Getting Yourself an "IN" (Ideal NetWork), Part III: Attaching the "Back Door" to Your IN

In our first two installments of Getting Yourself and "IN" (Ideal Network), we discussed the types of questions we should ask ourselves while planning our "IN" (Part I) as well as how to open the "Front Door" to your "IN" (Part II).  If you have not received the previous installments and would like a copy, please call (215) 945-3411 or email Adam@AdamJKovitz.com.  By completely answering the questions from our previous installments, we establish a solid foundation on which to build as well as a winning front NetWork that provides a steady flow of referrals.

But here's one of the biggest differences between good NetWorkers and awesome NetWorkers...awesome NetWorkers realize that just having continual referrals coming in is great until one gets overloaded.  You might as well be trying to fill your paper cup with water from a fire hose!  That extra water needs some place to go.  This is the same with referrals...hence the "BackDoor" or what I call the "Back NetWork" to handle the overflow.

One of the worst things a company can do is stop asking for referrals because they can't handle the business!  This often leads to a drastic hiring of employees at a time when they can't be properly trained because the rest of the company is in "reactive mode", responding to the terrential downpour of business.  But while the company struggles to build a bigger tank, they have sent a message out to the public that they can't handle anymore business.  See where this is going?  That's right...towards a huge implosion!!!  By the time the paper cup has been replaced with the fifty-five gallon drum, the fire hose has been shut off.

So what does this mean to you?  It means making sure your organization can handle any situation, especially when the flood gates open.

So let's take a closer look at your "organization"...most people tend to look at their organization as the employees of their particular company.  Quite often, a back NetWork can indeed consist of one's own employees.  If this is the case for you, you may want to review your strategic/plan to see if there are such provisions for sharp increases in business input.  Is there a plan for growth?  Would such growth impact you in other areas (i.e. ability to manage people, service customers, etc.)?  How much growth is needed before you have to resort to either outsourcing or giving up business?

So while employees can make up part of a back NetWork, putting too much reliance upon them can lead to stress fractures due to accelerated growth, increased overhead and overall frustration. Therefore, it pays to make use of hired help.  This does not always mean hiring outsourced help but partnering with other companies in related or synergistic fields to help you "pick up the slack".  In other words, build another NetWork!

After all movie companies have been doing this for ages...bringing the right people together for a one-time partnership and then disbanding once the project is over.  Experienced NetWorkers often build their own virtual company to make this happen.

Like I suggest to my clients, it helps to build an organizational chart to map out the outflow of business.  This should include internal employees as well as external partners.  In the case of external partners, consideration should be made to which professions should be represented and how many representatives from each profession are needed.  Further consideration should take into account how referrals are expected to be handled as well as which external partners can compensate for internal employees when the need arises and which internal employees can fulfill the functions currently slotted to external partners.

With each new resource, be it internal or external, a new relationship must be developed.  In the case where specific slots are required but not yet filled, it is also important to know where such resources can be found.  Remember that reliability is the key...for those external partners to whom you refer business, they represent you and your business in the minds of those clients/customers that have been referred.

Again, it is important to keep in mind that it can be challenging to develop a solid business relationship with just one person, let alone more than one, so it pays to develop a SMART goal* to help discover the right number while implementing the right action steps to get you there.

With the right plans and the right goals and effective IN can be built such as to provide you with quality business relationships that can supply you with referrals as well as properly handle referrals from you.

* If you don't know what a SMART goal is, contact us, your own personal or business coach, consultant, trainer or look it up on the internet - this is one of those things that EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW for the sake of their own career!
 

Kovitz Enterprises, LLC
Connecting, Educating and Inspiring Business
18 Rockwood Road
Levittown, PA 19056
(215) 945-3411