Title: THE CRITICAL PILLARS OF MAKING QUALITY CONTACTS AND CONNECTIONS
Author: Ferdinand M. Ibezim
Reviewer: Austin Agwaraonye
Publisher: Selling Skills Support Services
Pages: 263
Year of Publication: 2017
Business and career success are accelerated by creating opportunities through meeting people, making contacts, and building strong relationships. These relationships grow and deepen over time, leading to other contacts, relationships, and opportunities. How do you feel when you hear stories of men or women who met complete strangers, stepped up to them, introduced themselves, managed the contacts, developed the relationships and had their lives turned around for good? It can be that simple. However, the key word here is met. They met! There was a contact – a connection into a network of higher power.
This book treats the importance of business and social networking skills. The theme of the book is on how to meet people, manage and nurture healthy relationships; an essential skill for success in business, career, and life. As aptly captured by Ferdinand, “the quality of our life cannot be greater than the quality of our contacts and connections”. Our networks help us derive immense benefits that talent, competence, education, etc. alone do not guarantee.
In this book, Ferdinand defines networking in various ways. A remarkable definition is that networking is not just knowing people but getting known by people. Truly if everyone you know also knows you well enough you would get practically anything you want. But most of the people we know do not know us or do not us well enough for us to benefit from knowing them. This book teaches how to make people to also know you. He also defines networking as digging your well before you are thirsty. This simply means that we should build relationships before we need them. The book offers deep insights on how to nurture and sustain healthy relationships from the contacts you make and the people you meet.
The 263-page book is divided into two parts and eighteen chapters. This masterpiece is loaded with useful nuggets and practical tips that you can start implementing immediately to change your life, business and career. Part one introduces the art of networking. Using personal and vicarious real-life anecdotes, the author clarifies what is, and what is not networking, including the various myths and misconceptions that people have about making quality contacts and connections. It further illustrates the benefits of networking; how to plan for it, the best places to network, and the rules of effective networking. Part two, captures the competencies and traits for effective networking; how to initiate, join, sustain and end conversations, even with strangers. It also treats the tools for networking and how to use them; as well as how to join and benefit from associations and groups. It also explains how to network in various places like your neighbourhood, gyms, parties, conferences, trainings and other social gatherings; how to manage contact information and how to make requests such that people feel honored (rather than bugged) to honour your requests. The last chapter of the book is on how to use the different social media platforms to develop and manage quality contacts and connections.
Written in a flowing, conversational style (embellished with real life experiences, anecdotes and humour that bring home the points) this book is a handy companion, resource and guide to everyone who needs to develop the appropriate attitude and aptitude needed to leverage on other people to add value to the society and achieve personal aspirations and goals. Like Ferdinand posited in the book, “you need more than yourself to help yourself”
For further inquiries please contact:
Austin Agwaraonye: 0803308 8919 or | Max Amuchie: 08053069436 |