Summary: The 29% Solution

Review and Analysis of Misner and Donovan's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9782511016510
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Digital Marketing
• Index: Business

The must-read summary of Ivan Misner and Michelle Donovan's book: `The 29% Solution: 52 Weekly Networking Success Strategies`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Ivan Misner and Michelle Donovan's book `The 29% Solution` shows how only about 29% of businesses know how to network effectively. In their book, the authors explain that by networking well, you can serve your existing clients better and gain new customers more rapidly. This summary provides 52 different networking strategies that you can apply each week of the year to master the art of networking and generate new revenue streams for your business.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read `The 29% Solution` and follow this 52 week plan to master your networking skills and reap the rewards.

Summary of The 29% Solution (Ivan Misner and Michelle Donovan)

1. Create your future

Tailor the 52 weekly networking strategies to fit the “real you” rather than the idealized version of yourself that you may prefer to think about. Be clear about what you need to work on to enhance your success with business networking.

Week 1: Set networking goals

Write down what you hope to achieve from your networking activities over the coming year. This will probably include:

• How much new business you plan on generating.
• How many referrals you will generate each month.
• What networking events you plan on attending each month.
• What you want to do differently to meet your goals.

Make sure you write down your networking goals so they are clear and unambiguous.

Week 2: Block out time to networks

Now you have goals in mind, you need to decide how much time you will devote to networking each week. As a rough rule-of-thumb, you should spend at least eight hours a week networking, and if your job is sales oriented, you probably should be spending about half your time (twenty hours a week) actively generating referrals. Schedule the time you will devote to networking each week in advance, or it will never happen. Spend this week planning how to block this time out.

Week 3: Profile your preferred client

Every business has preferred clients – people you love doing business with. Take the time this week to develop a written profile of who your ideal customers are. Write down:

• Where these clients are located and other demographics.
• What industry or profession they tend to be in.
• What it is makes these clients stand out.

Week 4: Recruit a word-of-mouth marketing team

Now you’ve clarified what your ideal clients look like, you next need to put together your own personalized marketing team to get through to these kind of people. Be selective in doing this and put together a strong team who will be able to propel your networking activities forward with vigor and enthusiasm. Ideally, you want word-of-mouth marketing team members:

• Who interact with your preferred clients on a regular basis.
• Who know you well and trust you.
• Who are highly respected and therefore influential.
• Who have firsthand experience with your offerings.

In putting together your word-of-mouth marketing team, try and get a good mix of the different types of networking personalities. Try and include:

• Evangelists – people who are passionate about your offering.
• Business owners – who can serve as role models.
• Apostles – people who are highly skilled in some competency.
• Influencers – those whose opinions are widely respected.

“Great companies know how to keep looking for the right people. Set your sights very high. The payoff to you will be far greater than you can imagine right now. Always remember: It’s an honor for someone to be on your word-of-mouth marketing team.”

– Ivan Misner and Michelle Donovan

Week 5: Give before you get

A cornerstone principle of effective business networking is you always give to others first. Not only will this build the relationship you have with your word-of-mouth marketing team but it will create a solid win-win outcome for everyone you involve. The more active you become in generating referrals for the people in your network, the more they will come to view you as the gatekeeper to some great resources.

• Buy some card carriers and get into the habit of carrying the business cards of the other people in your network wherever you go. Look for opportunities to hand these out in all the different settings you find yourself in.
• Send a simple letter to all your current clients with a list of the people in your network. Recommend them as being credible, ethical and professional. Offer to put your own clients in touch with all your team members.

Week 6: Build your networking database

After a little while, it becomes difficult to keep track in your mind who helped you grow your business, what they did and what their own needs are. Don’t try and do that. Instead, set up a database where you can track this information and use it in the future.

Use whatever database or customer relationship management software or other systems you are familiar with to create your own networking database and start recording what’s happening. Include details like:

• Who your satisfied customers are.
• What professionals interact with your customers regularly.
• Who gave you referrals and how they turned out.
• Who has helped you network and what they did.

Week 7: Master the top ten traits of networking

Spend this week thinking about the top ten traits of master networkers and what you can do to get better at each:

1. Successful networkers follow-up on referrals quickly and give feedback to th...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of The 29% Solution (Ivan Misner and Michelle Donovan)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright