How true do you reckon the statement “its who you know rather than what you know” is? and is it still applicable?
For me personally i believe its a bit of both, obviously if you are good friends with someone who is an important decision maker then its very much a case of “who you know”. Alternatively if you know loads of influential people but do not have the knowledge and / or talent to back it all up you will eventually come unstuck.
Although i find both to be true i lean towards the side of “what you know”. An example:
A few years ago we were called into a fairly high profile site (site A) to rectify problems with the existing security systems as the existing security provider was not providing the level of service required. We went in, did as was asked and a happy working relationship commenced where the customer knew that we would do as we promised and that made his life a lot easier.
Roll on a few years
Site A is no longer in existence but the man running site A has now moved to Site B – a VERY prestigious site and to become an approved contractor is extremely difficult. Due to the service provided previously on Site A (i.e what we know) we bypassed all the application process and were installed as one of the approved security contractors (i.e. who you know)
So as you will see its a bit of both but ultimately if you provide a good service and do as you say you will the people who matter will come to you and stick with you.
feel free to post any stories / incidents you may have about this subject, always interested to hear them.