How to Build and Manage Your Personal Network Using the Principles of Customer Relationship Management

One of the things that I was least prepared for when I joined Startup Institute (SI) was how I would be able to build and manage a new network. The staff at SI told me that I would be engaging with a large network, but I underestimated the amount of time and energy that it takes to develop and build my own.

Prior to moving to Boston and joining Startup Insitute, I was able to get away with just remembering who I needed to connect with or by looking over emails for a quick reminder. By the end of week one at SI, I quickly recognized how inefficient that methodology was.

Thankfully, I started to learn about one of the most powerful tools in sales; Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Around week 3 I decided to apply the concepts of CRM in my approach to building my network. I haven’t looked back.

Before I talk about how I am using this tool to manage my network, I’ll do a quick overview of what a CRM tool is.

As Wikipedia defines it, “CRM is an approach to managing a company’s interaction with current and future customers.” I think of this tool as a memory bank that you can tap into when you need to recall something about a specific customer. So whether you spoke to that person a week ago or a year ago, you’ll be able to trigger that memory with your CRM!

There is a lot more to that goes into managing relationships with your customers, but now you have an adequate understanding so that I can talk about how I have been utilizing it to manage my network.

I recently opened up a HubSpot account and am utilizing their free CRM tool to manage my new network. There are actually dozens of CRM tools available from a variety of providers like SalesForce, PipeDrive, Nutshell, and Yesware. I ended up with HubSpot because:

1. It was relatively intuitive
2. It was free
3. I needed to pick something and get started

Screenshot of my Contacts tab

Here is the step-by-step process that I have been using to manage my network for SI. Because my bandwidth is limited, I do this once I have identified a person with whom I would like to connect further.

1. Obtain business card or at minimum first name, last name, and email
2. Add on LinkedIn
3. Add to CRM tool
4. In CRM tool use 3x3 method (huge thanks to Tom Stearns from Stearns Marketing for teaching us this):

• In 3 minutes find 3 potential talking points or information that you find important to know about the person: alma matter, previous roles, any blogs written, note on how we met, etc…

5. Add appropriate labels

• Labels I add are: current position, current company, twitter handle. You can create and customize this section as you see fit.

Sample of someone in my network

6. Link emails

• Make sure to link these emails with my HubSpot account so that I can keep an accurate history of my communication.
• Protip: I can also schedule meetings directly through the CRM!

7. Update information as needed and manage the relationship status as you turn a nurturing relationship status into an acquaintance, a person in your network, a mentor, or a friend.

Boom! That’s pretty much it. With this process, I have been able to keep much better track of the new network I’ve been building, and I know it will be extremely useful as time goes on. It’s also extremely helpful at being able to visually see the network that I am building.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to remember that this is just a tool. It will not magically create your network nor maintain it. You’ll have to put in the daily effort to keep it up-to-date and adjust things as needed.

I’m curious though, how do you keep track of your network?

Thanks for reading!