4 Secrets of Successful Networking

I encourage my coaching clients to include networking in their marketing efforts.  By implementing the 4 Secrets of Successful Networking the effort can move from a long term marketing strategy toward a short term strategy with great outcomes.  The Secrets are:

1.  Be InterestED, not InterestING.  It’s really not about you – it’s about being a good listener and asking open ended questions of the people you meet.  If you are interestED in what they say you will learn about their business, their needs and how you may be able to serve them.  People rember those that were interestED  in getting to know them better. 

2.  Have a Goal in Mind.  Is there someone that you need to meet that will be attending the event?  Is there a business category that provides a great strategic alliance for you, serving the same clients?  Choose a goal.  If it is to meet a particular person or type of buisness, let those that are welcoming guests know who you are looking to meet.  I bet you will meet them before the event is over if you are clear on your needs and ask for help meeting those people.  No specifics in mind?  Set a goal for the number of  follow-up appointments,  or “coffee dates” you want to make for the next week.  If you meet someone that might be an ideal client or good power team member, set up an appointment to meet at a later date to discuss in more detail.  You’re at the event to network and so are they, so set an appointment to go into more detailed discussions, and keep networking. 

3.  Make a Good Connection for Someone.  You probably know great people.  If you are asking open ended questions and being interestED in what people have to say, you’ll find opportunities to provide a good referral to someone.  Let’s say you’re talking to someone who says they are frustrated by the new noise their car is making.  Can you refer them to the great mechanice you use?  Someone about ready to start looking for new office space?  Can you refer the commercial realtor that went out of their way to help you find the right space?  Be of service and people will remember you.

4.  Assume a Mico-Host Role.  Do you remember being uncomfortable when you first started attending networking events?  Look around.  There are newbies in your midst.  You’ll know them – they are the ones reading the signs on the wall, reading marketing material, or standing near the food without talking to anyone, doing exactly what you did when you were new at this.  Help these people!  Introduce them to someone you know, or someone you just met.  Help them overcome their anxiety.  They will remember you!

Happy Networking!

How to Make a Profit – Part 2

It may sound silly, but many business owners forget that they are in business to make a profit.  That means making money! 

 In Part 1 of this two part series, I talked about what a Profit Plan is and why the time spent developing one is worthwhile.  If you want to re-read Part 1, click here…..

Once your Profit Plan is pulled together, the real fun starts.  As I said in Part 1, it’s critical to get others in your organization involved so they can help with the execution of the plan.

One of the most important areas for you to focus is the top line (projected sales).  What is everyone in your business doing to bring customers in?  A couple of ideas on how to keep yourself and your organization focused on driving sales into your business:

1. Have a Clear (Written) Goal for the Number of New Customers:  You have a Profit Plan that shows the total sales in terms of dollars you’d like your organization to bring in.  Now let’s break it down into the number of customers required to reach that number.  If you are targeting $100,000 in new business this year, where will it come from?  From one customer, from 1,000 customers, or some other number?
2. Break Marketing Activities Into Monthly & Weekly Buckets:  Marketing drives sales.  All you can manage is what you and your people do – activities.  You can not control who and when someone will actually buy your products and services.  Once you have the number of new customers identified to meet your sales goal, the BIG question is, “What marketing activities will put you in front of those prospective customers so you can reach your goal”?  Marketing activities fall into three categories:  i) Short-Term – referrals, cold calls, direct mail.  ii) Long-Term (networking, writing, strategic alliances, and iii) Passive – print advertising, web sites, promotional products.  Once you’ve identified the strategies that work best for your business, the next step is to put a weekly schedule into place to drive those activities.
3. Meet Regularly to Track Progress:  With so much time and effort going into developing the Profit Plan, I’m amazed at how many people will put the plan in their desk drawer and not look at it again to measure their progress against the plan.  I recommend you and your marketing/sales team meet on a weekly basis to track the execution of the marketing plan.   Is everyone doing what they agreed to do?  Are things working as planned or do changes need to be made?  While it’s easy to justify skipping the meetings when you “get busy”, I strongly advise my clients to continue with the meetings to keep the momentum going.
4. Adjust the Plan Sooner Than Later:  Things almost never go as planned.  The biggest benefit of having a Profit Plan is to ensure that all the right discussions are happening within your organization and that all your key team members know what needs to be done.  Once you and your team get used to having the Plan, you’ll find yourself constantly tweaking the execution of the plan by what happens throughout the year.  If you get a fabulous response to a promotion that you had planned to only run occasionally, why wouldn’t you want to increase the number of times you plan on running it?

 

This discussion provides a framework for how to drive the top line of your Profit Plan.  Understanding that a plan needs to be constantly tweaked and challenged during execution is key to making a profit in your business.

Assignment:  Establish your top line goal for projected sales.  How many new customers will it take to reach the new sales volume?  Define weekly and monthly marketing activities you’ll do to attract those new customers:  Short-term, Long-term, Passive and Active.