In business, your network is one of your greatest assets. Here are some statistics that illustrate how critical it is to continually maintain connections and check in with your network, especially when you’re looking to hire, sell, converse, or establish a new business relationship.
• 85 percent of positions are filled through networking
• 95 percent of professionals consider face-to-face communications vital for long-term business
• 70 percent of people found a job through connections in a company
If you’re not leveraging your network, here’s how you can use your mutual contacts to benefit your business with just a few clicks on the MyCircle App.
What Is a Mutual Contact?
A “mutual contact” is a term that refers to a person that you and another individual have in common. Simply put, it’s a label that helps designate that you share friends with someone else.
MyCircle and Mutual Contacts
My Circle combines communication and business in one app. It allows you to see and find a mutual person between you and anyone in your contacts. It also permits you to group your contacts and message them as necessary.
To find a mutual contact, all you have to do is search for a phone number and the app will let you know if any phone contacts are mutual contacts with that number.
Here are a few ways you can maximize the mutual contacts features and communication as a business.
1. Close a deal
The internet is littered with online shopping and eCommerce scams. While nearly everyone does their shopping online these days, it can be difficult to feel confident. Giving your money to an unknown individual or small business via the web or an app is downright nerve-wracking for most.
Most people turn to relatively simple methods to make sure they won’t get scammed. They scrutinize the URL, look for a trust seal, check reviews, or ask around for personal experiences. Knowing that a friend, acquaintance, or family member has legitimate experience helps them feel self-assured in their choice.
The MyCircle App can help you find mutual friends and acquaintances in your phone contacts who share experiences with a buyer or seller of a good or product. If you’re a buyer, you can reach out to a mutual to get a first-hand account. If you’re a seller, you can let the buyer know that you have had a mutual contact and let them know you have a positive experience working together previously.
On both sides, this can help you confidently close a deal and jumpstart your business.
2. Get social proof
Social proof — the idea that someone can be persuaded into trying a product or service simply because they’ve seen a positive review or read an expert quote — is so powerful. As consumers, we use it every single day. In fact, 92 percent of people use reviews to guide most of their ordinary purchases. Although the internet can be helpful for this, it’s often beneficial to be able to ask questions or seek first-hand advice from someone we know.
This is where MyCircle comes in. If you have the phone number for a repairman, catering service, social media marketer, or another individual or business you want to partner with, you can help you get connected with someone who has used their services before. It provides access to social proof and positive (or negative) experiences that can ensure you’re hiring the right person for the job.
See an example of social proof with MyCircle Testimonials here.
3. Establish a relationship
Building new and authentic relationships in business is often the key to successful growth, but it can be so difficult to create them. Good business relationships and networking often rely on what friendships do — shared interests.
The best way to start conversations with new people is to identify what you have in common. For most people, this could be mutual connections, favorite sports teams, similar ideologies, hometowns, universities, favorite foods, etc.
An app like MyCircle is an amazing way to identify some of the things that you have in common with a potential business partner before you’ve even met like mutual friends. If you know that someone in your network knows them, you’ll also be able to ask questions and request feedback. If your friend or acquaintance provides positive feedback, then you can proceed more confidently and even use that connection to build a relationship.
4. Evoke interesting conversation
Having a mutual friend provides a little bit of a cheat code. When you’ve been able to touch base with a friend about a stranger that you hope to connect with, you’re able to gain a bit more context for an upcoming conversation. You can find out about their interests and use that information to conduct a more stimulating and thought-provoking conversation.
Being someone that a stranger will remember is a great way to jumpstart your business! Read more on this topic with Seven Ways to Make Yourself More Memorable.
Final Thoughts
See how you combine all your communication and business needs in a single app. Visit here to learn more about MyCircle.