I read a great book written by a longtime friend, Bob Burg, along with co-author John David Mann. The title is Go-givers Sell More. While the book is primarily designed for those in the sales industry, its core lesson is universal. To succeed in the business world, you must be someone who brings value to the lives of others before expecting anything in return.

This concept embodies a fundamental shift in the mentality of salespeople who market products and services, as well as our approach to the marketing of our personal services.

I am ALWAYS turned off when people try to pitch me on things without first trying to build a relationship with me or to learn if what they are marketing is something I desire.

In today’s world, we want to do business with people we like and trust, people who have first shown an interest in us and the things that are important to us.

So, how can we make this shift in thinking work to our advantage? The answer is simple: we must focus on building meaningful relationships and putting the interest of others before our own.

Your circle of influence grows by 250 people every time you build a new relationship.

According to Bob and John, each of us has a circle of influence of about 250 people. Therefore, each time we build a new relationship, we are expanding our sphere of influence by 250 people. Here’s an example to illustrate the power of this point.

A friend once called to tell me that his company was looking for a sales VP in Orlando and asked if I knew of anyone. As I considered potential candidates, there was one person who stood out in my mind. His name is Gregg Corella. Gregg is a perfect example of a “go-giver.” He is someone who has been intentional about building a relationship with me and offering me value.

Here are the five simple things Gregg has done to make himself stand out:

1. He was very friendly in all our communications and showed an interest in me. I hate to say it, but he showed more of an interest in me than I did in him.

2. He went out of his way to help a mutual friend get a job, which I found impressive in a world filled with people focused on selfishness.

3. He sent me a direct message through Facebook complimenting me on the Little Things Matter fan page soon after it was launched.

4. A few weeks later, he sent me a message to let me know that he had recommended the Little Things Matter fan page to all his friends. Putting his credibility on the line by recommending the fan page was a great compliment.

5. His consistent positive communication prompted me to learn more about him. I reviewed his profile, photos, and posts on both LinkedIn and Facebook and, unlike 95% of the people that provide their personal information on social media and business-networking sites, Gregg has built a positive online brand. Tune in tomorrow to learn more about online branding.

Primarily based on these five things, I put my credibility and reputation on the line, which I seldom do, and recommended him to my friend.

Gregg is the perfect example of why “go-givers“ are the winners. He has been intentional about building meaningful relationships with people and, by doing so, has expanded his sphere of influence to thousands of people. And by building a relationship with me, a new career opportunity opened up for him.

Let me challenge you to begin to think like a “go-giver“ and to be conscious about building meaningful relationships and bringing value to others before expecting anything in return.

“You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Zigler

Building Rapport, Career, Communication

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