Networking and Students (from Poland)

There is a great article over here in Poland (I would tell you more about the site…but…well…I don’t speak Polish. Or read it. Thank goodness the article was in English.) about MBA students and the contacts they make while in school. It’s a good read by a teacher in an MBA program, so from an academia point of view this person knows what they’re talking about.

One point I would disagree with is when this teacher states:

I don’t want to encourage anybody to slack off in learning, because it’s both what and who you know that counts in the end.

I understand why someone might feel this way, especially someone coming from academia and the love of college and all that jazz. But let’s focus a little on how the teacher uses the term “end” in that sentence. If by “end” you’re referring to getting clients, I disagree 100%. You can convince someone to give you money without knowing anything, there are thousands upon thousands of con men (and con women, but it doesn’t sound as fun) that can attest to that. For a long term, sustainable business…you still don’t need to know anything, because you can always subcontract the work out.

A business owner needs to be able to get to know people and make them want to hand over the cash. Underneath all the rules about being polite and really caring about others, the deep, dark truth is still that you have to close sales to stay in business.

Closing sales has nothing to do with what you know and everything to do with who you know. Even if you don’t know a thing and you don’t know a soul, it’s still more important to put time into learning how to connect with people than it is to learn more about what you’re selling.

I’m overstating my case a little, but not as much as you might think.

Getting clients is easy. It’s keeping them happy and coming back for more that’s a challenge. I can’t speak to that because my customer service skills are more reminiscent of the movie Clerks than the retail chain Nordstrom.

Image Source: newscom