A personal story… I thought it was about time I gave you one.
Business networking is something a lot of people love to hate: It is time-consuming, expensive, and in most cases very inefficient.
I can bear the “time-consuming”…
I can even live with the “expensive”…
If – and it’s a big “if” – it produces results!
…
Which it typically doesn’t.
Most people who attend networking meetings are only interested in themselves. They don’t care about your product or service; they just want to pitch you theirs.
Now, for the record, I am not opposed to networking: I am a member of the Rotary Club, I am a Toastmaster, I visit various Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade. I have and still do belong to several business networking groups. I also go to a number of industry shows and events.
So I am not anti-networking.
What I am is… anti-networking-with-no-results-to-show-for-it.
Here’s how I went from networking with no results to networking that produces a constant, predictable and measurable inflow of prospects for my business.
I attended a breakfast meeting at the local Board of Trade. They had the usual: 30-second presentations by all businesses in attendance, the cookies and the coffee, followed by “natural” networking.
I met 13 new people at that meeting. I came back to my office with 13 new business cards in hand. Once I entered all these contacts into my list, I sent them a simple greeting card that said this:
Dear [name of the person],
If was nice meeting you at the networking breakfast earlier today.
I really enjoyed our conversation about [topic we have discussed]
I’d like to learn more about your business so as I could know who is a good referral for you. Please call me at (000) 000-0000 when you receive this card.
Thank you & I look forward to speaking with you.
One week later, 6 people called me to thank for the card I sent them.
Let me tell you something important about my business: It DOES matter who calls whom first. In this case, they called me, something that has never happened before! 6 people out of 13… that’s 46%! Not too shabby in my books. With such a response rate, this is serious business.
And as of the time of writing this, out of these 6 people, 2 became clients and one has referred a number of other businesses to me. 2 out 6 is 33%! Any way you slice it, it’s a fantastic ratio.
Thanks for posting your blog on the LinkedIn Toronto Entrepreneur Alliance site.
I like the idea of following up with a written note (not an email) and actually being interested in what *they* are looking for. It really is frustrating giving a card and just getting added to a sales funnel mailing list.
Hi Alex
Great idea. I’m guest speaking at a networking event on Tuesday so I’ll give this technique a try. I’ve always been dismayed at the difficulty of making networking work for me. This should turn that around. I’ll report back with my results.
Thanks
Aaron
Aaron,
Did you try it? How did it go?
-Alex
Hi Paul, glad you like the idea. I not anti-email. Email is great but it’s effectiveness low (but so is the cost). You add a few nickels and you send a card in the mail IN ADDITION to sending the email, and you’ll see how dramatically different your sales results are going to be.
-Alex
You got one of the most important points correct… Ask how you can help and get to know who is a good referral for them. Next, is to really take this process deeper. Meaning when you meet with them find out how you can really help them. Without a doubt, finding an area of how you can help them (not just by selling your product) in there business will result in exponential referrals.
Someone told me a long time ago, help someone out without being asked in their business where you can and they will lick a floor covered in glass trying to help you in return. Odd analogy, but it works and I love meeting new people just to find out how I can help them in some sincere way… Just be time conscious on the help and you can sky rocket your reputation and business in a short period.