Art of Networking
Only You Can Make the Difference!
How to build lasting and successful business relationships.
By Lou Cassara

The key to your life and business is relationships.

But at a time when busyness prevails and relationships are difficult to develop and maintain, there are three things you should never forget in the client building process:

1. Be clear that you make the difference in every situation. Know why people work with you. Ask those with whom you have the best relationships why they work with you; then develop your Personal Value Statement™.
2. Be confident that how you relate to another person is your real product. Engage one person a day in a CORE™ conversation, and connect to what they care about.
3. Be capable of honoring your agreements. One of the greatest gifts you can give to others is the example of your life working. Daily, make a promise to yourself and keep it. And always be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else.

Attract: You Are the Difference
All relationships reflect your relationship with yourself. Who will be attracted to you if you show up confused or lacking confidence? Only other people similarly confused and diffident.

People who are confident possess what I call the authentic mindset. They are clear about who they are, confident of what they will and will not do, and capable of aligning their intentions with their actions.

To communicate this, I developed what I call a Personal Value Statement™.

When people ask what I do, I say: "People work with me because of my passion, dedication, and commitment to serve as a resource for their financial security. This means I will show you a process that will help you protect and preserve your lifestyle, assets, and loved ones. The real benefit is the comfort, confidence, and contentment you will experience knowing that you have honored your agreements to the people that matter most to you."

Connect: Relating to Others Is Your Real Product
We advisors have a one-size-fits-all communication process. We are each hard-wired with one of four unique personalities and tend to say the same thing to everyone. Consequently, we have a one-in-four shot at connecting with a prospect.

I developed a conversational format to address this, which I call a CORE™ conversation. Since your knowledge and professionalism are measured by the questions you ask—not the answers you give—I suggest starting a conversation with a powerful question. I call it my Trust Question™. Some examples include "What is it that you care about?" and "What can I help you focus on and accomplish over the next 12 months that would make you feel content with your progress?"

Based on their answer, I then ask the following questions:

• What are the biggest challenges you may face?
• What are the greatest opportunities you could take advantage of?
• Who are the key people who need to be a part of this process?
• What has and hasn't worked in your previous experiences?

Through this dialogue, I can connect with all personality types. I am also able to understand the emotional blueprint of my prospect and become clear of the dominant emotional reason why they would do business with me or anyone else.

Commit: To Get a Commitment, One Must Make a Commitment
Consider changing your mindset from "closing a transaction" to a mindset of commitment—so that you can help the client make decisions. You thereby align with the tremendous power of the Law of Intention.

An intention is the direction of your life, the purpose that propels you. A goal is something that would make you feel happy if you accomplished it. A task is something that makes you feel relieved when it is done.

Nobody likes to do tasks. If you center your communication on task-based issues, it's difficult to get people to honor the commitment. The goldmine is when you are able to convert people's tasks to powerful intentions. An intention is something for which you strive that has value, such as being a successful entrepreneur, a great provider to your family, or a great parent and spouse. In my profession, I help my clients see that committing to goals makes them persons of intentions.

Call to Action
Let me leave you with these thoughts:

• If you want something you have never had, you will have to do something you have never done.
• Your greatness lies in the unknown and at the end of your comfort zone.
• Resisting something is the first step to making a commitment.

Stop asking yourself what someone else needs and start asking yourself what makes you come alive, and stay committed to that. That is what the world needs, and that is what the sales industry needs—more people who have come alive.

Learn more at www.cassaraclinic.com