How To Use The “Mackay 66 Customer Profile” To Build The Network Of Your Life, Even If You’re An…

Harvey Mackay, creator of the Mackay 66 Customer Profile

Get ready to build business relationships and network faster, better and stronger than ever before. The process I’m about to give you is one of the best hacks to build your network, even if you’re an introvert. The primary intention of the Mackay 66 Customer Profile is to help sales professionals build more effective, long-term relationships with customers.

Harvey Mackay is a legendary business leader who built $100 million company, wrote seven, New York Times best selling books that have been translated into 46 languages, sold in 80 countries, with more than 10 million copies sold to-date. Harvey is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate, whose weekly articles appear in nearly 100 newspapers across the country. Harvey is a legendary speaker, and my business partner in charge of his online university, soon to become Harvey Mackay Academy.

Here’s why this approach to building your network is helpful for introverts …

The key to this process for building your network is using social media because introverts lose energy being around people. I know because I’m an introvert, and my network is growing larger than it would be otherwise because I love and use social media. You see, introverts can use social networks to build huge influence based on new relationships. We then get to meet these people in the real world when we come out of our introverted shells.

Wimp Warning: The Mackay 66 Customer Profile only works when you work the follow up process. What follows is a modern-day hack of one of the most powerful networking and relationship-building tools ever invented. (This is Rolodex striving for relevance.) But you must care a lot, and do the work.

“The 66" is viewed by millions of business leaders to be more important than the invention of the Rolodex because the typical Rolodex contains little, if any, useful information people collect or use to build their network faster, better, and stronger for life. Plus, these days, our Smartphone is the Rolodex, and how many times have you dropped it in the toilet and kicked yourself for not having a solid backup? Exactly.

Why is building relationships important? Because your network is everything when you think about it. Your network of people reflects not only who you are, but also the people with whom you have established and maintained a relationship with because it’s important to your business and your life. We know most about others when they meet a need in our business or life. Otherwise we move on.

Meet Harvey Mackay

Harvey Mackay is the man who wrote the original book on dealing with Sharks. If you haven’t read Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, maybe today is the day.

Many of you reading this article may not know Harvey. If not, click here and learn more about a man I consider to be one of the most legendary business leaders, once again, in the world’s history. (Harvey’s last name is pronounced with a “ay,” not an “ee,” because you often ask me.)

If you want to know if this process actually works, here’s proof: Harvey Mackay bought MackayMitchell Envelope Company when he was only 26. He transformed this company into a $100 million company. This is remarkable considering the envelope manufacturing business used to have approximately 200 companies worldwide. Today the number is closer to fewer than half. And MackayMitchell people use the Mackay 66 every day.

This level of commitment to building and managing relationships, an intense “customer first” focus, is the key driver for Harvey Mackay and the company’s success over many decades in a declining industry.

The Original “Mackay 66”

Warning: Don’t use this for hiring people unless you like lawsuits. You’ll notice a lot of this profile researches personal interests that can become very personal and intimate. Naturally, the more you know someone, the personal you can be with your relationship in appropriate ways.

The original Mackay 66 profile is a profile containing 66 things you research and record about people in your network. The key to this process is caring. You have to care about people to do the Mackay 66. This may explain why so few people actually practice this even if they learn it.

The Mackay 66 is one of the most powerful relationship building tools in the world if you use it. The Mackay 66 existed far before social selling became a buzzword, and we had tools like LinkedIn. When you think about the time, energy and commitment it requires to research and learn Harvey’s “66” things about people important to your business and life, the internet is a life saver if you use it. (See a pattern calling for action?)

Remember, your favorite subject to think, talk, speak and write about is you. This is true for everyone on the planet. Remembering this is one of the most powerful relationship building tools in the world. Dale Carnegie taught us this is his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Harvey Mackay lives the 66. He’s taught the Mackay 66 to millions of people. You can search for it online, download the pdf, scrape the profile questions and do your own hack. Or you can continue reading here.

The MACKAY 66 — A Five-Step, Modern-Day Hack

Very few people today will take the time to research all 66 profile questions. This is a hack I created to shorten the process of building relationships and expanding your network using social media. We are starved for time and attention these days, but social media and technology can make researching and maintaining relationships much easier than it used to be when we only used paper. Social media is also a huge breakthrough for introverts who seek to build our network because we can connect with people and not be physically around people, which is a key for introverts. We lose energy when hanging around too many people. For more information, read the book, Quiet-The Power of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking.

The entire purpose of this hack is to help you build better relationships with people by researching, collecting, managing, and CREATIVELY following up with people in your network based on what you know is most important to others. Your creative follow up on what you know about others is what makes the biggest difference.

If you’re a wimp, and you’re simply going to “try” to do this for people you care about, stop here. None of The Mackay 66 will work unless you commit to using a process, a system, and following up as long as you’re alive. I watch Harvey Mackay in action almost every day, and I’m telling you that Harvey lives this stuff like nobody else. This makes sense considering he invented “The 66.”

Okay, let’s rock on by following the steps in this game-changing hack …

1. Organize all your contacts in one system. Make sure this system is backed up. Heck, this system manages and contains all the people who count the most in your business and life. Treat your network as your most important asset “because your network is everything” as we say at our academy.
2. Choose the top ten to twenty of the 66 items on the list. You can dive deeper if you want, but you’ll want to keep this list tight enough to have custom fields in your contact management or CRM system. Using spreadsheets can also help organize your list of contacts for ease in importing and exporting it. But remember, it’s a static document, and likely not backed up.
3. Add custom fields to your contact manager or CRM. Regardless of the system you use, you’re about to research and collect the key information you need about every person you in your network you care about. Add the custom fields or space to place and save this information. This is potentially huge for automating follow up on key dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
4. Research. LinkedIn is my suggested social network for this step. Use what is easiest for you. Start researching and collecting (curating) the information you need to add to your contact management system. Normally, you’ll already have basic contact information and awareness of their where they work, where they went to school, what clubs they belong to, and more. You can confirm this information and add anything that’s missing.
5. Follow up. Take action! For example, a phone call on a birthday, or a personal note can be powerful ways to build and maintain relationships. If you don’t do the follow up, and use a system that automates this, you might as well be happy right where you are with what you do and what you’ve got. Building and maintaining important relationships requires your commitment to follow up.

Mackay 66 Customer Profile (Official Name)

This is the complete profile, but not in the original format. This is why you will see more than 66 items. You can use any of the items on my list to focus on IF you choose not to use the entire 66. Only the most dedicated relationship builders will use the entire 66 and follow up with any regularity. If you could choose just one thing to do, it might be sending a birthday card you hand write and sign, or a call, or a meal or visit together.

This hack is all about building better relationships to expand your network of people who you care about, and who care about you.

Most of us use social media and contact management or customer relationship management software. Examples of this range from your phone to Apple Address Book, Google Contacts, etc. Start here, then go wider to research and add people you want to add to your network.

Each “field” you will want in your contact management or CRM system. For example, the field for company name in the original Mackay 66 also contains the address. Naturally, this is data you need for a different field in your contact management or CRM system. Every line item below comes from the original 66, but can be a field you choose to use for your list of key contacts in your network. I did preserve the categories, just for integrity purposes because I have so much reverence for “The 66.” Also, the original “categories” such as Customer, Education, Family, are represented on this numbered list, but may not be fields you want to use in your contact management system or CRM. They are highlighted in bold to make this more clear.

1. CUSTOMER INFORMATION
2. NAME (NICKNAME)
3. COMPANY NAME (ADDRESS)
4. HOME ADDRESS
5. BUSINESS PHONE
6. HOME PHONE
7. BIRTH DATE
8. PLACE HOMETOWN
9. HEIGHT
10. WEIGHT
11. EDUCATION INFORMATION
12. HIGH SCHOOL
13. YEAR GRADUATED
14. COLLEGE
15. YEAR GRADUATED
16. COLLEGE HONORS
17. DEGREES
18. COLLEGE FRATERNITY/SORORITY
19. SPORTS
20. COLLEGE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
21. IF CUSTOMER DIDN’T ATTEND COLLEGE, IS HE/SHE SENSITIVE ABOUT IT?
22. MILITARY SERVICE
23. DISCHARGE RANK
24. ATTITUDE TOWARD BEING IN THE SERVICE
25. FAMILY INFORMATION
26. SPOUSE’S NAME
27. OCCUPATION
28. SPOUSE’S EDUCATION
29. SPOUSE’S INTERESTS
30. ANNIVERSARY
31. CHILDREN, IF ANY, NAMES/AGES
32. CHILDREN’S EDUCATION
33. CHILDREN’S INTERESTS (HOBBIES, PROBLEMS, ETC.)
34. BUSINESS BACKGROUND
35. PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT (Most recent first) COMPANY
36. LOCATION
37. TITLE
38. DATES
39. COMPANY
40. LOCATION
41. TITLE
42. DATES
43. PREVIOUS POSITIONS AT PRESENT COMPANY: TITLE
44. DATES
45. TITLE
46. DATES
47. “STATUS” SYMBOLS IN OFFICE
48. PROFESSIONAL OR TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
49. OFFICES HELD OR HONORS
50. WHAT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP DOES HE/SHE HAVE WITH OTHERS IN OUR COMPANY?
51. WHO ARE THEY?
52. IS IT A GOOD RELATIONSHIP?
53. WHY?
54. WHAT OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR COMPANY KNOW THE CUSTOMER?
55. TYPE OF CONNECTION
56. NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP
57. WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS HIS/HER LONG RANGE BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
58. WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS HIS/HER IMMEDIATE BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
59. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS OF GREATEST CONCERN TO THE CUSTOMER AT THIS TIME-THE WELFARE OF THE COMPANY OR HIS/HER OWN PERSONAL WELFARE?
60. DOES THE CUSTOMER THINK OF THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE?
61. SPECIAL INTERESTS
62. CLUB, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OR SERVICE CLUBS (Masons, Kiwanis, etc.)
63. POLITICALLY ACTIVE?
64. PARTY
65. IMPORTANT TO CUSTOMER
66. ACTIVE IN COMMUNITY? HOW
67. RELIGION
68. ACTIVE
69. HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL/SENSITIVE ITEMS NOT TO BE DISCUSSED WITH CUSTOMER (i.e.: Divorce, AA Member, etc.)
70. ON WHAT SUBJECTS (OUTSIDE OF BUSINESS) DOES THE CUSTOMER HAVE STRONG FEELINGS?
71. LIFESTYLE
72. MEDICAL HISTORY (Current Condition of Health)
73. DOES CUSTOMER DRINK?
74. IF YES, WHAT AND HOW MUCH?
75. IF NO, IS CUSTOMER OFFENDED BY OTHERS DRINKING?
76. DOES CUSTOMER SMOKE?
77. IF NO, OBJECT TO OTHERS?
78. FAVORITE PLACES FOR LUNCH
79. DINNER
80. FAVORITE ITEMS ON MENU
81. DOES CUSTOMER OBJECT TO HAVING ANYONE BUY HIS/HER MEAL?
82. HOBBIES AND RECREATIONAL INTERESTS
83. VACATION HABITS\
84. SPECTATOR SPORTS INTEREST: SPORTS AND TEAMS
85. WHAT KIND OF CAR(S)
86. CONVERSATIONAL INTERESTS
87. WHOM DOES THE CUSTOMER SEEM ANXIOUS TO IMPRESS?HOW DOES HE/SHE WANT TO BE SEEN BY THOSE PEOPLE?
88. WHAT ADJECTIVES WOULD YOU USE TO DESCRIBE THE CUSTOMER
89. WHAT IS HE/SHE MOST PROUD OF HAVING ACHIEVED?
90. WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS CUSTOMER’S LONG RANGE PERSONAL OBJECTIVE?
91. WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE CUSTOMER’S IMMEDIATE PERSONAL GOAL?
92. THE CUSTOMER AND YOU
93. WHAT MORAL OR ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ARE INVOLVED WHEN YOU WORK WITH THIS CUSTOMER?
94. DOES CUSTOMER FEEL ANY OBLIGATION TO YOU, YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR COMPETITION?
95. IF SO, WHAT?
96. DOES THE PROPOSAL YOU PLAN TO MAKE TO HIM/HER REQUIRE THE CUSTOMER TO CHANGE A HABIT OR TAKE AN ACTION THAT IS CONTRARY TO CUSTOM?
97. IS HE/SHE PRIMARILY CONCERNED ABOUT THE OPINION OF OTHERS?
98. IS HE/SHE VERY SELF-CENTERED?
99. HIGHLY ETHICAL?
100. WHAT ARE THE KEY PROBLEMS AS THE CUSTOMER SEES THEM?
101. WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES OF THE CUSTOMER’S MANAGEMENT?
102. CAN YOU HELP WITH THESE PROBLEMS?
103. DOES YOUR COMPETITOR HAVE BETTER ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS THAN YOU HAVE?

Build The Network Of Your Life

Now you have The Mackay 66 Customer Profile hacked into five steps and 100+ data points, or fields, you’re already on your way to building the network of your life.

It’s up to you to do the work! It’s up to you to research, collect and gather as much information and insight as is useful for building relationships with prospects and customers, or anyone who’s important to your business and life. It’s up to you to follow up.

Remember, the Mackay 66 Customer Profile hack is important because “your network is everything.”

Mackay Envelope Corporation Minneapolis, Minnesota Copyright, 1983