POWER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Unlikely Connections, Part 1

Power Thought of the Week with Patricia Parham, Ph.D.

Be Open to Differences

The new year is a fabulous time to seek creative ways to expand and increase the effectiveness of your networks and networking. Be open to new opportunities to connect with people with whom you’ve previously felt no affinity. Look in unlikely industries and service niches for innovative ways to apply your products and services. Ask people in your network for contacts, industries and ways to market your wares more effectively. Seek ways to make meaningful connections with different kinds of people and businesses.
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POWER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Unlikely Connections, Part 1

DEALING WITH GIANTS: Networking with Large Companies

Dealing with Giants by Claudine Halpern

How smaller, entrepreneurial companies can position themselves to win business from the largest, best-established companies -- How to get inside, and stay inside.

In this new column we will look at how a small and mid-sized entrepreneurial business can do business with the largest and best-established firms (known in this column as the Big Boys, no offense to my female readers) to the entrepreneurs benefit. We will also take specific business problems from you, my readers, and answer your questions to help you accomplish your business goals.

Why do business with the Big Boys?

The Big Boy business can make or break a small or mid sized entrepreneurial business. The Big Boys have deep pockets. If done right, the Big Boys can support the growth of the business, can keep the business firmly monetized, can bring on more business and can be a great source of financing, partnerships, credibility and references for other potential customers, to name just a few advantages.

What are the disadvantages to doing business with the Big Boys?

The big boys have deep pockets, and don’t always know how to spend that money; they also may be working with a whole slew of other firms looking for the same product/service that you are selling without you knowing it. They may be looking to see what the marketplace has so they can knock it off. They can spend a ton of cash in analyzing and analyzing and analyzing, and in each of these iterations they will need something from you. The big boys take a really long time to make a decision, but when they do, they expect you to produce in an instant. They both change constantly and never change.

What are your goals?

It is critical to understand your business goals in your potential relationship with the Big Boys before you start. Are you looking to make money (of course) and create an ongoing relationship, or are you looking for something else altogether? You must manage the relationship or you will find yourself swinging on vines overlooking the abyss while your Big Boy business partner takes his helicopter elsewhere.

Why is this so important?

When an entrepreneur wants to do business with a large corporation, that entrepreneur will need to put substantial resources against that effort. While the entrepreneurial company is spending money on creating this relationship, it is spending money with the hope, but without the knowledge of return. Those resources need to be managed and targeted for success, the Big Boys have very deep pockets, they have no problem spending a whole load of dough in order to say no to you, you have a limited budget and need to have the best return on your investment.

Knowing the language and the Lingo

The language of business is like no other; it takes its form as a hodgepodge of multiple languages, punctuated by buzzwords that run the gamut from silly to insightful. When an entrepreneur is determined to capture the business of the largest and best-established companies there is a need for that entrepreneur to speak, and more importantly, understand, the nuances and underlying meanings of this language.

This language is not taught anywhere; you must learn it in the bosom of the motherland, within the large business. It also is not only words, like most communication it is a combination of words, intonation, innuendo, participants, body language of the participants during the conversations, and follow up actions.

Knowing who your dealing with:

There are so many layers upon layers of executives within the Big Boys that you never know if you’re talking to a potential decision maker or not. I have met people who work within the Big Boys who have a game they play when they get bored; they call in entrepreneurial firms and line up product demos. They play with them like a cat plays with a mouse before the feast. Many times these people do not have the responsibility, authority, or even interest in making a deal with you, but they will keep you on a leash for their amusement until they are busy with something else and then you will never hear from them again. Know the people that you’re dealing with.

This column will address all the subjects related to how smaller and mid-sized entrepreneurial companies can position themselves to win business from the largest, best-established companies -- How to get inside, and stay inside.

Please send your questions and business situations to chalpern@theychgroup.com.

The YCH Group, Inc.

The YCH Group, Inc. makes things work. We have a proven track record in delivering projects to a successful end state on time and within budget. We work with on site management to improve deliverables and control costs to primary and secondary firms in the financial sector and across a broad span of business sectors, domestically and internationally.

Claudine Y. Halpern, President

Claudine Halpern is a chameleon, she has worked in many different situations during her more than twenty five years in business; as a management consultant, Claudine advised many of the major brokerage, insurance, and financial houses, completing more than fifteen major corporate initiatives during the past ten years. As a crisis manager for major corporations, Claudine successfully brought in projects and products that other firms would not touch. As a specialist in business and management consultancy, Claudine consults to emerging businesses across the spectrum.

www.linkedin.com/in/claudinehalpern

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DEALING WITH GIANTS: Networking with Large Companies

CAREER MANAGEMENT: Managing Your Career in Turbulent Times

Career Management with Jason Alba

Wow, what a year! According to speculation we're headed into a rough and bumpy 2009. Not great news for those in a long job search, not to mention those in wounded industries (banks, mortgage, etc.).

Ouch.

With all that is happening around us I can safely predict two things:

1. We'll make it through this just fine.

2. We will learn from this, and events leading up to this point, and be more serious than ever about our personal career management.

Why will we make it through this just fine? Because we have pulled through bad times before, at a world, national or personal level. Think about life and morale during The Great Depression... I'm guessing it was worse than it is now. Now people are worried about cutting back on splurges, while then people where literally worried about how they were going to get the basics to survive day-by-day. I cannot fathom the depths of despair that so many experienced during The Great Depression.

When I got laid off I had a number of safety nets to rely on, including family, church and neighbors. My family was the recipient of giving and goodness from each of those safety nets, because when I got laid off the recession/depression was personal, and others had the means and the hearts to help sustain us.

I realize there are people who are homeless, or who are looking for that morsel of bread, but I do think there are so many programs in place between churches and the government that we aren't going to see mass starvation and poverty like we did almost a hundred years ago.

We have to make it through this. And we will.

And when we do, we have to be ready for the next one. We need to be prepared. Because hundreds of thousands of professionals with degrees and credentials got kicked out on the street, even though they were high performers, even though they made or saved their companies money, and even though they were so very close to retirement.

Why do we think our boss will protect us from layoffs when he or she has as much "job security" as we do??

I must come out more independent, and be more career management minded. We must do things "between job searches" so that when we are in a job search it is not as long and/or painful. Here are a few ideas of what we can do in 2009, whether we are in a job search or not:

1. Grow our network. It's not all about numbers, but having a network of 500 is more powerful than having a network of 5. Go to networking functions... get out of the house or office!

2. Nurture relationships. Get beyond superficial and develop, as Keith Ferrazzi would say, "intimate relationships." If you don't know what that is, go get Never Eat Alone from your local library.

3. Have $1,000 ready for lunches. Okay, maybe not easy to accumulate $1k while in a job search, but I was thinking when I was in transition again I'd love to have $1,000 earmarked just for lunches, breakfasts, coffees, etc. I want to get a contact in a place where they can't leave, so we can develop a deeper relationship... usually a meal helps with this :)

4. Keep my eyes open for target companies. Always consider where you might be working next, or what problems you might help solve next. It's better if you start working those target companies now, and continue to work them no matter what your employment status is.

These are career management tactics. Job search is another thing, but my point is I think we need to have much more of a long-term, career management focus than a short-term job search focus.

What do you think?

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Jason Alba developed JibberJobber.com to replace the job search spreadsheet. If you need help organizing a job search, or your professional contacts, check out JibberJobber.com. He also authored I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What??? and coauthored I'm on Facebook -- Now What???, both of which are designed to help professionals get more value out of these social networking tools. Learn more about Jason at http://twitter.com/jasonalba.

Purchase your copies of Jason's books by clicking the images below:

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Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newsletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com.
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CAREER MANAGEMENT: Managing Your Career in Turbulent Times