Preface

"When you put the gloves on, it's better to give than to receive."

-Sugar Ray Leonard

Great quote from an all-time great boxer! Better to give than receive. The same holds true when networking. It's about giving and giving more.

You may have noticed that there are boxing gloves on the cover of this book. This must be a boxing book! Of course, if you're in a bookstore or ordered this book online, you would know it's a book about networking. Sorry to disappoint you.

Look on the bright side. Maybe the ideas in this book are "knockout" ideas. Or the stiff jab you need to grow your business. Or the one-two punch to networking. (Was that title an option?)

There are countless boxing metaphors, expressions, and quotes that come to mind when you associate boxing with business. Well, the fight is certainly on when you decide to become a business owner or sales producer. If you've decided to become a financial advisor, you better be ready to lace up your gloves.

If this is you, you know what I'm talking about. Every day is a fight, baby!

Until you get going, get busy, and get good - as they say in the ring.

Yes, back to boxing for a moment.

Networking, Like Boxing, Is about the Connection

The more great connections you make in a boxing ring or when growing a business, practice, sales team, branch, agency, complex, region, or territory, the more successful you will be.

I have shared that message with literally thousands of financial advisors, brokers, agents, planners, sales managers, business owners, hedge fund managers, private equity bankers, real estate agents, pharmaceutical reps, software sales producers, and just about any type of sales producer you can imagine. And job searchers too. Audiences from all over the world.

If you fall into at least one of the categories I just mentioned, yes, this book is absolutely for you! That is, if making more and better connections to produce more business is important to you.

Most things that are important in life come down to the connections you make and the relationships you establish. The positive ones do anyway. That's what this book is about: being more focused, having more fun, being more confident, and ultimately generating more business.

As in boxing, it's all about the connections you make.

Jumping Rope, the Heavy Bag, and Roadwork

Still disappointed this book is not about boxing?

I am in fact a registered amateur boxer (not a professional). I do hit the heavy bag. And the speed bag. I jump rope, get my roadwork in (running), and occasionally get in the ring and spar for many more rounds than kids half my age. I work hard, train hard, hit hard, and give it my all every day to be the best I can be.

That's both in and out of the ring. Here's how it all started for me.

I have always admired anyone who could jump rope and look cool doing it - like a boxer.

Years ago, I remember staring at a guy jumping rope on the other side of my gym. Even from a distance he looked cool, and what's more is he made jumping rope look so easy. I would come and go to the gym every day and look over and there he was, jumping rope and looking cool. It took me just over two weeks of watching and admiring him to finally get enough nerve to walk over and ask if he could teach me. To jump rope that is. I figured the cool part would come later.

I approached him in the middle of his set and after introducing myself, I asked if he could show me "the ropes" so to speak. I didn't actually say that but now that I think of it, I'm glad I didn't.

I will refer to the cool jump rope boxer guy as Dan because that's his name. When I asked Dan if he could teach me to jump rope, he looked at me a bit baffled and said that I looked like I could jump rope. It was a nice compliment. I gave Dan a quick demo to convince him I didn't have the nifty footwork he did. It didn't take all that much convincing.

I found out that Dan was a boxer in college and spent a lot of time working on his running, footwork, and of course, the jump rope. Dan actually dared me to come back to him when I could complete twenty jumps in a row. He probably just wanted to get rid of me so he could put his music back in his ears and get back to work.

Anyway, I promised to bother him again when I could skip twenty consecutive times over the rope and in two weeks that day came.

That dare turned into a hundred jumps in a row (and more!), a friendship, a badass skill in a combat sport that's changed my view of the world, a brand, a training and consulting business, and the title of a pretty cool book with boxing gloves on it. Not to mention lots of speaking, training, coaching, consulting, and an online course that companies either subscribe to or host on their Learning Management Systems (LMSs). And more!

Without making that connection to Dan, I guess I'd be telling different stories. The point is that this is not just a boxing story but a networking story. If I never had the guts to introduce myself to Dan, none of this would have happened. No boxing. No story. No jump rope. No glory. No networking. No connection.

How many opportunities have you lost simply because you didn't start the conversation, ask the question, make the introduction, or request the help? Don't we leave opportunity on the table every single day?

Certainly, if you're a financial advisor, broker, agent, associate, planner, rep, producer, or really any type of salesperson, you probably see how important it is to make great connections. And to be intentional about making them. Especially if your paycheck, bonus, commission, vig, ticket, or compensation depends on it.

The best way to make those connections is by networking and putting a process in place so you're always connecting and ready for the next counterpunch. (See what I did there?)

My hope is that Knockout Networking will give you the one-two punch needed to get you to go to the right places, say the right things, and meet the right people. Networking is the single best way to add more contacts to your database, build relationships, grow your book of business, land the job of your dreams, solve most of life's problems, learn, and maybe even meet the love of your life.

Not bad, right?

Networking Is Your Knockout Punch!

The Wall Street Journal has stated that over 90 percent of all new business comes through networking. This shouldn't be a surprise. But what is a surprise to me is how many financial advisors (and other producers) don't take the time and make the investment to become better at networking. Think of how many more lives would be protected through life insurance, how many more working people could retire because of sound financial planning, and how many more seniors could rest easier knowing they have a good long-term care policy in place.

That's just in financial services. If you're a sales producer in another industry, think about the problems you could help people solve and the value you can add to their lives.

Imagine how many more clients you could help if you could simply connect with more of the right people and discuss how you can add more value to their lives, not to mention yours.

Networking is the key!

What is networking? Networking is simply a proactive approach (although in some cases it could be reactive) to meeting people to learn and potentially help them. That's it - learning and helping.

The networking process involves face-to-face interaction but these days "connecting" is often started by a connection on LinkedIn or some other social media platform. But those online connections have to result in offline conversations: a Zoom or Skype meeting, phone call, or face-to-face meeting (in the same room) for real connections to happen and for trust to be established.

If networking is so important, why do so many sales professionals, business owners, and job searchers avoid it or not spend the time to get better at it? Well, networking requires work. Heck, the word "work" is right in the word "network." Not everyone is willing to put in the work to develop their network.

Many sales producers, and especially financial advisors, simply don't know where to start:

What should I be saying? Who should I be meeting? Where should I be going? Why am I doing this? Where am I? How do I know I'm making progress?

Then there's the fear factor or what-if factor:

What if I meet someone I don't like? What if they don't like me? What if I run out of things to talk about? What if I need to start a conversation with a total stranger? What if I forget the name of the person I've been speaking with for twenty minutes? What if I forget my own name? What if I say something stupid? What if I don't know the answer? What if I don't know the question? What if I need to end the conversation and they won't stop talking to me? What if they try to sell me their product or service?

Have no fear. I wrote this book for you!

I understand that networking can seem daunting to both the new sales producer as well as the grizzled veteran. I get it. I was there once. Alone. Not knowing what to say and why I was even at an event. I was more focused on watching the time slowly go by...