Networking & sales

Two words that go hand in hand. In today’s world of ever rising costs of advertising, successfully networking you and your business can be the difference in sustained growth or decline.

 

"In a world where everything from bowl games to satellite launches are corporately sponsored, we are literally inundated with advertising on a daily basis. As a result, consumers are becoming desensitized to the entire phenomenon of marketing. Additionally, new technology is giving us unprecedented control over our media. The growing prevalence of DVRs (digital video recording devices), caller ID systems, and Pop-Up and SPAM blocking programs is increasingly granting us opportunities to simply ignore advertisements altogether. Recent shifts in advertising trends have forced many companies to seek new, creative methods to reach their perspective customers."

No one can provide any firm figures as to how many marketing messages confront an average person on any one day or any particular week. It would become quite obvious that if you were to take notice of every marketing message put in front of you on any one day, that You were in fact being bombarded.

One day a few weeks ago I counted over two hundred forms of marketing, both visual and auditory in one 60 minute trip to see a client.

The reality is your potential customers are being bombarded, and as pointed out in the above excerpt, “desensitized”. So how can you increase your leads?

The answer is simple. Networking.

Networking is one of the oldest known forms of marketing on the planet. The prospect of having a number of people advocating your services or products to others has to be one of the most cost effective forms of advertising. There are countless networking groups throughout the world. Some are global, some regional and others local. Knowing which one is the right one for you and your business, is the hard part.

Whilst there are many successful networking groups in operation, there are many more that can be quite detrimental to your business and your sanity.

What makes a successful networking group will vary from person to person. The views expressed below are mine and based upon personal experience, so whilst some may agree, you are welcome to your own opinion. Just keep it to yourself though, ok?

A successful networking group can be described as one where through the building of understanding and mutual trust, its members are provided with business opportunities from their fellow members by way of introduction to potential sources of business.

In essence, the passing of a warm lead to a fellow trusted business colleague. In a time where we are all vying for the opportunity to present our specific products or services to a potential client, the competitive edge is gained when someone else sells the benefits of dealing with you, before you have ever met.

The true benefit comes when the referrer has a sound understanding of your business, your unique selling proposition (USP) and creates a level of anticipation in the potential client.

As some would say “The deal may well have already been done before you have walked through the door.”

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