Ten Simple Steps to More Customers with Better Networking

Home
>
Networking
>
Ten Simple Steps to More Customers with Better Networking

Ten Simple Steps to More Customers with Better Networking

Networking is a great way to meet people in a "non-selling" setting. So, don't sell. Meet and greet. Ask people about their businesses. Be friendly and relaxed. Enjoy yourself. Get to know people. Above all, do not sell.

If and when someone appears to meet your target criteria, ask for their business card. Then follow up with them later to see if there might be a fit.

Here are some ideas to help you get the most from your networking:

1. Set a time budget each week or month for your networking. Plan to attend a specific number of meetings or events at which you can network. Make sure your other tasks and responsibilities fit around these meetings. It's best to balance networking with your other lead generating activities. This way you can measure the value of your networking leads against the time spent acquiring them.

2. Pick networking opportunities that put you face to face with people most likely to need what you offer. Or try to meet people who can connect you with people who need what you offer. Both are good prospects.

3. Understand why you're there - to begin relationships - not to sell. Networking is the first step in a long dance. Don't rush.

4. Don't give your cards to everyone. Save your money and some trees. Hand out your card only to people who ask for it.

5. Ask people questions. Learn about them and their business. This is how you pre-qualify them. If they meet your target criteria ask for their card. If not, don't.

6. Don't sell yourself. It's okay to tell people what you do. Give your "30 second commercial" but stop after that. You're there to gather information and to meet people, not to sell.

7. People love people who are interested in them. Ask questions, listen and engage people. This is the fastest way to develop rapport with someone. It's also the best way to determine quickly if they're someone you should be doing business with.

8. Have fun, relax and enjoy yourself. People like being around people who are relaxed and having fun.

9. Don't corner people and don't get cornered. Manage your time and conversation so you can meet enough people to justify your time spent networking.

10. Offer referrals. The best way to begin a relationship is by giving someone something - like a referral. It doesn't cost you anything. If they're the kind of person you want to do business with, they'll reciprocate and a valuable, long-tem business relationship could develop.

Networking is a time-honored way of developing business relationships. It can be done in networking groups or clubs. It can be done through Chambers of Commerce. It can be done anywhere you meet people. If you are active in your community or industry, you can easily network. Some people "network" while shopping for groceries!

It all depends on your attitude and your focus. The more people you meet who might need your product or service, the more potential customers you can have.

Kevin Stirtz is a successful entrepreneur, writer, trainer, speaker and mentor. He is a published author of over 150 business articles and he has been featured in local, regional, national and international business publications. He currently writes a marketing column for AllBusiness.com and he is writing his first book, which is due to be published in March of 2006. He can be reached at 1-952-212-4681 or http://www.KevinStirtz.com

In The News:

Bradford Networks Partners With Zycko for European Distribution
MarketWatch (press release)
CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 25, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Bradford Networks, the best choice to enable secure network access for corporate issued and personal mobile devices, today announced that it has partnered with pan-European distributor Zycko.

Phoenix networking calendar for week of May 25
Bizjournals.com
To submit networking meeting or event information, or to update these listings, email phoenixcalendars@bizjournals.com. Arizona International Growth Group, first Monday of the month, 7:30 am, SkySong, 1475 N. Scottsdale Road, Ste. 200, Scottsdale.

Networking as the Next Great Opportunity for the Channel in the Cloud
Channel Insider
The next great bottleneck is going to be the networking layer in the cloud. A recent survey of 1300 IT professionals conducted by Cisco finds that the one of biggest inhibitors to cloud computing adoption is the readiness of the network According to ...

New York Times
Cisco Ends Investment in Cius Tablet in Face of BYOD, Cloud
eWeek
The networking and collaboration vendor instead will focus on growing its software efforts, such as the Jabber UC platform and WebEx online meeting solution. Cisco Systems' Android-based Cius tablet has become a victim of the rapidly growing ...
Cisco kills off Cius developmentITWorld Canada

all 34 news articles »

Kiwibox.com Enters Spanish and Latin Markets -- Launches Spanish Language ...
MarketWatch (press release)
NEW YORK, May 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Kiwibox network proudly announces the integration of Spanish language versions on its social networking websites. The US based platform Kiwibox and the European KWICK! now each support Spanish ...

and more »

TIME
The Best Social Networks for Kids Under 13
TIME
By Jo McClelland (Tecca) | May 24, 2012 | + It's no secret that social networking is a large part of our culture. Facebook and other social networking sites have minimum age requirements that some kids get around by lying about the year they were born.

Big Switch Networks Releases Tool to Promote OpenFlow Interoperability
MarketWatch (press release)
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 24, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Big Switch Networks, the leader in Open Software-Defined Networking (SDN), released OFTest, a framework for testing OpenFlow switches to insure standards compliance and interoperability.

and more »

Smart Grid Networking and Communications
Sacramento Bee
As such, the communications networks and equipment used to construct them are shifting from the high unit volume and less expensive nodes used in smart meters, to somewhat lower unit volume, yet higher value, networking equipment and communications ...

and more »

VentureBeat
Microsoft's social networking site So.cl now open to all users
Computerworld
By John Ribeiro IDG News Service - So.cl, an experimental research project from Microsoft, that combines social networking and search to promote learning, is now accepting all users interested in joining the site. The social networking site, ...
Is this the next Facebook? Microsoft unveils so.cl social networkFox News
Microsoft silently launches So.cl, its attempt at a social networking siteVentureBeat

all 237 news articles »

IT Winners and Losers
Barron's
These names include Cisco Systems (ticker: CSCO), Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Polycom (PLCM). In our view, F5 Networks, Radware (RDWR) and Qualcomm are stocks with positive secular trends in application networking and mobile. For the defense industry, ...

Google News