4 ways this extraordinary leader built his network

Ken Gosnell July 20, 2018

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Business leaders often struggle with where to find new prospects and customers. The Christian executive can follow the example of the greatest influencer of all time. Jesus is a leader of influence. He used many models to find followers, disciples and believers. Let's look at four prospecting places that Jesus focused on when building his network.  

1. Referrals

Referrals can be a handy place to find new prospects and build new relationships. This is one of the most overlooked sales components of every organization. Utilizing existing customers who are pleased with our work and customer service will provide on-ramps to their existing networks.  

Jesus used referrals when selecting his first disciples. Andrew went and told Peter about Jesus and in John 1:43-51 Philip goes and tells Nathanael about Jesus.  

“The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’  ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip” (John 1:43-46). 

Sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer wrote, “All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. All things being not quite so equal, people stillwant to do business with their friends. So connecting is all about friendliness and the ability to engage and give value first” (Little Black Book of Connections). 

Gitomer suggests that to find success we don’t need more techniques or strategies, we need more friends. The Wharton School of Business reports that the lifetime value of a new referral customer is 16 percent higher. Further, Texas Tech reports that 83 percent of consumers are willing to refer after a positive experience, yet only 29 percent actually do.

2. Events or gatherings

Another useful place to find prospects is events where many people gather. It is helpful to find places where people gather together and then to go to where the people are gathering. For business leaders, it is often wise for us to throw events for our communities and bring people together. These events can happen in the form of open houses, networking events or customer appreciation gatherings.  

Jesus used this tool when he called Matthew (Levi). Immediately after being summoned, Matthew threw a party at his house and invited all of his non-Christian friends to come and meet Jesus.  

“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them” (Luke 5:27-29). 

3. Groups

Jesus often would go to the places that he knew that people would be. He went to the lake to find Peter. Jesus went to the town to find Matthew. He also found Zacchaeus in a tree. He moved from the crowd to the individual.  

“Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house’” (Luke 19:1-15). 

4. The field

Jesus reminded his disciples that the field is ready for harvest. He encouraged his disciples to look in the “fields” and find as many people as possible that they could share their good news.  

“‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest’” (John 4:34-35). 

Today, the prospecting place for the field might be social media. With the invention of social media, the fields of the world are at the fingertips of the influencers. Business and business leaders can enhance their influence and their prospecting field by engaging people via social media. They can also enhance their reach and their prospecting field using tools that will help them engage with others.  

According to SiriusDecisions, the average salesperson only makes two attempts to reach a prospect each week. Imagine how long it would take to build a company if only two prospecting calls were made every week. A key performance indicator that is helpful to measure for all salespeople is the number of new prospects added to the sales funnel. 

Remember, prospects precede profits and profits precede progress.  

Photo source: istock 

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Ken Gosnell is CEO and Servant Leader of CXP (CEO Experience). CXP is a premier coaching and executive roundtable business that serves Christian CEOs in Washington DC, Maryland and Florida. Ken serves leaders by helping them and their teams to have great experiences that both transform the leader and their organizations to go further faster. Learn More »

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