The Evolution of Networking

Last week I attended a small networking dinner organized from a company located on the west coast.  There were six of us there, and the only person not from Cincinnati was the business owner from the west coast.  As quickly as our conversation began, it was immediately apparent how tightly knit the business ecosystem in Cincinnati actually is. The five of us living in Cincinnati had never met before, but quickly discovered we worked in the same companies, our wives worked together, we knew each other’s bosses, etc. Even for me being in Cincinnati for almost 20 years, I was entertained by the small degrees of separation between the five of us.  

This led to a conversation of networking and how the gap is so small today vs. 20 years ago.  Now everyone has heard in the past, “in business, it’s not what you know, but who you know”.  I am now convinced with leader’s having blogs, using social media like Linkedin, and other wide reaching communication tools, it has evolved to… “it is not who you know, but who knows you”.  You may think these are the same, but they are drastically different.  Let me provide a few examples. 

I was prospecting a new client and had a pretty strong tie to the #3 person in charge of the organization.  Although I was able to use my network to meet with this officer of the company, it was practically a cold-call, as we had never personally met and I spent most of the meeting talking about my career and track record of success in his industry to demonstrate to him that I was able to help him with his immediate challenge.  Ultimately he ended up working with another consultant who a member of his leadership team had worked with in a previous company.  Although I “knew” the officer of the company through an introduction of a colleague, he had no idea who I was or how much I could help him.

Conversely, I was working with one of my international companies and had just finished a project that generated tremendous results.  Without knowing of the connection, I had a meeting scheduled with another company in the same region.  I arrived for the meeting and began explaining how I could help their company with their special SaaS project. Literally in the first 5 minutes of my pitch, the CEO interrupted me and explained he had coffee with my client a week or so back and based on that discussion and recommendation, he had already decided I was going to be the one to help him with the project.  Of course, I followed my advice of Sales 101 – When You Hear “Yes”, Stop Talking. Ultimately it wasn’t the fact that I “knew” him, it was the fact that “he knew me” (or my abilities and reputation) through a discussion and strong recommendation he had with my client.   

So today, business is less and less about what you know or who you know, the differentiator is who knows you.