Networking Is Not Selling

My good friend, Ronnie Noize, Google’s #1 Marketing Coach http://www.veronikanoize.com wrote the following exceptional article for anyone who’s interested in finding new clients.

The first challenge of most business owners is to find prospects who turn into clients, but how and where to find them can be a puzzler.

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet that instantly generates a slew of clients. What usually has to happen is that we surface a number of suspects (people we SUSPECT may be interested in products and/or services such as ours), and from that pool we find our PROSPECTS, or people who are prospective purchasers if all needs and conditions are satisfied. Finally, when the decision to purchase is made, we have clients (or customers or patients or members or whatever you wish to call them).

What may be different from one business to another is the process for attracting suspects, cultivating prospects, and acquiring clients. In some cases the process is relatively short and simple, in others, the process may require multiple steps to qualify the prospect and nurture the relationship to fruition.

The key to success is to meet your suspects halfway–showing up where they are looking for or thinking about the solution to the problem you solve or the experience you offer, so that even if they don’t know that YOU exist, you have the basis to begin a relationship.

Here is a short list of quick and easy ways to surface likely leads (suspects and prospects who turn into clients) for your business:

1. Offer a valuable piece of educational material on your website. This piece of information could be a free report, ebook, audio, newsletter, assessment, or other tool; all that really matters is that it is of sufficient perceived value to entice your visitor to exchange her name and email address in exchange for it. Caveat: Make sure that you require a double-opt in process, rather than an immediate redirect to the free stuff so that you capture valid contact information, or you won’t be able to follow up.
2. Speaking at a meeting, seminar, or other public event. As the guest expert (which speakers usually are), you are in a position of visibility and credibility that is a powerful combination for prospecting. Invite your audience to give you feedback, request a copy of your presentation, or redeem a free or reduced price consultation with a feedback card that you bring to the presentation. Or you may simply hold a drawing for a book or other prize at the end of your presentation, using the drawing entry forms or even business cards as leads.
3. Referrals from your current clients are usually much more likely to buy than cold leads, so consider putting referral programs in place. There are three ways to get referrals, and you should be using all of them. The first way is to earn referrals, meaning that your clients are so thrilled they can’t stop telling others about you. The second way to is ask your clients, colleagues, and Power Partners for referrals, and to take responsibility for following up so you don’t burden your referral partners with the work of referring. The third way to generate referrals is to reward those who refer in both a public and a generous manner. Perhaps you thank them in your newsletter, award points that they can redeem for cool prizes, or better yet, send them personal thanks by mail.
4. Post special offers and/or specific programs in your online communities. Examples include Craigslist in the small business ads or classes sections; or in listservs such as Yahoo or Google groups; online communities such as LinkedIn, Biznik, and Facebook; or even online forums and bulletin boards.
5. Live meetings and events provide the perfect opportunity for eyeball-to-eyeball connecting, and can be fun, too. This doesn’t have to be a networking meeting per se, although those can be terrific for meeting new folks. Also in this category are association and trade meetings, conventions, rallys, and other meetings that offer opportunities for interaction between participants.
6. Drawings or giveaways at trade shows, conventions, or other live events can generate loads of great leads, as well as plenty of folks who are not at all interested in what you offer, so be sure that your prize is something that is of specific interest to your target client, or that the pool is already pre-qualified in some way. One way to pre-qualify is to use entry forms that gather pertinent info rather than simply using business cards.
7. Direct mail to a qualified list of suspects can be very profitable, as long as the list is qualified and the offer is strong. Lists can be obtained in a variety of ways, but one way that I really like is the endorsed mailing to a Power Partner (a non-competing professional who shares your ideal client). This strategy combines direct mail with referral, and can be very persuasive. The endorsed mailing can be as simple as a letter from the Power Partner to her clientele introducing you (and your special offer) and explaining why she’s recommending that her clients work with you.
8. Advertising is often the first thing business owners consider, and for most folks traditional advertising is a total waste of money because it is not measurable. Advertising can be a good lead generator when it is what is called direct response advertising, so that you can see a return on your investment by the number of responses you receive. This would include a coupon, special offer, toll-free phone number or other response mechanism that can be measured and evaluated. Remember that pretty ads may win awards, but direct response ads win leads.
9. Recorded messages on toll-free information lines are a wonderful way for the shy suspect to investigate your product or service without the pressure of having to speak to a sales person, so do consider using this as a tool. The free message is not about how to buy from you, but usually a message educating the suspect on the pitfalls, dangers, or unexpected outcomes of choosing a vendor before knowing all the facts, or some other piece of information that is necessary to make a good decision, followed by a special offer and call to action.
10. Coupon mailers can entice new clients to try your services at a fraction of the cost of regular mass direct mail. This is an especially good option for retailers or recurring services businesses like dentists and garages. Caveat: If your offer is for a price reduction on a regular product or service and you run the offer consistently, you will teach your prospects to wait for the coupon to buy. However, if your coupon is for a discount on an additional item or free bonus or premium, you will not canibalize your regular sales, attract new customers and keep your margins high.
11. Directories such as the yellow pages are often best for emergency services, but a solid offer in a directory ad can bring in the new folks like clockwork. I like to test messages and offers with a Google adwords campaign before committing to a full year in a directory, so that I can be confident that my ad will actually work without just crossing my fingers and wishing.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to attract new clients, but there is a reason that these are on this list: They work. Now go out there and find new clients!

SoHo Marketing Guru 
Business Coaching & Development LLC
951 Officers Row · Vancouver, WA 98661 · USA
360-882-1298 voice · 866-560-1510 fax

Networking is a skill, like any others, which means that it needs to be practiced on a regular basis. But what is networking? Is it really just the stereotypical meeting with people exchanging business cards and pithily offering their latest elevator speeches, or is there more to networking?

I would suggest that there’s a lot more to networking than just attending networking meetings and that many networkers miss out on lots of opportunities, because what they are actually doing is less of networking and more of socializing. Socializing is part of networking, but networking extends deeper than that. The purpose of networking is to create connections between different people with different needs. It’s not just a social event, but rather a way to create community.

The problem with many networking groups is that there is a tendency to focus on the superficial aspects of small talk and handing out business cards. The focus tends to be more on what each person does, and much less on finding out what other people need. In fact, when I ask people what they need at a networking event, they often are surprised at the question and initially struggle to answer it, because it asks them to be vulnerable and open with me, as opposed to relying on the traditional small talk that goes with most networking events. Small talk, however, avoids creating opportunities and ultimately makes networking less successful than it could or should be.

To make networking a success, at some point the networker needs to realize that networking is less about being social and more about solving problems by making connections between people and the situations those people are in, with other people qualified to solve the problems. We need to cut through the small talk and focus on actually developing real relationships with other people, which means asking questions that go beyond what do you or what’s your job? The following suggestions are made from my own experiences of trying to take my networking to a new level.

1. Ask what do you need? It’s a very direct question. I often notice that people will be surprised at this question and have to think for a moment or two, but will then respond with a lot of details about what they do need…and what they need won’t always be related to getting clients, but could still be just as important to their business or even personal situation.

2. Pay close attention to what they say or what they do. I once heard a networking partner say his back was sore. I asked him if he wanted a referral to an acupuncturist or chiropractor, and he was very grateful for the suggestions and followed up with them. Another time, a tattoo store owner had his store tattooed by a graffiti artist and said he needed security cameras. I put him in touch with someone who could meet his needs. Pay attention to what people say and do about their problems. It will help you make connections for them, especially if they are in a situation, which evokes an emotional response. Being able to see and make connections when they can’t, can really help them out.

3. Ask people to tell you about problems they solve. By learning what types of problems people solve, you can then think of those people when a similar problem arises and refer business to those people. Additionally the people who are experiencing the problem will be grateful for your quick response. Knowing the types of problems people solve also gives you better insight into what they actually do and helps them think about the clients they’ve worked with in the past.

4. Go out to lunch or have some people over for dinner. Networking isn’t about giving out business cards; it’s about creating relationships. Spend time getting to know people you network with outside of the usual networking meetings. Doing so will give you an opportunity to learn more about them, beyond just a job title or what they do. You’ll learn useful information, and also build a stronger relationship.

5. Follow-up on your promises. I always follow up later the very day I’ve met the person, with an email and a linkedin and (where applicable) Biznik invitation. Also if I know that I can help the person, I make connections happen both way, by passing the contact information to each person. I don’t give contact information to just one person, because if that person is busy or overwhelmed, he or she won’t think about contact the other person, even if that person could help him/her. By passing contact info to both people, I improve the chances that a connection will happen, and that problems will get solved.

Networking is more than chamber of commerce meetings or leads group meetings. Networking is a frame of mind, with a perspective that focuses on figuring out how to help different people you know solve problems they have. The business that you get will come about as a result of showing people that you know how to help them with their situations. They will feel taken care of, and will consequently take care of you. So move past the what do you do question, and ask what do you need…and start solving problems by making connections. When you do that, you’ll be a successful networker.

Contribued by Taylor Ellwood
http://www.imagineyourreality.com
http://www.imagineyourreality.com/blog
“I teach businesses how to automate their social media marketing presence and work on themselves.
Business and Social Media Coach

A wonderful woman I met at a meeting I spoke at (Sellwood B2B) on Effective Internet Marketing You Can Do Yourself for Free mentioned when we spoke again that she hadn’t been able to attend recently because she felt she had to choose between clients and a networking group, and what follows is what I wrote back to her hours later when the comment resurfaced in my mind – that she said she greatly appreciated.  Becky asked me to post it because it has some very good points about networking – and the one at the end has been one of my secrets to success for my business!

“You commented earlier about weighing priorities as in clients vs the network groups, and it just popped in my head again, but I think the two can and should be complimentary.  But I’m not selling you on networking groups – this is my intuition telling me to email you back and let you know: in networking we work together to bring each other more clients (we are each other’s part time sales force), to foster a better reputation, and to grow personally by surrounding ourselves with like-minded professionals.

I actually have a great group of professionals, a majority of them are quality women, that meet on Tuesdays at noon at Kennedy School McMenamin’s. I have no idea how far that is from you or what your Tuesdays look like, but I think you would be a stand out contributor and find great value in it.  I happened to invite another woman today that may also be a good fit, she’s in payroll which we need – but actually I see you as an ideal fit.

I gave a networking tip today to the group that was EXTREMELY well received and it has worked wonders for me – invite your prospects and clients to the meetings.  How does that serve them and you?  They are able to do business with people at the group, able to receive referrals from the group and they get to hear about you from some of your closest (networking) partners who may also be client’s themselves (as I would).  I personally make it a point to do business with people in my groups so I can give a testimonial as a client.

Just a few cents I hope make sense.”

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Charles Montgomery

Northwest eSource

(503) 922 – 1446

charles@nwesource.com

http://www.NWeSource.com