The Small Differences Between Top Producers And Everyone Else Part 2

October 23, 2009

Gladwell states there are three primary factors in how the spread of information or other phenomena becomes epidemic.  I’ll focus only on the first factor (the other two are the Stickiness Factor and the Power Of Context):

“The Law of the Few”

Gladwell states, “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.”  These people typically have 2 or all 3 of the following traits:

Connectors:  these people “link us up with the world … people with a special gift for bringing the world together.”  They’re “a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack for making friends and acquaintances”. Gladwell characterizes these individuals as having social networks of over one hundred people (remember this number).

A connector is someone who understands the concept and value of the “weak tie” relationship.  A weak tie is an acquaintance type relationship where one has developed a modicum of trust and rapport with a person sufficient that the connector can use this relationship for basic purposes, most important of which is connecting to other people the acquaintance knows.  A weak tie relationship can be initiated and maintained with little time and energy, thereby allowing anyone to potentially have a great abundance of weak tie relationships.  Gladwell attributes the social success of connectors to their worldliness and great versatility, “a function of something intrinsic to their personality … some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy.”

To put this into perspective, if a connector has weak ties with 200 people and each of these people has 50 people in their network on average, then this connector has access to 10000 people.  If that same connector grows their list of weak ties to 500 people, then they have access to 25000 people.

Mavens: these people are information specialists, or “people we rely upon to connect us with new information.”  They accumulate knowledge, especially about a marketplace, and are adept at sharing it with others.  (Curiously, mavens are often people who can help others, but not themselves).  A maven is sincerely interested in solving other people’s problems with their knowledge.  They’re essentially information brokers, continually gathering information on specific topics and freely sharing what they’ve learned with others.

Salesperson: these people are persuaders.  They’re charismatic and have powerful negotiating skills.  They often have an indefinable trait, a je ne sais quoi, in their personal presence, making them highly influential with other people.

Filed under: Inspiration,Marketing Tips,Networking Tips

Tags: Agent Office, branding, contact management, follow up, following up, hundred monkey theory, Malcolm Gladwell, marketing, networking, prospect, prospecting, real estate course, real estate education, real estate educators, realtor education, systems, Tipping Point, Top Producer, what the bleep do we know?