Commerce, which by the way is now called the Birmingham Business Alliance.

Our largest collection client is T-Mobile.  My brother, Martin, & I presented a collection seminar through our Chamber a number of years ago.  There was a regional cellular company, Powertel in attendance.  One thing led to another and they became a client.  A few short years later, they were bought out by VoiceStream, who kept us on, & then T-Mobile bought VoiceStream & suddenly we were a national agency.

Now listen to this…it’s an amazing coincidence.  As I was preparing the script for this podcast, I received a call from a fellow who heard my presentation to our Chamber of Commerce breakfast a couple of weeks ago & wants me to speak to his rather large Rotary Club.  And my partner, Phyllis Neill, and I have two appointments with clients tomorrow that are the result of that same breakfast talk.

Last week I spoke about a young business lady who invited me for coffee to help brainstorm ideas to grow her business.  My first suggestion was to find something she is passionate about & become a volunteer.  My passion is Birmingham and our Chamber gives me the opportunity to follow my passion.  It also provides me the opportunity to prove to others my competence & makes me a candidate to do business with them.

Join your local Chamber or other another organization where you can make a difference.  When you do something to help others, it makes you feel good, but it is also good for business.  This is David Sher your WeMentor guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

HOW ABOUT A 24 YEAR OLD SALES SUPERSTAR?

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I completed my speech on social media when a young woman came up, handed me her business card & introduced herself.  She said she really enjoyed my speech & hoped we could discuss further.    I thanked her for her comments & proceeded to talk to others who had come to shake my hand.

A few days later, I received an invitation to join her network on LinkedIn & then an invitation to be her friend on Facebook.  I was not surprised, considering her young age, that she was active on Facebook, but I was startled that we had 19 friends in common.  I started to pay attention & saw that her name is Adrian Thurstin & she’s a Wealth Manager at Morgan Keegan.

A couple of weeks later, I received the following e-mail, “I checked out your website, Whoo You Know, and I have signed up for your emails.  You give a lot of great advice.”  I would love to sit down with you over coffee to learn more about how you have been utilizing social media & how you built your business.”

I responded that my schedule was pretty crammed, which it was, & told her to contact me in a couple of months…assuming I would not hear from her again.

Well, you guessed it, she contacted me exactly two months to the day & we scheduled coffee.

She handled our meeting perfectly.  She was at O’Henry’s waiting when I arrived.  She kept the conversation focused on me and knew a lot about me.  Never during the conversation did I feel she was overly trying to sell, but she worked hard to build her credibility.

So what had I learned about Adrian?  She understands how to use social media.  She has good follow up skills, is punctual, does her homework, & wasn’t shy about meeting strangers.

What’s amazing is she is just twenty-four years old & graduated from college last year.  If she’s not going to be a sales superstar, no one is.  This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy saying it’s not what you know, but whoo you know.