By Yiannis Gavrielides, Co-founder and CEO, Covve
Building strong ties in the market is unquestionably one of the most important ingredients for a trader’s career success. As denoted in a recent research paper on the importance of strong ties in trading: “Investment in strong ties often, though not always, produces stable configurations that manage to improve upon the imperfections of market institutions”.
In layman’s terms, the imperfections of the market institutions can be bridged by elements like trust, communication, and reciprocity. For this reason, investing your time in actively developing and sustaining a healthy network of contacts in your business line, can have a direct, positive impact on your career.
In this article, we will explore how you leverage your network to achieve the above.
Building a networking strategy as a career leverage
Past studies indicated that up to 97% of businesses use networking as a tool for accessing and acquiring new opportunities.
The first thing you need to do is scan your existing network for leads. There may be some hidden gems, such as future clients, partners, or door openers, that have gone unnoticed. In the words of Derek Coburn “Dormant ties can be more valuable than your current relationships”.
Start by identifying and creating a list of these contacts. Accordingly, find common points of discussion with them, and reach out. Following the advice of Doug Lester, the career advisor to Fortune 100 companies, start a conversation and build rapport before asking for something. Follow up on the contact’s personal updates and spend some time discussing things that may be in their interest, first. Then cut to the chase. Foremost, stay in touch with them.
These touchdowns may take place via phone, a coffee meeting, or any network occasion that may fit the purpose. One of my favorite suggestions is by Donnie Clark, where she recommends inviting people to dinner with a +1 they find interesting. This actually is an effective way to meet other like-minded people, you may haven’t met before.
Adopting your networking strategy to fit the market needs
Networking can help you get some crucial information that moves only within networks and isn’t available otherwise. Oftentimes, networking is the catalyst for broadening our perspectives, beliefs, and values.
Marco Di Maggio, a member of the finance unit at Harvard Business School (HBS) and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, published an article in 2019 discussing the importance of broker networks and the diffusion of information in the industry.
He writes, “Brokers’ practice of selling order flow and the regulatory scrutiny about potential information leakage provide anecdotal evidence for the conjecture that brokers play a pivotal role in the information flow in the market”.
Keeping track of where your network’s interests lie, and their actions within markets can be difficult to keep track of. That’s why it’s important to use a system, a personal CRM, which allows you to categorize and take notes on your contacts, sends you reminders to reach out to specific people in your industry, and provides automatic news updates that concern people in your network. For example: “Goldman Sachs just announced a new crypto strategy, John Weiss who works there may be affected – reach out”. Free-to-test platforms, like Covve, actually do this for you and more. I recommend you try them out.
What are Different Connection Methods Brokers Can Use While Talking to Prospects, Both Digitally and Face-To-Face?
Since the pandemic subsided, most B2C interactions happen online. Although the usage of Zoom calls has increased exponentially, there is the right time and place to meet online or offline.
Although online meetings may be faster, more efficient, and to the point, meeting someone in person carries a different “punch”. A 2016 study, by Cornell University Professor Vanessa Bohns, showcased that it is increasingly difficult for people to turn down a request when they are asked for it in person. This means that meetings like a negotiation, which include important items in their agenda, can be more effective when conducted in person.
The reason is simple and quite straightforward. Body language. A research paper by Dunlap and Murtagh denoted “behaviors—such as facial expressions, the placement of head and shoulders, the use of hands—can deliver information, regulate the interaction, and express feelings and intimacy”. Therefore, in-person meetings can convey a greater amount of information to any of the two parties that can ultimately aid their decision-making.
To sum it all up, when it comes to meetings, make sure to assess the importance of the meeting, before deciding the way of conducting it. The more important the meeting is the better chances of success you stand if you are conducting it in person. No matter the case, though, make sure that your communication method in any meeting is relevant to your audience. As the billionaire Ray Dalio suggests in Forbes, your content must be delivered in digestible formats and in a language, your audience can understand”.
Bringing it all together
Expanding your network and leveraging it to grow your business or advance your career takes time. Identify the right contacts in your network, reach out, have a system to stay in touch, and choose the right occasion and location for each meeting.
Networking matters, as much as your investment strategy. George Soros invested copious time and effort in his network, which itself is considered an asset to many others. Ultimately, he “created opportunities where not only people go to interact with him, but were able to connect and forge new partnerships with others in an ever-expanding network”, as stated by Alex Lazarow from Forbes.
Set up a system that works for you and cultivate your network. It starts off with a few connections, and it has the potential to grow into an empowering community.
Yiannis Gavrielides is the co-founder and CEO of Covve, helping professionals grow and nurture their contact network. He actively supports entrepreneurship as a partner at Invelopment Partners.
