Dig your well before you’re thirsty

If I had to name the single characteristic shared by all the truly successful people I’ve met over a lifetime, I’d say it is the ability to create and nurture a network of contacts.

Although I never met David Rockefeller, he certainly would have fit in this category. When he passed away in March 2017 at the age of 101, Bloomberg News revealed that he had an “electronic Rolodex” of 150,000 people. The Wall Street Journal recently reported it was 200,000. He was a master networker during his 24 years as the head of Chase Manhattan Bank and 60 years of being involved with the Council on Foreign Relations.

In my corporate speeches, I often ask the question: What is one of the most important words in the English language? I add that if all of us understood this word just a little bit better, we’d be way more successful than we already are. That word is “Rolodex,” which of course is now referred to as a contact management system or a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Call it what you will. It all boils down to how you connect with the people you know.

My father, Jack Mackay, who for 35 years headed the Associated Press in St. Paul, Minnesota, shared his secret with me when I was 18. He said, “Harvey, every single person you meet the rest of your life should go in your Rolodex file. Write a little bit about that person on the bottom or the back of the card. And now, here’s the key—find a creative way to keep in touch.”

That’s what I’ve been doing ever since. I now have nearly 20,000 names in my CRM system, a far cry from David Rockefeller’s 150,000-person electronic Rolodex, but still crucial to my career.

My Rolodex was instrumental in launching my publishing career. Let me explain. In 1988, there were roughly two million “wannabes,” people who wrote manuscripts. Approximately 200,000 different titles were published. Of those only a small percentage were business books. If you were a first-time, unknown author like me and you wrote a business book, you wanted to get it published. All the major publishers would print 10,000 hardcover books. That’s it. Tom Peters, In Search of Excellence, 10,000 copies; Ken Blanchard, The One-Minute Manager, 7,500 books.

This is why it was so tough to get started. There were 5,000 bookstores back in the 1980s and 1990s, which meant an average of only two books per store if they printed 10,000 copies.

I had written a book titled Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. I wanted the publisher to print a lot of books so they would promote it and not run out of books. I scheduled a summit meeting with William Morrow and Company—the CEO, president, and VP of National Sales. About 45 minutes into the meeting I asked for the order. I said, “I would like you to seriously consider printing 100,000 hardcover copies of Swim with the Sharks. We were on the 37th floor, and they basically told me to jump. The VP of National Sales closed his notebook and said, “Thank you very much, Mr. Mackay. Obviously, we’re not going to get together.” Then he basically screamed, “Who are you, coming in here asking for 100,000 copies? We only print 10,000 copies for any first-time unknown author.”

I’d brought in two humongous briefcases and took them out. Inside were two huge Rolodex files, 6,500 names at the time. I started to go through them: “Pillsbury, 18,000 employees. We do business with them. Maybe they’ll read the book and pass it along. General Mills, 23,000 employees; Cargill; 3M; here’s American Express.” I went to the second Rolodex file. “We do business in six countries, France, Germany, Spain … maybe it’ll be an international bestseller.”

Three weeks and three meetings later, they published 100,000 hardcover copies of Swim with the Sharks. And it became a New York Times #1 bestseller.

Did I know when I was 18 where my contacts were going to come from? Do any of you know where your contacts will come from 5, 10, or 15 years from now?

Our lives basically change in two ways—the people we meet and the books we read. Trust me; the people you meet every day are extremely important in building your network.

In my entire career I have never once heard a successful person say he or she regretted putting time and energy into keeping a CRM system, even if it was an old-fashioned Rolodex file.

How does your networking report card stack up?

For years I’ve had a plaque on the wall of my office that reads: “Pray for a good harvest … but keep on hoeing!” I looked at that so many times over the years that it’s permanently burned into my memory.

Some people still use the old physical Rolodex file, but most people today have all their contact information in their CRM system. From force of habit, I still refer to my CRM system as my Rolodex file.

If you want your CRM system to produce a fruitful harvest, you have to be persistent, and you have to keep on hoeing. Remember:

• It’s a chronicle of your life. As the world changes, one thing will remain constant—the relationships you develop over a lifetime.
• Guard it with your life. For me, my CRM system is still one of my most prized possessions.
• Consider it an investment. We all start out in life with the same amount of time each day. It’s what we do with it that counts.
• Remembering doesn’t work. The person who counts on his or her memory has a fool for a filing system. Studies have shown we forget 50 percent of what we hear in four hours.
• Make it work for you, not against you. With your CRM system, two things count most: It’s fun and it works.
• You have to give a piece of your mind to get peace of mind. You can utilize the insight and vision of your whole network to help you “see around corners.”
• Make connections the old-fashioned way. You don’t have to know everything. Seek out people who know the things you don’t.
• You can improve on human nature. With practice, using your CRM system becomes more than a discipline; it’s a way of life.

How good are your network-building skills? I developed the following self-test several years ago. See how you stack up. Answer these questions and rate yourself on a 1–5 scale, 1 being not true and 5 being very true:

1. I have a large network of people I can call upon when I need help, information, or a resource. (Score __)
2. When I meet someone new, I record and file information about that person within 24 hours, and I reach out to connect with him or her on social media. (Score __)
3. I add someone new to my CRM system at least every week. (Score __)
4. I follow up with new contacts right away—sending an email, making a phone call, forwarding a link, or writing a note. (Score __)
5. I keep track of special things that matter to my contacts like their family, hobbies, and achievements. (Score __)
6. I can easily find out when I was last in contact with someone. (Score __)
7. When I email or mail something out—a resume, sales letter, change of address—I can count on having correct name spellings, titles, and addresses for everyone in my network. (Score __)
8. I know about and acknowledge special dates like birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations. (Score __)
9. When I want to give a business gift, I can count on my CRM system to provide me with an excellent idea of what the person might appreciate. (Score __)
10. I make it easy for others to add me to their networks by providing my email and social media information, handing out my business card, notifying them of address changes, and informing them about my career progress. (Score __)
11. When friends ask me for the name of a good resource, I have no trouble providing one. (Score __)
12. When the moment comes, I can really “wow” a customer, prospect, or potential employer with special information or an idea that shows I care. (Score __)

Total the points above and score yourself:

• 0–24    You’re in rough shape. It’s time to make a change.
• 25–36  You’re doing some things right. Now let’s get to work.
• 37–44  You’re off to a great start. Build on what you’ve done so far.
• 45–55  You’ve got superstar potential. All you need is the polish.
• 56–60  You’re already there. Keep up the great effort!

Get to know the gatekeeper

Whether you’re looking to make a sale, land a job, or receive a charitable contribution, getting through the fence to the top dog is a lot easier if you know the gatekeeper.

Gatekeepers can include security personnel at the entrance, receptionists, special assistants, executive assistants, or whoever might screen you from reaching the decision-maker.

When you’re trying to gain access to a decision-maker, always be courteous to these people because they hold the key to your success. These individuals may be the allies you need to get the desired outcome from Mr./Ms. Big. Correct technique and good manners can transform interactions with corporate gatekeepers from frustrating to fruitful.

Gatekeepers are real people like you and me. Unfortunately, it’s all too common to get off to a poor start with gatekeepers because they often aren’t treated respectfully. Too many people concentrate on how to get past the gatekeeper to the decision-maker. The gatekeeper, however, has radar that goes up quickly, especially when salespeople are involved. Remember, you’re not entitled to see someone or be seen.

Gatekeepers are not inherently uncooperative. They screen calls and inquiries to limit unnecessary interruptions and distractions for the boss. Your first contact needs you to somehow assure the person that you deserve an appointment or voicemail or even an email address, if you haven’t found that on the company website.

Your message better be good or you’ll be treated like everyone else. You won’t get through. You have about 10 seconds to build some rapport and spark his or her interest. Take time to prepare your message that will set you apart. Do your homework. Find out about the company and the players involved. Look for any connection or commonality.

Don’t ever settle for voicemail because your phone calls will seldom be returned. The same is true for emails. Always talk with a human being.

Whether I’m selling envelopes or promoting a charitable cause, I never place a call to a prospect without first finding out the name of his or her assistant and how to correctly pronounce it. A mispronounced name can kill the conversation before it starts. It’s easy enough to discover. You simply ask the receptionist. Then when my call goes through, the stage is set for a nice one-on-one, because I’m immediately able to address the gatekeeper by name.

I’ve had even better results by not even trying to talk directly with Mr./Ms. head honcho. I tell the assistant, “I would like to work directly with you regarding” an appointment, charitable pledge, study, interview, or whatever it happens to be.

When I’m talking with the assistant, I’m talking with the person I “want” to talk to. If the Big Kahuna has enough faith in that person to appoint him or her to that position, that’s good enough for me. By taking this approach, all I’m asking is that the assistant use his or her judgment to decide whether I’m making a reasonable request. If I am, I’m assuming that the person is going to give me the best effort to see to it that what I’m asking for gets done.

Over the years, I have had a lot better success working with people in this fashion than trying to run over or around them. Having gatekeepers in your network and having a relationship with them matters. I look at it like a checking account. You can’t withdraw more than you put in. You have to give in order to receive.

It’s much easier to talk with people the second time you meet them. You don’t have that much more to talk about than you did in your previous encounter, yet somehow everything is just more at ease. When gatekeepers get to know you, they will trust you and want to help you. Friends do anything for friends. It’s human nature.

Treat the gatekeepers with dignity. Respect their power. And by all means, acknowledge their help. Not with lavish gifts. That’s gauche. Just little niceties. A creative handwritten note. A humorous card or e-card. A plant or flowers. A book. A separate visit where you stop by to see them, and not the boss.

Little things don’t mean a lot. They mean everything.

Make friendships work at work

I’ve always felt that the real title to every book I’ve written is Prepare to Win. But I have a fondness for catchier titles, so for my networking book, I went with Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty. Bottom line: Networking is all about preparing to win.

In my networking book, I wrote a chapter about people who should be in your network: doctors, travel agents, bankers, insurance agents, auto mechanics, ticket brokers, recruiters, community and religious leaders, real estate brokers, and on and on.

These are all great and musts to have—especially for me—but one of the areas I later realized that I neglected to cover is connections to cultivate inside the workplace, which are crucial to succeeding in anyone’s career. After all, there’s a reason we call them connections. You have to connect.

That’s exactly what I did when I started my career many moons ago at Quality Park Envelope Company. My gut instinct told me that if I could figure out who I could befriend and impress with my business qualities, I would be able to move up in the organization. Sure enough, within a couple months, I moved from the plant to the sales department.

All it took was for me to do the best I could do, make sure the assistant plant manager knew it, and latch on to a guardian angel—someone who was equally eager to escape the plant and who took me with him when he wrangled his way into sales.

I was beginning to learn the finer points of internal networking. Networking is not a numbers game. The idea is not to see how many people you can meet; the idea is to compile a list of people you can count on.

This was my first exposure to what I later learned was called the sausage theory. When one link moves, the other links follow. I’ve seen this play out many times over the years. When people get a different job in an organization or jump to a key job at another company, they often bring a lot of their coworkers with them.

Here are some of the coworkers to get to know who can help you move up:

• A best friend (or two or three). Find a few people you can count on for support and assistance. You’ll be more productive knowing you’ve got them to talk to about work. Don’t make it a one-sided relationship, of course—be available to listen and help out your friends as necessary.
• A Human Resources rep. Get to know at least one person in your HR department so you have someone to go to with questions and concerns. You’ll be more comfortable discussing issues if you don’t walk in only when you have a problem.
• A mentor. Seek out a senior worker in your organization to go to for career advice. Let the person know you respect his or her reputation and would value any tips he or she can share. With luck, you’ll gain a sponsor who can help you move upward in your organization. I owe much of my success to my mentors.
• A rival or challenger. You’re often in competition for top assignments. Instead of treating it like a battle, get to know the people with the same goals and ambitions you have. You may find common ground that will help you both succeed. Competition makes you better.
• Gatekeepers. The best way to open doors is to know gatekeepers. Get to know the people who have access to executives and senior managers, and make sure they know you. This can be very important for getting through to people who can approve your ideas and help you get ahead.

Bottom line, your career can be linked with the careers of others. As your friends and mentors move up, so can you, especially if you have been a key contributor to their promotion or success.

It doesn’t matter how far down the food chain you are when you start out; networking can pay off big time. It isn’t where you start. It’s where you finish that counts.

Just remember, there are no dead-end jobs. If you build a network, you will have a bridge to wherever you want to go.