There’s been much more talk of the importance of the “social” in terms of business over the last few years. Social media has driven this but there is also been discussion of social capital and social entrepreneurship.
An example of a prominent New Zealand social entrepreneur is Sam Johnson from Christchurch. Sam became famous post-earthquake as the founder of the internationally acclaimed Student Volunteer Army and was named 2012 Young New Zealander of the Year.
A social entrepreneur, similar to a business entrepreneur, builds strong and sustainable organisations, which are either set up as not-for-profits or companies.
What’s social capital?
It’s something we are quite familiar with here at BNI. The term emphasises not just warm and cuddly feelings, but a wide variety of quite specific benefits that flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks.
Social capital creates value for the people who are connected and – at least sometimes – for bystanders as well.
You don’t have to purposely become a networker to reap the benefits of social capital — otherwise known as the value behind your social contacts. As long as you take as much care in raising and investing your social capital as you do your financial capital, you’ll find that the benefits that flow from these intangible investments will multiply your material returns many times over.
How can you deepen your relationships with contacts and improve your social capital? Here are four steps to get you moving in the right direction:
- Give your clients a personal call. Find out how things went with the project you were involved in. Ask if there’s anything else you can do to help. Important: don’t ask for a referral at this point.
- Call all the people who have referred business to you. Ask them how things are going. Try to learn more about their current activities so you can refer business to them.
- List 20 people to stay in touch with. Include anyone who has given you business in the last 12 months (from steps 1 and 2) as well as any other prospects you’ve connected with recently. Connect with them through social media.
- Follow up. Two weeks after you’ve connected with your contacts, call them and see what’s going on. If the contact is a former client, now might be the perfect time to ask for a referral. If it’s a prospect you’re calling, perhaps you can set up an appointment to have coffee and find out if their plans might include using your services.
At BNI you take the role of the CNO (Chief Networking Officer). The CNO manages the social capital of a business; connecting people and businesses within the company, with other companies, and with consumers. You build up relationships with 3rd party stakeholders that ultimately lead to more business.
Being in BNI puts you a step ahead of businesses that don’t have a CNO. Remember that relationships are currency. The key to improving your social capital isn’t the number of contacts you make. What’s important is making contacts that become lasting relationships.
