Meetings
Check out Right Brain Discovery – The following is an excerpt from a presentation by Right Brain principal Connie Chesner.
Want to know an awesome way to get other people working for you and selling your products and services? Become a trusted networking partner. Your ultimate goal is to become a friend with your business associates where you don’t have to ring the front doorbell but are invited to the neighborhood BBQ party.
These relationships are built on trust and the idea that both parties will benefit from the relationship.
here are three components of a good networking strategy and the three rules for each:
1. Connecting
a. Be diverse – avoid self limiting descriptions of who you are or what you are looking for. You never know where the connections may come from and sometimes the best connections come from the most unlikely places.
b. Continually increase touch points – If sending an invitation from linked in and facebook, personalize it. (Takes about 30 seconds) Connect quickly in multiple ways = You want to be “top of mind” when someone things about what you do.
c. Listen, record and remember – You want to be the In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact for as many people as possible (Connie shared an example of a friend who was the administrator at WFU School of Communication and she was the ICE for 100′s of people.
2. Sustaining
a. Focus on the PERSON, not the business. Recognize that every business card is a really a PERSON with hopes, dreams, ideas, challenges, etc.
b. EARN trust and respect
c. Say Thank You and Give Tokens of Appreciation – Thank You Cards
3. Building
a. Get your story straight and tell great stories – People remember stories
b. Constantly look for ways to help others
c. Do not measure success with hour glasses – Patience is definitely a virtue in the art of networking.
Recommended Reading – Endless Referrals by Bob Byrd
Networking Tips from Connie Chesner
Networking Your Way to Success
- Networking is using your relationships to compound your effectiveness and exposure in the market.
- Networking increases your worth, and credibility with your client
- You become a one stop resource for their needs
- You become your client’s “Yellow Pages
- Networking builds relationships for your future
- Networkers give more leads than they receive
- Networking is NOT simply coming to a meeting to pick up your leads.
A Checklist for Networking
- Do you carry a Card Caddy that contains people whom you can refer?
- Do you mention three members of your group on each appointment?
- Do you ask if one of your networking partners may call your client just to introduce themselves in case your client should ever need their services?
- Do you ask your client if they have a need for your partner’s service and if so arrange a three way meeting?
- Do you go on appointments with other networking partners? Do you ask them to evaluate your presentation?
- Do you meet with one of your networking partners each week, outside of the regular meeting?
- Do you let your networking partners know who you have as a good client and offer to arrange a meeting?
- Do you ask your networking partners if they have ever met with a potential client that you want to meet?
- Have you provided a list of people you would like to meet?
- How many handwritten Thank You Notes did you write last week?
- Did you mention one of your partners in the note?
Personal Success Checklist
- Do you have a self-improvement DVD or CD in your car stereo system?
- Have you read a self-improvement book this month?
- Do you have a subscription to a self-improvement magazine?
- Have you attended a professional sales training seminar in the past six months?
- Do you have a written goal for this month, year? Is it quantifiable, verifiable?
- Do you use a weekly tracker to evaluate your progress?
- Who is your mentor? Have you talked with them this week?
- Do you “sell” or “sort” your prospect lists?
Used by permission from Zan Ziege
Most successful networkers spend 80% of their time listening, 15% giving and 5% talking about themselves.
Everyone likes to talk about themselves and their business. Lead every networking conversation with a question about the other person's business like, "So what does your company do?" . Get them talking and be an active listener. Then search your mind for someone you know who can help them and provide the information right then and there if possible. One of the best ways is to write the contact's name and contact information on the back of your business card.
Some additional questions that can be helplul to keep the convesation focused on them, rather than you:
- How long have you been in business?
- Who are some of your best customers?
- What does your ideal customer look like?
- So, what makes you different from others in your industry?
- Why do your customers buy from you, specifically?
Whether it is your very first event or you have been networking for years, it seems that every time you enter a room filled with strangers you have that familiar feeling in the pit of your stomach that everyone in the room is looking at you and wondering who you are. You sense that they all know each other and you don't know a soul. So what do you do?
Slowly and confidently search the room for someone else who is standing alone and go strike up a conversation. Start by asking them about their business. Be an active listener and give the person your full undivided attention. (Too often people are looking around the room for someone more important to talk with and it shows!)
Be sure you get the person's name and business right. Ask them a second time if necessary and write it down on something if they do not have a business card. Ask for their card. Ask about their business. Ask how long they have been in business? Where is the business located? Who are their best customers or prospective customers. Get it? Spend the time finding out about them before you even consider talking about you and your business.
People truly appreciate someone who is genuinely interested in them and their business and before you know it you have a new networking friend. Look for that person every time you attend an event and be sure to ask how things are going. Try to introduce your new netwokring partner to someone else you know and provide referrals every change you get.
Please visit the ABN Blog and additional pages on the website for additional networking tips.
Business networking should consume 75% of your marketing time and budget, according to Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellelence. So this first networking tip is the suggestion to network every chance you get. Attend every chamber event, networking group and business lunch you can afford. Even if you see many of the same people, you have an opportunity to get to know them better. Spend most of the time learning about their business rather than telling them about yours.