I’ve not been able to track down the origins of the quote, but it goes something like: Every person knows on average 250 people who would show up for their wedding or their funeral. I don’t know how accurate that is, but remembering weddings and funerals I’ve attended in the past, that seems about right.
The important thing is that you probably have that same number, give or take. Now imagine that you managed to talk each and every one of them into buying from you. You probe for their needs. You overcome their objections. You wrestle them to the ground and get them to sign on the dotted line. You suddenly have 250 clients. That would be pretty cool, right?
Now imagine something a little different.
Imagine that you have 250 ambassadors.
Each of them are interacting with their own group of 250, looking out for those who might need what you can provide. Doing the math, that’s potentially 62,500 people who might get funneled your way. That’s a lot of people. If each of your ambassadors knows only one such person (and they are more than likely going to know many more), then you are still going to have at least 250 clients. The difference is, you don’t have to sell to them. They want to buy.
How much better would that be?
Oh, did I mention that there’s a price?
It’s easy, really. You just have to treat your 250 ambassadors as valued friends, advisors, connections — as people. You must be interested in them. You must find ways to help them and provide value to them with no expectation of return. You must show compassion and have a genuine desire to see them succeed. In short you have to be a decent human being.
Heck, you were doing that already.
