Networking Is Not Selling

By Veronika (Ronnie) Noize, the Marketing Coach

It is my firm belief that virtually every person in business for her- or himself needs a killer elevator speech. Yes, that means you, too. Wondering why a killer elevator speech is so important for you? See if you recognize yourself in any of these scenarios:

1. You want a great response to the question “what do you do?” because you’ve noticed when you reply that you’re a consultant, the conversation stops right there, the other person’s eyes start to glaze over, and you start to panic because you don’t know how to revive this conversation without saying something that you know is guaranteed to put your listener to sleep, and in your heart you know that very few people want to be “educated” about insurance, investment opportunities, or anything else a consultant is selling.

2. You want a clear, concise and wildly attractive (as in magnetic) value message that you can use in your sales presentations, on your web site, in the voice mail messages you leave, in your own voice mail greeting, on your business cards, and when you introduce yourself so that you stand out from your competitors.

3. You want to attract clients to you rather than chase them down. OK, maybe I’m just plain lazy, but I find it much easier and quicker to get clients using the principle of attraction rather than going on endless (and often fruitless) client scavenger hunts.

4. You want prospects to self-qualify by indicating interest in your deliverable(s). You never know who is going to respond to your offer, or want your service (it’s not like people wear signs). Having a killer elevator speech that attracts your ideal clients helps you identify your prospects immediately (even when you don’t recognize them on your own).

5. You want to attract your best prospects to you so that you can convert them into clients quickly and easily. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to close sales as soon as possible with as little effort as I can get away with. I’ve found the best way to do that is to attract the people who really want and need my services, so that the sales process is relatively short and painless for both of us.

6. You want to be perceived as credible, competent, and professional. If you’re tap dancing around what you do, and refuse to (or can’t) be specific about your value to your clients, you’re not going to be viewed as a top resource. People respect the professional who knows what she does for her clients, and can articulate it in a few well-chosen words. They can also tell when you’re so desperate for clients that you’re willing to say anything to get the sale, whether or not you’re a good fit for the client’s needs.

7. You want everyone you meet to remember you, what you do, and who would be an ideal referral for you. People can’t refer to you if they don’t have a clear idea of what you do, and they won’t remember more than 10 words about you, guaranteed. That’s why your elevator speech needs to specify both your ideal client as well as your deliverables or client outcomes, and be memorable.

8. You don’t want to fumble for words or say the wrong thing to a prospect or potential referral partner. After all, the first time you’re speaking to your prospects is very much like an audition or a job interview. Your prospects are drawing conclusions (or making judgments, however you like to frame it) about you, your capabilities, and your potential value to them, all within the first 3.5 seconds of meeting you. Does it come as a surprise that you make a far better impression when you’re prepared?

9. You want permission to explain in more detail what you do for your clients, so you need a compelling, concise and attractive elevator speech that prompts people to ask for more information. Remember, the two questions that people ask themselves when you’re talking about your business are: Is he talking about me? Do I want what she’s offering? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you will be granted about 30 seconds to make your case. If the answer to both questions is no, then it’s time to move on. And frankly, it’s better to know that sooner, rather than later.

10. You don’t want to bore people to tears within 30 seconds of meeting them. The sad truth is that most people have the attention spans of gnats, thanks to our culture of instant gratification and self-centeredness, but you can use that to your advantage by crafting an attention-getting elevator speech that speaks directly to the deepest desires of your ideal clients. Unless, of course, you enjoy being known as a bore.

There may be a few reasons you need a killer elevator speech that I haven’t listed here, but these should be enough for you to at least consider developing your own killer elevator speech. So, what’s keeping you from getting your own killer elevator speech now?
Read more articles or view Top 10 lists.

This article was written by Veronika (Ronnie) Noize, the Marketing Coach. Ronnie’s web site is a comprehensive marketing resource for small office/home office business professionals. For free marketing resources including articles and valuable marketing tools, visit her web site at http://www.veronikanoize.com/, or email her at Ronnie@VeronikaNoize.com.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Need A Killer Elevator Speech copyright 2003 Veronika Noize. All rights reserved.

Networking Groups

I have built my business from nothing to extremely busy by using Networking Groups. It took more than 60 days (kudos to you Ronnie!) but it is very doable for anyone with persistence. The main local group I use is i Take The Lead – I also attend many free groups and events. My group is having a guest speaker tomorrow – Abigail from Straight Edge Solutions – she has many innovative marketing ideas. I always take something helpful for my business away when I listen to Abigail.

For my local readers – I invite you to come and hear Abigail as well as check out the possibility of advancing your business through Networking Groups tomorrow morning. We meet at Shari’s near Vancouver Mall – It is next to Azteca. The meeting is from 7:30 to 8:30 am – take an hour out of your morning and learn how to build your customers and client base. 80% of my business comes from groups like this one.

Contributed by:

Do you network much? What is your opening line, when you introduce yourself. (Elevator Speech) Some professionals use tag lines – the one or two line descriptors that often come after a product logo or company name. It is one of those things that looks simple but isn’t.

*First, decide what you want to communicate with your tag line.
*Second, prepare to brainstorm.

*Third, ask others to critique your tag line.

- Wal-Mart – “Always low prices.”

- Kenmore – “Solid as Sears.”

- Nike – “Just do it.”

- Plumber – “We repair what your husband fixed.”

- Lead With Heart Non-profit Foundation – “Giving back with Heart.”
- i Take The Lead, Inc – “Sharing qualified referrals.”

- Mac Repair Tech – “Friends don’t let friends use Windows.”

-Star Trek – “To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

-The Fly – “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Most of all, have fun with it!

Networking is one of the best business building strategies I have ever used. As a matter of fact, I built my business through networking, so I know that it works. But very often, people tell me that networking doesn’t work for them. I used to wonder why networking was so good to me, but so useless for some folks, until I realized that the people who say that networking doesn’t work for them simply didn’t understand the concept.

Networking is about connecting with others. Those connections might turn into sales, or they may yield a steady stream of referrals, alliances, advice, support, friendship, or extra special care when working on your projects. All of these are valuable, although few will ever happen at the first meeting, because networking is a process that takes time and effort, so if you’re going to network, you have to do it right.

Here are five things you need to know about networking to make it a great strategy for your business:

1. Networking is more than face-time; it’s about really getting to know others. And most people make one of two mistakes when they’re networking — doing too much, or too little.
Doing too much networking means attending meeting after meeting, but failing to really connect with other people in a meaningful way. Just showing up at networking meetings isn’t enough; you need to spend some time getting to know other people, learning about their businesses, and understanding how (and who) to refer to those folks, just as you are hoping they will do for you.
Doing too little networking means joining groups but not attending meetings, or attending meetings but not interacting with others in the group. Just being on a membership roster isn’t networking, and if you really want to network, you have to be prepared to step out of your shell and actually talk with other people.

2. Where you network matters. When you network, you are looking to connect with more than just your prospects — you are looking for referral partners, potential alliance partners, and perhaps even colleagues with whom you can partner on large projects, or send prospects who are not a good fit with you. That means that at least one of your networking meetings should be with colleagues, another with prospects, and third with non-competing businesses who serve the same client you do.

3. Not every person you meet is a prospect, but nearly every person you meet can be a valuable part of your network. Just because someone isn’t a prospect right now doesn’t mean she won’t be in the future. And once you have her trust, she’ll be able to refer others in her circle of influence to you.

4. It is your responsibility to mingle and connect. Too many people go to networking events hoping to make connections, but self-consciousness or shyness keeps them cowering on the sidelines, so the meeting is a waste of time, effort, and money. Everyone at the meeting is there for the same reason — to connect — so there is nothing to feel self-conscious about. Approach someone who is standing alone, introduce yourself, and ask him what he does if you want to get a conversation going. Do this three times at every meeting you go to, and soon you will know everyone there, and will be comfortable (not to mention popular!)

5. People get bored or turned off really easily, so you need to be prepared to speak clearly, concisely, and positively about what you do. If the first words out of your mouth when someone asks you what you do are along the lines of “well, it’s complicated,” or “it’s hard to explain,” then you need to figure out what you can say that will be memorable, interesting, and explain what you do and for whom in just a few words.

Five Things You Need to Know About Networking © 2005 Veronika Noize. All rights reserved.

1. Don’t act desperate.
People prefer to associate with successful people. If they think you are desperate, they will avoid you like the plague.

2. Don’t sell.
Never enter into any networking situation with the intention of selling. Networking is not sales; it’s relationship building.

3. Don’t monopolize.
Respect the value and short supply of other people’s time. Appreciate that your contacts are also attending to meet people and build relationships.

4. Don’t ask too soon.
Avoid asking for help until you’ve developed a relationship with your contact.

5. Don’t solicit competitors.
Don’t ask for or expect help from those who are in direct competition with you. Be realistic.

6. Don’t show off or brag.
Nobody likes braggarts and blowhards, except their mothers, and even that isn’t always so.

7. Don’t interrupt.
It’s rude and turns everyone off. It tells people that you think that what you have to say is more important than what they have to say.

8. Don’t just talk about you.
Besides irritating others, you won’t learn anything by talking only about yourself.

9. Don’t play it by ear.
Anticipate and be prepared. Have a killer 15-second “elevator speech” prepared to deliver along with the follow-up information that they might request.

10. Don’t misrepresent yourself.

The purpose of networking is to build long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. If you pretend to be what you are not, sooner or later you will be caught.

11. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.

See above.

12. Don’t pry.

Be clear about information you need, but don’t ask questions about areas that seem confidential.

13. Don’t linger with losers and “hangers-on.”

Your time is valuable and if you let them, some people will take as much of it as you allow. They latch onto you, try to take whatever they can get that could help them and are hard to shake.

14. Don’t overextend.

Select a few prime targets that you think you can realistically reach and put them on you’re A List. Be realistic; concentrate your utmost efforts on a few worthy targets, and place the rest on

your B List. (All of your fellow group members SHOULD be on you’re A List. These are the people who will sell you. Your meeting should be the most important appointment for the week.)

15. Don’t be discouraged.

Most good things take time, patience, and work. When you try to build relationships, you are attempting to become a part of someone’s life and many desirable people won’t let you right in.

(Taken from “Networking Magic”)

Abigail Dougherty http://www.straightedgesolutions.biz/ is a member of i Take The Lead’s Tanasbourne B2B group in Oregon. http://www.itakethelead.com/ Members absolutely love her. She understands that networking is about relationships. Thank you, Abgail, for your words of wisdom:

Networking is very misunderstood. Three common misconceptions about networking are:
1.Networking is synonymous with selling. I call this “see you – sell you”.
This is seldom successful and hurts your future opportunity with the recipient of that behavior.

2. Networking means collecting business cards. This misconception believes success is the number of cards collected at an event. At least until someone asks for details about the people and businesses represented by the cards.

3. etworking means finding people who can help me. Anyone who cannot help me, is not worth my time to network. Job seekers are the most likely to make this mistake

Successful networking is based on informal relationships that have the potential to be mutually beneficial. Three critical points are: INFORMAL, POTENTIAL and MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL.

Excellent networkers keep track of everyone they meet and they invest the time to get to know the other person well enough to understand what they do, who they really are – beyond the title on a business card and how they interact with the rest of the world. They develop a relationship with the other person. Only then can we understand how to send business to them, and when to contact them for help with a challenge of their own. We all know certain personality styles we would not recommend to our next-door neighbor or our best friend, no matter how good they are at their business. We also know neighbors and acquaintances we would not inflict on a business person we admire.

Networking requires genuine interest in the other person and a system to keep track of the people you meet so you can meet them repeatedly over time to build the relationship.

Networking has been a powerful technique for centuries. Otto Von Bismarck struggled to unify Germany under one ruler during the Franco Prussian Wars. Then he discovered that removing the leaders (usually the elder men) of each principality destroyed their network and stopped them from re-taking their region as soon as the main army moved on. This action is the genesis of the modern retirement laws in corporations today. Contributed by Abigail Dougherty