The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors And Closing Deals Online

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
• Published by: AMACOM August 29, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0814472869
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0814472866
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 14.4 ounces

Reader Reviews
David Teton is CEO of Nitron Advisors, a research firm which provides hedge funds and other private equity funds with access to industry experts. Scott Allen is a consultant on online relationship management. This book serves two valuable purposes: it is a management overview of how digital relationships are a viable supplement to traditional communication methods. The second objective is a practical guide to using this new tool. PRACTICAL As an example of their practical orientation, I tend to use one or two passwords for all my digital relationships. It is easier for me to remember but there is a cost. I increase my exposure to identity theft. The authors provide an easy way to use unique passwords for different registrations I complete. Instead of providing a specific word, they provide a clever conceptual framework that is easy to remember and can apply to any digital password chosen. Buy the book if you want to learn the secret. They also provide concrete ways of managing E-Mail deluge. CONCEPTUAL I will talk about online dating and then tie it into business development. Online dating is now a mainstream way of linking interested people together. Did you know that online dating is the largest legal segment of the U.S. online content industry, with 29% of all paid content spending in 2003? 20% of all European internet users use online dating sites each month. Match lists over 5% of the entire U.S. adult population on its website. The authors argue that face-to-face methods for meeting people are inefficient: (1) you have geographical limits on the people you get to meet (2) you are locked into meeting people connected with your immediate social networks and (3) physical appearance has a disproportionate influence in the relationship. With online dating, you get a chance to meet people outside your functional, industry, or geographic communities. It is also possible to get to know the person's thoughts and values before seeing how the person looks. It is also possible to double check the person's story prior to a physical meeting. A Canadian study on dating found that people had as many uncomfortable experiences with online dating as with traditional methods of meeting. Author David Teten and his wife met through an online dating service. Face-to-face meetings are costly and time consuming. Digital relationships are inexpensive and time efficient. As search and transaction costs are reduced, volume of social contact increases. Whether your interest is romance or business development, quantity of initial relationships can sometimes be of more value than quality of initial relationships. Get the quantity first and then mine for quality. FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVES AND BOARD MEMBERS In the "real world" middle management acts as intermediaries for the eyes and ears of decision makers. The digital world allows for some "disintermediation" of these secondary sources of information so that decision makers can make their own judgments with their own eyes and ears. Pentagon Generals and Presidents can jump over the chain of command and watch the battle in real time. Board members can jump over the chain of command and observe customer reaction by tapping into contact databases, blogs, and virtual communities. They can form their own conclusions independent of what they are told and even independent of their own limited face-to-face social networks. Presidents should not be selecting bombing targets. And Board members should not be making conclusions based on reading a blog. But this information acts as a useful check & balance on what information is being distilled/cleansed prior to being sent. Comment | | (Report this)