By WALE AKINYEMI

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Ask anyone who has succeeded about the key ingredient and they will tell you that people play a great role in their success. You may be a genius but without the right network, you will end up frustrated. 

A lot of people do not make the best of their networks because they have misplaced expectations on how networking works; they make wrongly timed demands on people before converting them to networks.

How do you grow a contact to a valuable network?

A prerequisite to converting a contact into a network is socialising. Naturally, everyone is on guard when they first meet new people. Even psychologists sometimes say that it takes a number of weeks for their clients to open up to them. Through socialising, the ice is broken.

It is a gradual process. The easiest way to do this is to send a follow-up e-mail after the first meeting to appreciate and acknowledge the person for the meeting. This is NOT the time to start selling unless you were specifically asked for a proposal. When you send the e-mail and the person replies, then you have gone over the first barrier. A communication line has been established. 

The next phase is becoming acquaintances. You know each other and have each other’s contact details, but you are not friends. However, how you treat the acquaintance phase will determine if you will move to the next level. If you use the acquaintance level well, you can do a lot of business. 

Acquaintances know they can reach out to each other professionally. Many business deals are actually done at the acquaintance level. As long as there is a mutual need that can be served by the relationship, it will go on. Once the need has been met, the relationship goes through a low season.

I know a lot of people who know me. We are not really friends, but we have crossed the communication line. Our communication is driven by a need and we both understand that and are okay with it. We may meet once a year but when we do meet we have a great time.

When you play the game at the acquaintance level according to the rules that govern it, you will reap great rewards. Remember, your acquaintances are not your friends. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are friends and then begin to make requests and demands; you will blow up the relationship. However, if you manage it well you can drive the relationship to a whole new level. This is the level where you become a preferred partner for the services you provide. You recommend each other for business opportunities. 

The business relationship exists to serve the greater interests of whatever you might be engaged in together. It is the point where you are trusted enough to be asked to recommend others to provide services for them. Now, this is a very high level of trust — where you are now able to recommend service providers. 

By the time you get to this point, you are now in a solid business relationship. In fact at this point, a lot of the value that may flow between the two of you is not driven by profit but by mutual respect that wants to see the other succeed. This is now the point where you have to make another very critical decision. Where do you want to take the relationship and how do you go about it?

Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer, PowerTalks