Six Degrees Can who your employees know make a difference in your sales?

Entrepreneurs know the importance of networking. Sometimes it isall about who you know. And now, with some new software technologythat's on the market, it's all about who you and youremployees know. You can call it relationship mining, butrelationship capital management is more accurate. Three leadingcompanies in this area are start-ups Spoke Software Inc. (www.spoke.com), VisiblePath Corp. (www.visiblepath.com) and ZeroDegrees Inc. (www.zerodegrees.com).

Essentially, the software maps out networks of who everyone inyour organization knows, partly by hooking up with a CRM companylike SalesForce.com Inc. Antony Brydon, president and co-founder ofVisible Path, says, "We're helping people capitalize ontheir relationships on an individual level and on a corporatelevel." The intent is to arm your salespeople with qualitypersonal introductions to potential customers, generate sales leadsand accelerate the sales process.