How many times have you said, "I should exercise more." or "I should eat better."? What we should do and what we actually do are often two different realities. Being healthy is probably one of the many things you know you should do, but never seem to make time for.
Networking, no doubt, has also made its way onto your list of things to do. However, no excuse you've made is good enough to let it stay there. Thanks to networking, your next five sales can be as easy as getting to know the next five people you meet.
A common reason salespeople are not spending more time meeting people is because they don't understand some of the basic principles of networking. Networking is more than just getting in front of those who can say yes to buying your product.
A solid network is built when you help your networking partners succeed. In doing so, you will be helping your own business succeed.
The easiest way to do this is to actually provide others in your networking community with customers. Delivering value and opportunities to other people inspires them to do the same for you.
It helps to understand the situation from your referral partner's point-of-view. Like you, they are busy people. They are hurrying to finding new customers, deal with current customers, and put out the typical fires that come with running a business.
By proactively seeking new customers for your network partners, you will remind them to look for potential opportunities for you. Every time someone you referred calls them, they will feel grateful to you. Even if just for a few minutes, they will wonder how they can return the favor.
There are easy and simple ways you can send business to your referral partners. One way is to keep all of your network partners' cards in one business card binder to keep with you at all times. As you are networking to promote your business, you will infallibly discover an equal number of opportunities to promote the business of your network partners.
Oftentimes, friends and family who wish they could help support you in your business are simply are not in a position to do so due to the nature of your business. Teach them to support you by supporting those in your network. So before you let them walk onto a car lot, call an air conditioner repairman out of the yellow pages, or get a picture framed at a custom frame shop, ask them to check your network partners first to see if one of them does exactly what they are looking for.
If are a good networker, you will find ways to constantly send streams of business to everybody with whom you network. If you're an expert networker, you will do it without keeping score.
Your networking partners are smart individuals; they will be well aware of the impact you will have on their business. There is no need for you to expect anything in return or for you to remind them of how much business you are sending them.
Trust in the simple fact that in the long run every customer you send to a networking partner will come back to you like a boomerang. The great service your referrals receive from your recommendations will reflect well on you. At the same time, your network partners will send you business in return. After all, it is in their best interest to do so.
Your job is simply to give, unconditionally, and without expecting anything in return. Let the laws of nature take care of the rest. The end result is an impressive stream of business for you and for those in your network. Remember, a sale for a friend is sale for you.
Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don't Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe |
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