In a recent post, I said that if I were betting on which of two professionals would turn up more revenue over the long haul, I would put my money on the one with a large network over the one with a few loyal clients. My books describe the mathematical reasons for this. Here I would like to show how the power a large network plays out over time.

My colleagues and I have built our firm by analyzing what rainmakers do and then training others to do the same. As a fringe benefit from our research, when we learn about something interesting that rainmakers do, we get to try it out ourselves. As a result, I have built a large network and enjoy the benefits that derive from one.

Specifically, I have a steady lead flow even in these hard times.  During two weeks in December, I have had the good fortune to land three new clients and received a lead for another. The history of this last lead provides a look at why large networks can produce this kind of results—that is, how the mathematics of networking play out in the marketplace.

The history of this lead goes back more than twenty years to a time at least six years before I established my current firm. Back then, I ran an office of a management consulting firm and was asked to attend a meeting of the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF, then called ACME). There I met Ed Hendricks, who served on the organization’s staff. We became friends.

When I set up my own firm fifteen years ago, Ed referred me to a firm that became my second client. The work that derived from people who left that firm is a separate story. I also referred at least one of my clients to Ed, which joined AMCF. About a year later, Ed left AMCF and set up his own firm, too. With publicist, John Bliss of Bliss PR (I have kept Ed’s and John’s and my collleague Gary Pine’s real names. All others have been changed.), we set up a formal networking organization. Ed referred me to the head of a small consulting firm, whom I will call Dominic. I also referred Ed to several people who became his clients.

Dominic hired Harding & Company several times. That firm had two practices, one headed by Steve. (Steve moved on and has brought us into a firm he joined recently, which has become a major client last year.) Fourteen years ago, when Steve was working for Dominic, a bright young professional, Keith, was a member of his team.

When Domenic’s firm was sold to a major consultancy, Keith moved on to another firm, where he introduced us and we did a small project. Six years ago, he also introduced to Jasper. About that time, I introduced Keith to a client interested in his services; I don’t know if they ever did business together.

Jasper had a history of moving to a new firm every few years. At the time, Jasper worked for the U.S. arm of a European consulting firm. He introduced me to a former boss, the head of a prospering strategy firm, where we did substantial work for several years. When Jasper moved on, my colleague, Gary Pines, and I advised him and provided him introductions. Two years ago, when he established his own firm, we referred him to a client which became one of his first.

At about this time, Jasper introduced me to Lenny, the head of marketing at the European consultancy where he used to work. Lenny had a reputation for having instilled his organization with a sales culture. I was not sure he felt a need for our services. Before we had ever talked, he had interviewed several people we had coached who had described our services. He was clearly impressed and intrigued, though he did not hire us. I referred a couple of candidates to him for a position he had open.

Last week he spoke with one of his firm’s clients, who was looking for someone to train their professionals in sales. He referred them to us. I will find out if we get hired this week.

It is important to note that this description, as contorted as it is, is a simplification of what really occurred. Think of all the paths to business for me and for others that it introduces, which could be turned into stories of their own. And, of course, there are many unrelated paths that I pursued, including many that so far look like dead ends. Also, note that I am still in touch with almost everyone mentioned. Does it surprise you that leads turn up from all these relationships and paths, even in these tough times?

In comparison, the professional with a few strong relationships has precious little to work with, if he loses a client and has to rebuild. He has probably met as many people over the years as I have, but in the absence of contact, they rarely think of him. In the absence of the give and take of networking, they feel no urgency about helping him.

Professionals rely on anecdotes to make their abstract services more tangible to prospective clients.  Claims like:

• Our experience helps us see things that your people might miss.
• We will really fight for you.
• We do the tough jobs for you.
• We can access people you can’t.
• There is a better way to look at your problem.
• We are creative.
• We really listen well.

may sound boastful or argumentative or simply sound the same as the way all your competitors sound.  And they certainly aren’t memorable.

A well-told anecdote overcomes all of these problems.  As described by Peg Neuhauser in her book, Corporate Legends and Lore, well-told means it contains four elements: plot, character, action and outcome.  In an earlier post, I showed how changing the character can change the message of an anecdote.  Here I will discuss action.

By action, Neuhauser means just that, usually in the form of somebody doing something.  An action, unlike an abstraction such as a “business unit” or “increased market share,” can be visualized in the mind’s eye.  The little movie it creates makes the anecdote sticky, because a client will remember it well after she has forgotten the abstraction.

This is easily seen by these two descriptions of the same event, which could be alternative sentences in a longer anecdote:

• The RIF (reduction in force) affected 50 people.
• She met with the three supervisors individually and then with the other 47 employees in a group in the cafeteria to tell them that they had all been let go.

Or by these descriptions of a thing, a new headquarters:

• It increased their visibility and enhanced their reputation for innovation which is a critical element of their brand.
• For a week after the building opened traffic actually slowed down on the expressway, it’s so unusual.  When people read the newspaper or see a story about the company on TV, they always see a picture of the building, it has become so much a part of their identity.

Adding an action isn’t always easy, because professional services don’t always center on actions.  What are the actions associated with a contract or an audit?  When faced with this situation, try having the character in the anecdote (The CEO stood before the board and . . .) or the client’s customers (Customers stood in long lines for over . . .) do something.

Put an action in your anecdote and your clients will listen in rapt attention.

In a previous post, an exchange of comments among Andy Hoye, David Harkleroad and me brought to mind an issue that has troubled me over the years. As noted in many posts (see, for example, Mark Buckshon, Bob Burg or Tim Klabunde) on many blogs and as I have described in my books, networking is based on the belief that if you help people, the help will eventually be returned by some of them in the form of new business and referrals.

Though in each case you may give without expectation of return, it is consciously a numbers game; you count on some people giving back some of the time. You may give generously to many, but you also give sagaciously, looking for opportunities to give to buyers and influencers. You seek out stable, mutually beneficial relationships where you give back and forth over the years.

My question: At what point does this sort of mutual help cross the line and become unethical?

The term, reciprocity, doesn’t have negative connotations to most of us, but it certainly does in the professional purchasing world of corporate buyers. That should caution us, because ethics in buying behaviors is central to that profession. Earlier in my career I knew a facilities manager at a large corporation, whose handicapped son drove a specially designed van donated by a group of suppliers to the company on a major building project. Each had anteed up a part of the cost. Generous, yes, even heartwarming, but I cannot believe that accepting this gift didn’t have some impact on his judgment when making decisions about hiring professionals, thereafter.

We can, of course, draw a continuum between buying a cup of coffee and buying a beach house. And money isn’t always involved in the exchange. In recent posts I described how to help a contact’s child find a job. I like giving this kind of help—who doesn’t enjoy helping a young person get started in the world—and have never been given business after doing this, but I am aware of how grateful parents are for this help. Bluntly, I am asking, when does help become a bribe?

This is not just an issue with clients and prospective clients. In a previous post I wrote that ethical concerns about referral fees keep me from accepting them. But is a referral fee so different from a relationship based on back-and-forth referrals? I always refer people who I believe to be of high caliber and right for the client need, but I also refer those first who have been helpful to me.

Enough agonizing. What do you think?

In earlier posts (Dealing with Unreturned Phone Calls, A Lesson from Joe) I described how easy it is to misinterpret a lack of response from a prospective client. This is but one example of a broader tendency for rainmakers to see things differently from the rest of us.  Here are two more examples:

Being stood up for a meeting with a prospective client: