In Kanban, we talk about how important it is to manage our work in process. In fact Jim Benson’s latest book is on that topic, Why Limit WIP: We are Drowning in Work (MemeMachine Series) (Volume 2). I have always thought that it was just as important for Sales People to manage their Work in Process or their contacts. I have written on it in the past and built Kanban boards accordingly. I seldom find agreement on this subject.
The closest source I have in agreeing with me on this subject is Judy Robinett, author of How to Be a Power Connector: The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits. She appeared in a past podcast on Business901 which you can access the Podcast and Transcription here: Tuning your Business Network.
She uses her connecting rule base on the Dunbar number. From Wikipedia:
The Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. This number was first proposed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who found a correlation between primate brain size and average social group size. By using the average human brain size and extrapolating from the results of primates, he proposed that humans can only comfortably maintain 150 stable relationships.
I find her work fascinating and have incorporated it into my practice. Enclosed is a PDF of a Mind Map I created to implement her system.
Download PDF of Power Connector
How to Be a Power Connector: The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits.