Networking the Go-Giver Way for Business Professionals

Today, I decided to post a guest blog from my friend and mentor Bob Burg. (www.burg.com)  Bob will be in Countryside at the William Tell Holiday in, September 22, 2011, giving a half-day seminar on How to Build a Network of Endless Referrals the Go-Giver Way.  Business Professionals from the Chicagoland area are invited to participate.  You can save $10 off the $77 ticket price by using the discount code: Bounce.  Register at:  http://www.ezregister.com/events/3063

Shifting one’s focus from getting to giving — constantly and consistently adding value to people’s lives — is not only a nice way to live one’s life, but a very profitable way, as well. The degree to which you add value to the lives of others is the degree to which you yourself will prosper. Why? Because all things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust. And being a sincere and genuine giver of value (whether through the value of your product or service, advice, resources, referrals or anything else) is the most effective way of eliciting those feelings toward you in others.

“Fine and well,” one might think, “in a vibrant economy where everything comes easily and plentifully. But what about when conditions are not all rosy? In tough economic times, doesn’t that idealistic equation tend to break down? Don’t we need to take more drastic steps to keep our heads above water?”

Not so fast. In tough economic times, it’s easy to slip into panic mode. But just because the economy seems to be hitting turbulent times around us doesn’t mean we are the mercy of uncontrollable forces. As Pindar, the mentor character in our book, The Go-Giver, says to his struggling student Joe, “You’d be amazed at just how much you have to do with what happens to you.”

Ever since the advent of market economies, economic conditions rise and fall, but that doesn’t mean your own personal economic condition has to rise and fall with them. In fact, in times when the general economy is going through a downturn, those with the right attitude and right plan can not only hold their own economically but actually get much farther ahead.

At the moment, key economic indicators are down big-time across the board (housing, consumer spending, business-to-business spending, corporate profits, to name just a few). That’s bad enough. What compounds the situation is the fact that many have bought into the media’s declaration of economic doom. This is the stuff of which self-fulfilling prophecies are made.

So, since “what is, is” (sometimes even if it isn’t!), let’s take a look at what can we do to get past it and live in bounty and abundance, even if others choose not to. Who knows — with enough of us doing so, perhaps we can reverse the momentum of public opinion, at least within the sphere of those we each have the opportunity to influence.

Here is The Go-Giver’s 3-Step Plan for Giving Your Way Out of a Tough Economic Climate.

1. Decide That It’s an Excellent Economic Climate.

We’re not suggesting you be self-delusional. On the contrary, we are suggesting that you be realistic. The flux of human economies is to an extraordinary extent a state of mind. The condition of your personal market is largely up to you. This means that while you rationally know that other people are struggling through tough economic times, you can simply choose not to participate.

Even during “down times,” personal fortunes are made. Why? Because while everyone around them is acting like Chicken Little and slowing their activity down, thus putting a moratorium on providing value to the marketplace, go-givers continue steadfastly to operate according to their normal precepts. They keep their eyes on the prize, so to speak, knowing they will be rewarded.

What distinguishes a Go-Giver, though, is the nature of that “prize” — because it is measured not by what you get, but by what you give. And that, unlike get-oriented goals, is something you can always determine, regardless of economic climate.

1. Continue Adding Value to Everyone You Can.

If you want to thrive in a “down” market, you simply focus on doing exactly what a go-giver does in an “up” market or any market: on adding value to peoples’ lives. This is the central distinction of the go-giver approach; in our book, it is the first of Pindar’s “five laws of stratospheric success,” the Law of Value:

Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

The pragmatic beauty of this law is that it puts the principal determinant of your success in your own hands, rather than leaving it in the hands of your circumstances. Who decides how much value you contribute to the lives of those around you? You do. Adopting this law as a daily strategic compass allows you to take the reins of your own economic climate.

The go-giver focuses on adding value to others’ lives in any economic climate. The biggest difference in economic “down” times is that you’ll need to do so even more emphatically. In other words, while everyone else is acting skittish and increasingly concerned about get-oriented goals, you do the opposite. (To borrow from Rudyard Kipling, You want to “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.”)

In such times, prospects can be more hesitant about making decisions where money is involved. A typical reaction is to lower prices – but here you want to exercise care. Rather than lower prices, you may more effectively look for ways to further increase value, thus making it easier than ever for potential clients to go with a “yes” decision. Add so much value that their choice is obvious. The more you can remove your prospect’s fear of making a decision, the better the chances are that decision will be made.

The number of ways you might add value are limitless; for example:

1.  
   • Refer business to them (what better way to add value to another’s life/business?).
   • Send them information of interest.
   • Connect your prospects with one another and suggest ways they can benefit one another.
   • Gift them a book or booklet that will help them in their business.

For your customers, or anyone with whom you already have business relationships, look for ways to further add value to the experience of doing business with you. For example, if you provide a service, how can you make that receiving service an unforgettably great customer service experience?

1. Remove Yourself from the Outcome.

While it’s good to care about making the sale, it’s even better to care … but not that much. In other words, while you prefer a certain outcome, you’re not emotionally attached to it. People typically resist doing business with those who need their business too much-and in a “down” market, this tends to become the norm. Separate yourself from the “desperatos” and communicate the fact that business is fine. In other words, adopt within yourself a sense of economic boom times, and let that sense show.

We call this your business posture. By posture we don’t mean being false or phony in any way, or that you should act in some way you do not actually feel. We’re talking about “posture” here just as in your literal posture: just like your mother used to say, “Stand up straight!” It means recognizing and communicating the fact that regardless of the market conditions around you, no one person or market force can make or break your business.

Imbue your posture with the convictions that go with the value you provide, and you’ll find your perspective will become contagious. There are a lot of prospects out there who will be only too happy to do business with you. They might even “catch” your posture.

by Bob Burg and John David Mann