The Connectors, by Maribeth Kuzmeski: A Book Review
The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life
I was encouraged to read “The Connectors” as this fits hand in hand with our philosophy: It is all about the relationship. It also fits well into and has many parallels with trust and The Trusted Advisor programmes.
Maribeth’s reinforces her book and beliefs with loads of timely tips, exercises and stories to back it all up.
Deeper inside, The Connectors presents a five-step methodology that helps you build the kind of high-quality relationships that lead to lifelong clients, repeat customers, more business and endless referrals. The five step methodology is a follows:
Develop a “What’s in it for them” mentality
Listen
Important questions to ask that attract connections
Get the sale to close itself- soft sell tactics
Create a memorable experience
Inside, you’ll learn how to:
Stop networking and start truly connecting
Create loads of referrals and an army of happy customers
Become a “connector,” even if you’ve never been a “people person”
Find your social IQ—and improve it
Put relationship-building principles to work daily
Focus on others and reap the rewards yourself
Ask the right questions—and sell without selling
Differentiate yourself through the impact you have on others
Use speaking skills to develop relationships
In addition, The Connectors includes a wealth of valuable relationship-building technology tools, including tips on using software, the Internet and social media; smart strategies for keeping in touch; speaking tactics that really work; and self-coaching exercises that will change the way you develop relationships.
I contacted Maribeth and asked her why she wrote The Connectors. Here is her response:
“I wrote this book because I have the great fortune in my business to see some incredibly successful professionals use and cultivate relationships in their careers. In fact, in most cases, their ability to connect with others was the key determinent to success. I didn’t want to prove the business relationships were important, I knew that, I wanted to find out how they do it. I interviewed hundreds of CEO’s, entreprenuers and professionals for the book to find out the how to’s so we can all learn how to have even better and more powerful business relationships.”
Connectors is a very timely contribution to today’s tough time in business and relationships. I highly suggest it, whether you are old or new to the wonderful world of building important relationships through “connecting.”
To purchase, contact Amazon.com.
Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore
