ABC and Pasta

I write weekly on insights and tactics around building an incredible network of clients, collaborators, and community.

For anyone who read my first book and happened to peruse the appendices, I have to make an important update. But first, let’s talk about spaghetti sauce.

When was the last time you walked into a grocery store, with “marinara” on your list? At first, it’s an easy task, because finding it in the store is dead simple as there’s usually a whole aisle dedicated to sauce. Then the nightmare sets in, because there’s a whole aisle dedicated to sauces. Which one do you choose? Even if you narrowed down to a particular brand, you’re still left with a dozen nearly-identical options.

Research into consumer behavior has shown that the fewer options provided, the more purchases are made.

Why? Decision fatigue. The time and energy spent even choosing a spaghetti sauce is still… time and energy.

Back to my book.

In our early years, we spent a lot of time helping people think about how to structure their databases. Initially it seems obvious - you want a group of Past Clients, one for Current Clients, another for Leads, one for Referral Sources, and don’t forget Enemies (yes, I’ve seen that more than once).

Are all past clients really the same? Isn’t there the past client who has since referred five other people to you, and invited you to their wedding? And then there’s the one that… let’s face it, if you saw them while shopping for marinara, you would dash out of the store and tell your spouse “yeah, it’s so odd, they were completely out of all pasta sauce!”

So you create Amazing Past Clients, Great Past Clients, OK Past Clients, Bad Past Clients… and then repeat that for Current, Leads, Referrals etc…

Now every time you look at a contact, you have to make fifteen or twenty different choices. Exhausting.

No wonder why most people give up on keeping track of their relationships - even though it’s their most important asset.

Which is why, for pretty much everyone I interact with these days, I have learned to keep it really simple.

Taking Action

Open up your database - whether a spreadsheet or Relatable.

Create a new column, categories, or Spheres. Sphere A, Sphere B, Sphere C.

A is more important than B, which is more important than C.

Spend more time and effort on your A’s than you do your B’s and C’s.

That’s it. Really.

It’s simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That’s honestly why GoodSphere exists.

Watch This

As I continue feeling my way into video, I posted a video about one of my favorite tactics that is so simple, you have no excuse not to do it right now.

Further Reading

Chris Schembra wrote a fantastic piece for Rolling Stone on creating human connection in the age of AI.