9
Steps to Landing More Clients and Referrals from
Every Networking Opportunity You Get
by
Adam Urbanski, The
Marketing Mentor
Quickly,
tell me - how much business did you generate in the last 30
days from your networking efforts? OK, make it the
last 90 days? If you are disappointed with your lack of results,
you are not alone! If your answer is "not much",
maybe it's time to sharpen your skills with this 9-step networking
plan.
Step
1 - Plan Ahead.
The
biggest investment you make into networking is your time.
And most people don't budget it adequately to maximize their
results.
They
show up late and leave early. Reverse this - show
up early and leave late - and give yourself enough
time to connect with people before and after meetings officially
start.
Here
is a little secret that very few people know - plan
and block time to evaluate your results after the meeting:
Was
that group a good match for you?
Look through the business cards you collected - did you have
an opportunity to really connect with those people?
How will you follow up?
These are just a few questions you should be asking yourself
after each meeting. This is just as important as showing up
in the first place. Most people skip this step and end up
frustrated and overwhelmed because they don't take the time
to "get organized."
Step
2 - Choose Where and Who you network with.
Again
and again people ask me, "There are so many different
groups... Where should I go to get the biggest bang for my
buck?"
In
general there are no right and wrong groups, but they might
be right or wrong for you.
There
are basically four main categories of groups out there:
Professional
associations. Most every city has chapters of organizations
that bring together professionals involved in the same trade.
Attorneys,
Consultants, Contractors, Manufacturers, and so on - all like
to hang out together. With a bit of research you can easily
find such groups near you.
Here
is BIG tip: go to YOUR professional association for education
and support. Go to professional associations of YOUR CLIENTS
to get business. Yeah, I know, it seems obvious - but you'd
be amazed that most people just plain out don't get it!
·
Non-profit groups. Personally, I think everyone should be
involved in some organization that allows them to give back
to community. And there are a lot of good causes to get involved
in.
This
gives you good visibility, and access to local leaders you
might find hard to meet otherwise. Plus - it's just a good
habit to contribute time and money to worthy causes.
While
you shouldn't count on getting business from these groups
right away, when you do - it will be worth your while many
times over.
·
Professional networking meetings. Like those organized by
local Chamber of Commerce or other, privately owned groups.
While probably the most popular, these can often be a "total
mixed bag", and unless you have a solid plan to "penetrate"
the group fast and position yourself as a highly visible COI
(more on that later) you'll be terribly disappointed with
results you get from such groups.
·
Lead Exchange Groups. These typically allow only one person
in each profession and meet regularly only for the sole purpose
of exchanging leads with each other.
While
groups composed of well established professionals can be very
effective in cross-promoting each other's businesses, in most
lead-exchange groups there are just two or three people that
end up giving and getting most referrals - everyone else just
isn't getting it.
Frankly,
I think that unless you find a group with really savvy, well-established
professionals in it - these groups are totally ineffective
for the amount of time and money that you are asked to invest
in them. (OK, I can just see the flood of emails on this one
from people determined to prove otherwise!)
Finally, remember that depending on your business and who
your clients are, your best place to network could be a golf-club
membership and weekly round of golf. And don't overlook people
who already have you as a client. Hey, I stumbled upon an
entirely new niche, simply because my daughters needed braces!
Step
3 - Develop a Magnetic ABC (Audio Business Card?)
People
judge you by their first impressions of you. And if what you
say to them in the first few seconds isn't clear, compelling
and memorable - you'll just slip into oblivion like dozens
of others we run into every day and then quickly forget them.
I
bet you took at least a few hours, if not a few days, to design
your printed business card. But did you take at least 15 minutes
to develop and practice your ABC?! I bet not!
Teaching
you how to develop a good ABC is a subject for whole new lesson,
but here is just the gist of what works and what doesn't.
Don't
say:
Your
title, like "I'm the president of Blah, Blah, and Blah,
Inc" - boring!
Your label, like "I'm a consultant" - OK, good for
you. Now tell me what you can do for me.
Where you live and work - I've never met anyone who's hired
me because of my street address!
How long you've been in business - people really don't care
if I stepped off the boat yesterday, or if I've lived here
my entire life. All they want to know is - if and how I can
help them.
Do say:
Who
your ideal clients are.
What are their biggest problems you solve for them.
How they are better off as a result of working with you.
How to best start benefiting from your services right away
(more on that in a moment)
This is really a critical skill. If you don't know how to
create magnetic first impressions and don't have an effective
Audio Business Card - don't bother leaving your office. Your
getting any business from networking will be purely accidental,
and your chances for landing a new client or referral are
as good as those of being struck by a lightning - if you catch
my drift.
Step
4 - It's All About the Right Positioning.
Simply
put, most people in the networking environment are prospecting
- which is LOOKING for potential clients. Positioning is about
reversing this process - allowing potential clients
to FIND YOU. It's a big difference when you have people coming
to you versus you chasing them.
There
is an entire process I teach my clients around this concept.
And it starts long before you even show up for any meeting.
It's not hard to do. With a bit of cleverness, and some advanced
planning, anyone can do it.
Step
5 - Preparing Irresistible Bait.
You
must have Attraction Tools? in place. Finding clients is a
bit like going fishing. You may love strawberries, but you
would never put a strawberry on a fishing hook and throw it
in the water because fish don't like strawberries.
When
I first got started I quickly built a database of over two
thousand subscribers to my newsletter, simply by offering
an attractive bait, and promoting it effectively by turning
my printed business card into an advertising billboard.
(Side
note from Adam: if you want to find out more how to easily
create information products that become Attraction Tools?
my
Info-Product Intensive Guide is a good place to start.)
Step
6 - Meet COI and Become a COI (Center of Influence)
Every
group has a small number of core members - a higher echelon
reserved for top movers and shakers. These few savvy entrepreneurs
often exchange more business amongst each other than the rest
of the group combined.
Your
job is to become part of this group as quickly as possible.
Effective networking is not about who you know, but
- more importantly - about who knows you. So becoming
one of the big fish in a small pond is like hitting a lottery
jackpot - new business will just keep coming in!
Step
7 - Deliver Immediate Value.
One
of the easiest ways to build relationships and deliver value
is to be interested in other people. We all love
to talk about ourselves. But when you network, if you are
able to temporarily suspend the need to blabber on about yourself
- you'll instantly be better off than 99% of other people
in the room.
Next,
keep in mind that people are naturally lazy communicators
and lazy thinkers. We tend to say the same thing to everyone
we meet. So even a slight variation from a typical pattern
makes the moment of meeting you more memorable.
Actually
it's not that hard to say memorable things in an environment
where most everyone else is trying to sell something. Simply
DON'T ASK FOR THE BUSINESS! Be curious, ask engaging,
challenging questions. Or you can develop a Polish
accent (OK, so this one may not work for you as well as it
works for me - but it's worth a try, right?)
Step
8 - Get Maximum Visibility.
Once
you've invested your money and time into actually getting
together with other people, you might as well get the biggest
bang for your buck out of it, right?
Most
people are simply invisible! Even if you meet them, they seem
to work so hard on NOT making any impression on you, that
you likely forget them right as you turn around to "Hi"
to the next person.
Getting
visibility is easy - if you know how. Here are a few simple
tips:
Volunteer
to run the registration table.
Appoint yourself an official greeter and meet everyone as
they walk into the room.
Stand up and share a great resource with everyone in the room.
Ask the speaker a question that will SHOWCASE your own expertise.
Step 9 - Follow up. Follow up. Follow up...
In
the last five years I can probably think of less than a dozen
people who have actually followed up with me as they promised!
Even fewer followed up with me more than once or twice. Some
of those people I really wanted to do business with - but
they let me down by disappearing.
Aren't
you concerned about how much business you lose by "disappearing"
on people after you've invested so much of your efforts into
connecting with them in the first place?
I
learned my ultimate lesson about following up when I was courting
my wife. I might have thought I was prince charming, but it
took me two years, and multiple "irresistible offers"
before she thought so too and bought into the deal.
Bottom
line, you must have a system in place that will allow you
to effortlessly and automatically keep in touch with potential
clients - "till they buy or die!"
(c)
2006 Adam M. Urbanski
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About
the Author
Adam
Urbanski, the Marketing Mentor, helps Independent
Service Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more
clients. For more promotional tips and a FREE 32-page marketing
guide
go to www.themarketingmentors.com
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