Absoluately BRILLIANT article by Jim Bolt from Fast Company.

“Today’s highly networked business world provides rich rewards for networking maestros — those people among us who are skilled at developing varied and effective networks. But there hasn’t existed an effective measure for how good or bad you are at networking, in order to know how to improve. Until now.”

Click here to read the entire article, or take Jim’s assessment below:

Honestly answer the following questions on a scale of 0-4:

How many total people are in your Life, Social and Work networks?
0=none, 1=less than 50, 2=51-100, 3=101-200, 4=more than 200

What’s the overall quality of your network contacts?
0=Terrible, 1=Poor, 2=Good, 3=Very Good, 4=Excellent

To what extent do you actively work on building your network relationships?
0=no extent, 1=little extent, 2=some extent, 3=great extent, 4=very great extent

What is the strength of your relationships with your network members?
0=very weak, 1=weak, 2=in between weak and strong, 3=strong, 4=very strong

How actively do you recruit new members to your network?
0=do nothing, 1=hardly at all, 2=sometimes, 3=often, 4=all the time

To what extent is the relationship with your network members reciprocal (that is, you’ve helped them as much as they’ve helped you)?
0=not at all, 1=hardly at all, 2=sometimes, 3=often, 4=all the time

To what extent do you leverage the Internet to build and maintain your networks?
0=not at all, 1=hardly at all, 2=sometimes, 3=often, 4=all the time

Multiply your total score by 10. You’ll end up with a score between 0 and 280. If your score is from 0-70 your NQ is terrible, from 71-140 your NQ needs improvement, from 141-210 your NQ is good, and from 211 to 280 your NQ is excellent.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your NQ?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

Of all people – managers, directors, presidents and CEO’s are the ones who need to be approachable; both to their customers AND employees. So, it absolutely made my day when I walked into my hotel room and saw this:

It was a welcome note with the General Manager’s business card in it!

You can’t get more approachable than this. It was like the GM was saying, “Howdy! Welcome to my hotel. My name’s Tom – and I’m in charge here. So, if there’s anything you need, drop me a line. Seriously, here’s my card! Call me any time.”

Do all hotels do this?
Do ANY hotels do this?
Do any businesses do this?

I think they should. Seriously, how great would it be if every company went out of their way to make an approachable connection between The Big Cheese and The Customer?

Just imagine…

*Buying your new Ipod Nano…and getting a business card from Steve Jobs. And guess what? He’d love for you to drop him an email and tell him how amazing it sounds.

*Receiving your brand new Air Jordans in the mail…along with a business card from Phil Knight. What the heck? Ring him and let him know how you schooled all your friends at the park with your new shoes.

*Finishing your sandwich from Subway…and reaching into the bag to find a card from Fred DeLuca. That’s right. He wants to hear from YOU, a customer who just ate a delicious lunch for under 7 bucks and under 7 grams of fat.

The days of the Spacely Sprocket-esque CEO are over. Isolated is out, approachable is in. So, whether you’re a manager, director, CEO, president or owner, you’ve got to find a way to PERSONALLY welcome customers onto your front porch. After all, that’s what makes them 1) want to come back, and 2) tell their friends.

Kind of like I’m doing right now.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

In what way do you personally connect with your customers?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

We’ve all had our share of experiences with service providers who weren’t approachable. Fortunately, some professions are taking preventative measures against future complaints. I found a great article from the spring 2005 issue called Japan Tests Medical Students for Approachability.

The article comes from StudentBMJ, a monthly international medical journal for students with an interest in medicine. “Japanese medical students must prove that they are approachable before they can qualify,” explained the article. “This reflects the Japanese medical profession’s objective to move away from just expecting students to acquire knowledge toward effective interaction with patients.”

Here’s an overview of the CAT, or Common Achievement Test.

A great deal of malpractice cases derive from inappropriate patient-doctor communication. But it’s not just about medicine. ALL professions experience the problems due to a lack of approachability. And if you’ve ever worked with someone who had absolutely ZERO people skills and wondered how in the HELL they got hired, you might ask yourself the same question as these doctors: Should there be new standards that all applicants must meet in the areas of interpersonal communication?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Pretend you’re the HR Director. Finish this sentence: “You can’t work for this company unless you’ve proven to me that you are ______________.”

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

I’ll give ’em one thing: those Texans sure know how to make a guy feel welcome! Last week I spent a few days speaking at two Hyatt properties. First I went to the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Spa and Resort in San Antonio.

I was scheduled to deliver a speech at an all-staff meeting. The night before the program, I went down to the restaurant to grab some dinner. After I sat down I saw the Chef walking towards my table.

“Scott, I just wanted to come over and introduce myself. My name is Chef Brother Luck!”

Not sure if I heard him correctly, I looked closer at his lapel and saw this:

“That’s the coolest name I’ve ever heard!” I said. “There’s got to be a story behind it, right?”

“Well, my dad was a little…different. He legally changed his name to ‘Brother.’ And I was named after him. But, it’s a great name to have. I love it. I’ve used it my whole life as a conversation starter. And ‘Brother Luck’ is a perfect way to make guests feel comfortable.”

Awesome. That’s a front porch if I’ve ever seen one.

“Anyway, I’ve been seeing your picture all over the hotel for a few weeks, so that’s how I recognized you,” Brother said.

“Picture? Of me? What are you talking abou–”

A few seconds later, Theresa from HR came towards my table holding a 6 foot 3, life size cardboard cut-out of the picture from my website.

“Oh HELL no!” I laughed.

“We wanted to hype up our staff meeting, so we made a bunch of these and scattered them around the hotel: in the kitchen, around the offices, even in the heart of the house! Some of them even had little thought bubbles by the head that said ‘HELLO, my name is Scott.'”

“Oh…my…God!” I said.

“Yeah, and I think everyone already knows who you are!” continued Theresa. “In fact, some people were a little freaked out when they first saw this cut out in their office.”

THEY were freaked out? How about when I got back to my room after dinner only to find another copy of my exact double STARING RIGHT AT ME when I walked in the door? It scared the holy hell out of me. I didn’t know whether to laugh, crawl under the bed or call security!

Fortunately, it became a running joke for the entire trip. We had a lot of fun with it. And I was even introduced by Tom Smith at the general meeting as “Scott is That Guy with Nametag…you may remember him as the cardboard cutout who’s been scaring the heck out of you for the past three weeks.”

(That was only the beginning. It gets better. Click over to Don’t Mess with Texas, Part 2 to see what happened next.)

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s the best joke ever played on you?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com