Why is it that some people make more money out of sales, consulting work, multi-level marketing and other forms of business transactions which require them to market or sell to other people? Is it a question of luck, hard work or skill?
This is not a blogg on sales, rather it is a blogg that will expand on the question “How do I meet the right people, and then turn these people into my clients, advocates, friends, partners and referees. In short, this blogg is about effective word-of-mouth marketing. This blogg will be tasked with exploring the principle reasons why some people experience great success and others dismal failure when it comes to their sales performance. Together we will study why and how some people have an ability to network far more effectively than their counterparts. We will see that this is not something that happens as a result of luck, but that it happens as a result of a conscious effort on the part of the networker. In effect the successful networker is constantly looking at ways to be referred and to refer contacts to others who need assistance. This is how the networker has committed himself to building his business. I think anyone would agree that word-of-mouth referrals are a very important part of a marketing strategy, but not many understand how to implement this strategy to obtain superb results.
Throughout this book I will use the following words interchangeably but I will define them for you now in case I create some confusion with their use later in the blogg.
· A contact is someone whom you have just met or that you know; they may or may not be a prospective client or they might simply be someone who only exchanges referrals with you.
· A client is someone who has agreed to do business with you or that has already transacted business with you.
· A prospect is someone with whom you would like to do business with but who has not at this time agreed to take this next step with you.
· All of the above are in fact partners with you in your business as you are with their businesses.
What is networking?
Networking is a mutually beneficial process based on connecting people with the express purpose being the exchange of ideas, advice, contacts and referrals. Networking is about building solid relationships, about finding out what people do, why they do it the way they do, where they do it and who they do it with and then going back to them with a plan to help them to do it all better[1]. Networking is not the same thing as selling; at best it is only a precursor to the sales event, but what networking does do is reduce the need for you to have to cold call clients or to spend vast sums of money on advertising campaigns. In networking your focus should be on your being able to help your contacts and not on how they can help you. If you help your contacts by providing them with referrals for their businesses too, your rewards will soon follow.
It does not matter what a great person you think you are. If the saying is true that it pays to know people in high places, is it not a great idea that you try to help your contacts get into these high places. They will reward you for helping them achieve their goals.
A networking event can take place as a planned non-threatening informal event or meeting that presents several opportunities to invitees to meet with and to talk to many different people. Unplanned networking is something that most of us do everyday anyway as we communicate by word-of-mouth with one another, making recommendations and exchanging information often without much thought as to how beneficial these interactions could be. Sometimes we are surprised by our luck. Understand now, that we are not only networking with people we can sell to, we may also be networking with people who can refer other people to us.
It is important to always be positive about your business. People are attracted to successful people or at least who they perceive to be successful. Remember too, that there may be times when your positive attitude will need to shine through. The economy will not always be good and will go through tough times occasionally. Some of the people you associate with might even become negative as a result. You, however, don’t have to participate in the recession. Because you are in control of how you respond to these circumstances you can rise above them when times get tough. Remember that you choose the attitude that you display to the world each day. Rally your referral advocates and as a group you can remain positive despite the circumstances.
Sharp focus or Turkey-shoot?
Should you focus on a predefined target group or should you ‘shoot anything that moves’ to get referrals. Certainly the latter suggests an unstructured approach that may need to be used when starting out building a clientele. It certainly is not the way forward though. Try and identify the type of clients or companies that you want to work with and once identified establish how you plan to meet these people. For example you might decide that you work best with small to medium size enterprises and that you want to make these companies your target market. What do you do? Firstly you join the local Chamber of Commerce. Subscribe to their industry related magazines. Write articles for these magazines. Then ask everyone that you meet how you can help identify referrals for them and watch as they identify exactly the type of people who fit your target profile. If your targets are identifiable as a group, and, if you can create a reputation for yourself by specialising within this group it will not take long before prospects start to call you. Cold calling will no longer daunt you as anyone who is part of that group will have read your article, heard your name or perhaps attended a talk you’ve given at one of their functions. When prospects start calling you, you get to choose who you want to do business with.
The Benefits of Networking
Being able to network effectively is of critical importance to anyone who needs to influence others to attain or achieve greater success in their social or commercial circles. After all, people sell, negotiate, persuade and consult to other people. So it should make sense then that the more people we know, (it’s not what you know but who you know) and the better the impression we can make on the people we know, and stay in contact with, the more opportunities we will be offered and the higher our success rate or deal closing rate will be. I don’t like the term closing a deal or a sale as the word implies the salesman’s job is done once a sale is ‘closed’. I prefer the term ‘confirming the sale’. It recognises that the salesman’s job continues past the ‘close’. The salesman still has a process to follow which includes asking for referrals. People want to and like to deal with people that they feel they know and trust. This is where they feel comfortable. You need to become that known and trusted person to give yourself the competitive edge when competing with someone who they consider to be a stranger to them. If you can repeatedly achieve this, your battle is practically won.
Networking is a powerful way of building professional relationships and generating new business opportunities that build your business. The more relationships you develop, the greater becomes the size of your referral network and the more you are able to enhance and grow your reputation. By having many contact options in a quality client base you allow yourself the benefits of being able to pick and choose the clients with whom you want to work. Harry Mills suggests in his book The Rainmakers Toolkit, published in 2004 by AMACOM, “…that 80 percent of a business’s clients will cost the business money and that only 20 percent of clients are profitable.” If your 20 percent are not wildly profitable; the 80% who take up your time will cause you to run your business at a loss. Identify your 20 percent most profitable clients and replicate them. Ditch the 80% who waste your time and money.
Consider this: networking for referrals and contacts will be important for your career growth whether you own a business or whether you are an employee working for it. If you are an employee with any aspirations of one day going into business for yourself you will need to have built up strong relationships with suppliers and potential customers who can all help you. Progress and a successful business will be harder to achieve if you have not previously set up your network of support when you make your move into entrepreneurship. Consider what restrictions you might be putting on yourself and on your career prospects right now by not engaging in or seeking out networking opportunities?
Networking is also advantageous in raising the level of awareness of your company in the market place. It aids in getting your name ‘out there’. By engaging in beneficial discussions with other people you are often able to find common workable business ideas and you may even be able to effectively solve your problems that may have been experienced previously and solved by that contact’s business or by an acquaintance of your contact.
Networking is a career long commitment and it would be foolish to rely solely on one’s existing network and to never try and expand upon it. People will suddenly refuse to do business with you, some will die, others will pack their things up and move province, and some will emigrate. If your network is static it will diminish leaving you with existing clients only and no prospects. Your goal should be to keep adding prospects to your client base so that you never run out of business opportunities. Do not just network with anyone. Choose who you wish to network with. Your reputation will be influenced to some extent by the reputation of the people that you network with. You must be able to trust these people to look out for your interests as you look after theirs by sending one another referrals and taking care of clients referred by each other.
Shortly, I will cover setting up your 30 – 45 second prepared introduction that you will use to open conversation with your contacts. I will also cover communicating and networking using letters, e-mail, presentations and face-to-face communications. I will look at the various skills that you need to have and develop in order to create that lasting impression on your contacts. How to be a great host, and how to work a room to acquire more contacts with whom to do business.
Many scripts will be suggested during the course of this book, all of which are designed to assist you with the networking situations you might find yourself in. I will look at both social and business meetings and elaborate as to how the reader can achieve greater recognition and influence in these opportunistic networking situations.
Do I need to join a Network Group?
I will cover issues that you should consider before joining a network group in the first chapter as I do not want you to lose your enthusiasm by rushing out and joining the wrong network group. By joining the right group you will be able to build beneficial relationships that will add value to your and your fellow members business exploits. Here are some issues you might want to think about.
§ Is attendance at meetings of the network group voluntary? If not, is the group’s membership growing or declining?
§ Are group members encouraged and required to exchange referrals with one another at these meetings or does everyone simply arrive, chat and drink coffee?
§ Is information that is exchanged between members of the group confidential and is membership exclusive? Are there competing members within the group, or are members of the group also members of another rival group? Is this permitted? Are leads that you give out to fellow group members likely to fall into the hands of your competition in other groups?
§ Are group members encouraged to get to know the businesses of their fellow members by attending each others presentations and understanding what makes a really good lead for each others businesses?
§ Only pass on qualified leads to others in your network group and actively think of referrals for them. This will not only elevate your standing in the group but give you great credibility as well.
§ If you cannot find a group that suits your requirements then perhaps you want to think about starting your own network group?
Whichever group you decide to join you and your business should profit from the networking experience. You will make some long-term friendships with a number of likeminded people and you should get a lot of enjoyment out of the experience as well.
Get involved in networking events where you would expect to find your target clients. Don’t try to meet everyone at these networking sessions, unless it is heavily structured so that everyone meets everyone else. Rather aim for a couple of quality interactions with only a handful of prospects.
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