[E142] Effective Networking with Adam Connors – Part 1 of 4

Jason: Alright. Welcome to the sales experience podcast. My name is Jason Cutter. On today’s episode I have Adam Connors. His LinkedIn profile literally says it all. It’s so funny when I see it kind of in the, in the URL of his LinkedIn, which is great people know great people. His company is network wise and it’s literally a reflection of his outlook on the world that everything is based on relationships. Adam, welcome to the sales experience podcast.

Adam: Wow. You know, I gotta tell you, well first and foremost, thank you. Thank you for having me. And Jason, do you know that you are only the second person that is noticed that there, let me maybe there at least in the that they’ve shared that with me. So kudos to you and I’m impressed cause I’ve had that since I think 2006 and here we are closing in on 2020 and you know, only two people. And I’ve got, I think I have, I don’t know, 10,000 connections and however many and you know, contacted. So wow. So the devil’s in the details, my friend. Yeah,

Jason: I think, you know, I think we all do. This is like in a different light. I know for myself because I’ve done a lot of different businesses and careers in my mind, I also know that in a different life on a different path, I probably would have been a very good detective. I think it’s what makes me really good at sales and leadership. But I would have been a very good detective because I literally, you know, sometimes really see those details. But kudos to you for having that and having that URL. I want to say that I’m jealous, but I think it’s awesome.

Adam: Thanks. It’s really interesting. I’m, I’m impressed because most sales people, quote-unquote sales people are not really in the details like this. So do you think that’s something that’s separated you and becoming the good salesperson, the great salesperson that you are? Or do you just think that just happens to be just kind of part of your DNA?

Jason: I think it’s part of my DNA and being able to observe and see things and then process it and or retain it. And then in light of sales and relationships and all of that is being able to then use that information or understand somebody enough and then figure out like, you know, relationship wise, how can I provide value, what are they about? And then, you know, in a pure sales role, like how can I help them both the details that I see and I hear and you know, I think that’s, you know, it’s one of those things that I think make great people, great salespeople, really great at it, is picking up on all the little things said and unsaid. I completely agree with you and I love how we’re just totally starting off the podcast with you asking me questions like, we didn’t even set that up in advance. This is so fun. You know, anyone who knows me knows that I literally, you know, this is the best outcome we could have where, you know, you’re drilling me questions, I’m asking you questions.

Adam: Well, I just want to learn, you know, I really, I thoroughly, you know, it’s selfish on my end. I really, I enjoy your podcast. I think you bring in just so many more falls. Um, are these just nuggets of wisdom that are absolutely great that you know, obviously relate to sales but they show up in so many other areas of life too. So, uh, you know, so I’m sorry for dominating the beginning of this.

Jason: I appreciate it. Definitely do not apologize for flattering me and saying that about me. I appreciate it for sure. So now you’re a master networker, like your business network wise, you even have the ability, which I hadn’t ever heard about until we started talking and connected and of course networks. Somebody networked us together and said that, you know, we would have fun talking but you actually help people or allow people to be certified in networking and relationship building and that which is obviously your strength. This being a sales podcast where I kind of wanted to start the conversation is around whatever ways are things that you think that you see either what makes people successful or where they struggle with, you know, sales and networking, which obviously can translate into sales and their confidence in general with that. You know, what do you see that, especially salespeople who are trying to leverage networking? Let’s talk about that.

Adam: Yeah, actually I will. Yeah, we just opened up Pandora’s box here. Let me step back a minute. And you know, it was from a traditional sales perspective, I’m not a good salesman. I’m really, I’m just not, I’m bad with lines. I’m bad with even just the product, whatever it is that I might be selling. I mean, I’m just not good. I’m not that articulate. But I’ve been very fortunate to be very successful in building companies, hiring teams, and I guess ultimately selling the services or whatever products that has, I’ve been behind and evaluating the success. It all really came down and boiled down to one thing. And that was the relationship that I had. And you know, a lot of people would say, Oh, you’ve just got this break network, this network. And uh, and that’s real. I mean, so, so at the end of the day, that was that, that is in or was or whatever you want to call that. That has really been the cornerstone of everything that I’ve done. So I don’t know if that really answered your question or if you want me to kind of build from there.

Jason: No. And that let’s build from there and then I’ll try to remember to come back to something you said, but build from there. And specifically, you know how again, sales people, the confidence to network, you know, what they’re missing or where you know, they struggle at what you’ve seen works.

Adam: So here, to answer your question really at the end of the day, the biggest, it’s a misconception I should say or people who really just have such a false sense of what networking truly is. And you know, networking, a lot of times people either just associate it with getting a job or making the sale or getting in. That’s the problem. You know, networking in its purest form is about giving. It’s about adding value, it’s about helping, it’s about connecting with people. So that was one of the reasons why I titled it my firm network wise. And you know, how we define networking. It’s taking a proactive approach to relationship development with the ultimate goal, you know, of connecting and benefiting the other person. And that’s what, that’s what we defined. So kind of when you can go to our website, the first thing that’s going to show up, it’s just going to say don’t just network, network wise.

Jason: So when it comes back to the sales, it’s, that’s, you know, we look at the, you know, we like to see the trees, you know, dirt, you know that saying the see the forest through the trees plays a long game. You know, it’s not just about executing right away and what you can get, you know, try to establish a relationship with somebody to see if whatever it is that maybe you’re selling is right for them. And it might not necessarily be, you know, use some of the things that you even talked about. Again, the importance of the details and listening, you know, listening is huge and I know you’re a big listener. Just from even more before we hit record, you’ve kind of touched on some things we talked about that showed me that you listened to our previous conversation and those are the things that really make somebody good at building relationships and those are the things that are going to really lead to, you know, the sales or the close. So I hope I answered that question and didn’t go off on too much of a tangent.

Adam: Nope, just the right amount of tangent. And I think when I hear you talk about it and I think of my experience in networking, in sales and business relationships, I think one of the key things that I see who are people who are really successful like our network and you know, you get in connected with me is when you’re coming from or someone comes from a place of abundance, which is, I’m not worried, like you said, it’s not networking to get, it’s networking to give. So how can I give you and give enough stuff and not give to get right. Not even like, I’m going to give it to you so that you then give me something back. It’s more of I’m going to give you, and if I just give to enough other people, then it will work out and my network will expand. Or my base and these conversations of relationships, which, you know, it’s the quote that I love the most is that you give enough, you know, help enough other people get what they want and you’ll get what you want. Which, you know, that’s how I view networking. And it sounds like that’s what you’re talking about, right?

Adam: Yeah. I mean, I completely agree. And you know, again, there’s, you know, the, the scarcity versus abundance mindset shows up again in so many other facets of life too. I feel bad for the people that come from a place of scarcity. That’s a lot. It’s a lot to carry. You know, I, maybe I’m just too lazy to have to carry all that worry. I got enough stuff to, enough stuff to think about. You know, there’s enough pie out there for everybody to eat, you know, and I want to see other people succeed. You know, I want to see you do well. I hope this podcast crushes it. You know, I, and then if you’re fortunate enough to do well, you remember the other people in life. I love that Jack Lemmon, Hollywood quote that uh, you know if you’re fortunate enough to make it to the penthouse, don’t forget to send the elevator back down.

Adam: Love that. Who you help each other out. Just think about the conversation that you and I, when we originally, you know, two people that came into a conversation with, you know, both of our intent, it was immediate to me from the second we connected that we were both looking to help each other as much as we humanly possible. Whether it was sharing certain techniques, sharing the resources with, you know, our respective podcasting. If there are doors that we can open to help each other, you know, that’s, you know, like you said, we feel that could have been our podcast. You know, we sat and we ended up speaking for barley is supposed to be 10 minutes and we spoke for almost an hour. Just trying to benefit the other person. You know, that was a great kid. You know, that was my call of the week. You know, I do a reflective journal every and that was your hour phone call was my favorite.

Jason: That’s awesome. Yeah. And it’s conversations like that where sometimes I just wish I had recorded or we’d set up that way because of all the, you know, just the conversations in all of our life and the value you bring in. I, and I appreciate that, you know, that feedback and then also your perspective on it where it is about, you know, bringing other people along and playing the long game. I think that’s really important. And you know, obviously, there’s various types of people listening to my podcast, you know, it’s focused on salespeople, sales leaders, coaches, managers, business owners who are dealing with a sales team or working with their sales team. And so it’s, you know, a lot of different people within the org chart or within life in general. And you know, it’s still important to play that long game. If you’re a sales professional, you’ve got to play that long game and not worry about forcing everything or needing results from everything. Now you’ve got to work hard, but you know, you’ve got to look at it long term relationships with all of your, you know, prospects even

Adam: just think about. So let’s just again, to dial back to our original conversation, just think about have you had that same type of conversation that you know, that openness of radical candor and the positive intent that I would say defined our conversation. So think about it. If you had that same conversation with at least one person in day minimum, but really think about it, if it was two, three, four, five people a day, how much exponentially more business would you do? How much happier would you feel? How much more of the needle would you be able to move if that was the conversation? And there’s no reason for it not to be none.

Jason: All right. That’s it for part one of this four part conversation that Adam and I have. And as you can probably tell already that we are having a fun time, especially when we recorded this, talking about sales, talking about networking relationships and all kinds of random topics. So make sure to come back tomorrow and the next couple of days to catch out the followup parts of our conversation. Make sure you subscribe. If you haven’t already, can find on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Play. Also go to cutterconsultinggroup.com where you can find the podcast, the transcript of this conversation, all of Adam’s links so that you can find him, his website, his business. Also his podcast called conversations with Connors, which is great. So make sure to check out all of that. And as always, keep in mind that everything in life is sales and people remember the experience you gave them.