The LinkedIn Edge

25Nurture Your Network

Nurturing your network is just as important as building it. But far too often, sales professionals put all of their attention on building (planting seeds) and very little on nurturing and cultivating. As Brynne likes to say, they “connect and forget.”

Once you've established connections, the real work begins. The entire point of building your network is to make it productive so that you generate more pipeline opportunities and ultimately sell more.

This doesn't happen in a vacuum. You cannot connect and forget. You must invest in daily activities to make the magic happen. These slow prospecting activities include:

• Staying visible and top of mind
• Building your personal brand as a valued content and insight contributor
• Strengthening and anchoring relationships through interaction and conversation
• Being a connector who brings people together for mutual benefit
• Leveraging the Law of Reciprocity by giving value.

Tending to your network consistently keeps you visible and your network viable. This is exactly why you must schedule regular time blocks each day for investing in your network.

Much of our discussion going forward in this book will be focused on executing these strategies effectively to harvest tangible sales outcomes from your network building and slow prospecting activity.

The Law of Reciprocity

Robert Cialdini, the author of Influence, explains, “One of the most potent of the weapons of influence around us is the rule for reciprocation. The ...