Clever people and People people

Here’s an original Chris Barrow quotation:

There are some people who know a lot of things but don’t know many people and there are some people who know a lot of people but don’t know many things. The people who know a lot of things but not many people tend not to be as successful as the people who know a lot of people but not many things.

Now that, when I roll it out at a workshop, has the effect of inducing an instant headache and some very furrowed brows – but once they “get it”, they “get it”. In the business world, technical experts often suffer, whereas “notable networkers” thrive – and I’m in the business of turning experts (dentists) into networkers within their local business and professional communities. How to identify an expert as opposed to a networker? Take a look at their web site. If the objective of the home page is to prove beyond all doubt that the creator has a brain the size of a planet – they will be clever. If the web site is about the problems that their target niche suffer – and the solution that they offer – they will be networkers. The advantage of dealing with networkers in business is that their customer service is often much better. Of course, there is a caveat to all this. Sometimes people who know a lot of people know nothing about how to deliver the service they promise – so you have to check out that they can do what they say they can do. That’s where a number of excellent customer testimonials will come in very handy.