Relationship Economics: Transform Your Most Valuable Business Contacts Into Personal and Professional Success

258 Pages·2008·1.72 MB·English

by  David Nour

FM_1 07/28/2008 1
relationship
economics
Transform Your Most
Valuable Business
Contacts into Personal
and Professional Success
David Nour
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FM_1 07/28/2008 4
FM_1 07/28/2008 1
relationship
economics
Transform Your Most
Valuable Business
Contacts into Personal
and Professional Success
David Nour
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FM_1 07/28/2008 2
Copyright ß 2008 by David Nour. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
Relationship Economics, Relationship Currency, Reputation Capital, and Professional Net
Worth are trademarks of BeOne Now, Inc.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Nour, David, 1968-
Relationship economics: transform your most valuable business contacts into personal and
professional success/David Nour.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-28960-0 (cloth)
1. Social networks—Economic aspects. 2. Social capital (Sociology)—Economic aspects.
3. Business networks. I. Title.
HM741.N68 2008
650.1 3—dc22
2008012193
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
0
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Contents
Acknowledgments v
Foreword The Strategic Value of Business Relationships
—Alan Weiss vii
Preface ix
21 Why Most ‘‘Networking’’ Doesn’t Work! 1
22 The Evolution of Quantifiable Relationships 37
23 Strategic Relationship Planning 65
24 Understanding the Science of Social Network
Analysis (SNA) 91
25 Relationship-Centric Goals for Business Development 109
26 Pivotal Contacts for Leadership Development 127
27 Relationship Bank for Strategy Execution 151
28 Relationship Currency for Adaptive Innovation 171
29 Transforming Us and Them into We 191
10 The LinkedIn Effect 213
About the Author 239
Index 241
iii
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Acknowledgments
s we embark on a new chapter in the evolution of BeOne Now,
A Inc., I am indebted to the many clients of the past and present,
who have allowed me to identify and hone a passion for relation-
ships and the craft of helping their teams realize the enormous
power and potential of the same. Their trust continues to fuel my
aspirations yet.
Likewise, I owe a great deal to our past and present dedicated team
of professionals who I am proud to call colleagues and friends. In partic-
ular, my business partner, Jennifer Whitt, PMP, who continues to provide
love, support, and ‘‘centered’’ fine tuning. If we are all products of the
advice we take, I would remiss not to mention my past leaders such as
Bill Neal, Lee Nicholson, Ken Marcks, Bruce Kasanoff, and Christian
Gheorghe; over the past three decades they, along with countless others,
have provided invaluable investments and insights into my personal and
professional development.
My thanks go to Alan Weiss, a mentor and one of the best
minds in the relationship business; Charlie Paparelli, Dan Brown,
Dale Jones, and Paul Young for the purity of their faith in refilling
my cup; Veronica Tompkins for her branding brilliance and infec-
tious kindness; Scotty Fletcher for her late nights of editing; my
agent Bill Gladstone for his representation; and to Matt Holt, execu-
tive editor at John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and his team, for supporting
this endeavor.
My deepest gratitude to my parent, Manouchehr and Nayareh, in
Iran, who so unselfishly gave up their son to live the American dream;
to Uncle Ken, Aunt Jan, Uncle Taghi, Aunt Badry, and Brother Brian
for opening their lives and encouraging the passion to dream with the
v
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vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
discipline to execute; to my sister Hanieh—I miss you every day and
see your zest for life and kind soul in Grayson’s eyes; I know you’re
looking down on our family with love and pride.
Finally, I dedicate this book to Wendy, Grayson, and Justus.
Without your unconditional love and support, I would have never fin-
ished this project.
FM_1 07/28/2008 7
Foreword
The Strategic Value
of Business Relationships
’ve long observed that consulting is a relationship business. But then,
Iso are most businesses. Relationships vary in their degree, scope, ten-
ure, and value. Too often, we tend to spend time with people who can’t
say ‘‘yes,’’ but can say ‘‘no.’’ So what do they eventually say? ‘‘No!’’
Yet the true nature of strategic business relationships is win/win.
This is not a zero-sum game, nor a competition, nor a hydraulic sys-
tem. It is about reciprocity in relationship building, while also making
sure that you achieve your own best interests.
Organizations move forward by building on strength, not by cor-
recting weakness. Strategic relationship management is an underappre-
ciated, underutilized strength that most firms can begin building on
immediately with no capital investment whatsoever.
Relationships have value. If you don’t believe that, think about the
worth of a referral from a business colleague who sent business your
way with no cost of acquisition whatsoever. What if that business re-
news with you for five years, and that relationship provides four more
new, analogous business relationships through referrals?
If you think that’s far-fetched, talk to any veteran, successful busi-
ness owner and you’ll soon be disabused of the myth. I can trace over
90 percent of all my current business in a seven-figure consulting practice to
four early relationships. Most of us who are enjoying great success can
cite similar dynamics. I’ve been in business for 25 years. I haven’t made
a cold call in 10 years or more.
There is a huge and appropriate emphasis on branding today. But
branding is simply a form of creating high-value relationships through
vii
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viii FOREWORD
the consistent representation of uniform quality. I’ve long advised con-
sultants and other professional service providers that logic makes
people think, but emotion makes them act. Brands form emotional con-
nections. Relationships are the most essential conductors of emotion.
We buy, hire, employ, heed, support, and are loyal to those we
trust, those who take interest in us, and those who appeal to our own
self-interest (which they apparently share). So the question becomes
this: Are we identifying, nurturing, and retaining those relationships
which are most important for our business? Not all customers are created
equal. We must differentiate among those relationships which are the
most vital for the growth of our enterprise.
David Nour, with whom I’ve worked collegially for years, raises
this pursuit to an art form. He recognizes the value of differing poten-
tial relationships, but also delves into how to identify, nurture, and cap-
italize on them.
Where else do you find that kind of potential source of life within
your own organization? This book is your divining rod.
—ALANWEISS, Ph.D.,
Author, Million Dollar Consulting