ALL BUSINESS IS PEOPLE BUSINESS

All business is people business. The people you attract on the road to wealth will determine your success as much as, or more than any other factor. At the same time, the mistakes you make in choosing these people will hinder you and hold you back as much or more than anything else. People are everything!

Networking Skills and Why Business is People Business

Networking skills are crucial to your business success. Join local business associations and attend meetings regularly. Introduce yourself to other members and ask what they do. Do not talk about your own products or services.

Instead, encourage other members to sell their products and services to you. People in business love to talk about their work. When you show a genuine interest, they will tell you in great detail what they do and how things are going. Listen intently when they speak.

Make No Effort to Sell

In this description of networking, you will notice that I advised against trying to sell your products or services to the people you meet. By the Law of Indirect Effort, the more you don’t try to sell your product or service to people you meet, the more likely it is that they will become interested in learning about what you make or sell. The less you say, the greater the impression you make. The more you encourage a person to talk about his or her product or service, the more likely it is that he or she will be interested in your product or service.

Finding the People You Need for Your Business

When you start your business, you will have to do everything yourself. But as soon as you begin selling and delivering your products and services, you will need help. How do you decide which people you need? How do you select them? Fortunately, these questions have been asked and answered successfully millions of times. One of the most important of all business principles is “think on paper.” Success begins with a pad of paper, a pen, and you.

Describe Every Function

Make a list of every step or function that is necessary for you to create, acquire, market, sell, deliver, get paid, and service your product. What are the steps, from beginning to end? Instead of writing a job description, write a “function description.” Each job is made up of one or more functions. For example, when someone phones your office in response to an advertisement, the functions may include answering the phone, identifying the problem or need of the customer, transferring the call to the proper person, making the sale or taking the information for a sales call, processing the order, shipping the product, collecting payment or billing for the product, accounting for the sale, arranging to replenish inventory, reporting the sale to the business owner, and so on.

Action Exercise

Identify at least one business group or organization that you can join. Attend meetings regularly. Increase your networking skills, make networking with other business people a regular part of your business life. Remember, all business is people business!