Networking is a key element in our plan for growing the business. It has always been the best source for solid leads for new clients.
As such, we belong to a number of different organizations that host various events throughout each month. I encourage my sales team to attend at least two events per week and more if they can.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Why? It gets them in front of new prospects regularly as well as gives them the opportunity to be seen by clients and prospects they met previously. It really is true, out of sight, out of mind.
I regularly attend the Greater Miami Chamber Trustee Luncheon. However, I missed one not long ago. At the next meeting I had two of my clients come up and ask me where I had been the month before (they thought I might be on vacation). I was surprised they noticed I wasn’t there.
At these events I also have clients come up to me and tell me they’ve been meaning to call, they have an upcoming event they need assistance with. So, as an added bonus many times they are standing next to a prospect and they introduce me!
Your Quick Pitch is Crucial
However, if you are going to networking events regularly you also need to be prepared with your 30 second commercial. I personally don’t care for the ones that list off all the things that your company might do. I prefer the ones that talk about how you can help and benefit a company that uses your services.
It’s an important part of your sales pitch and deserves the time spent to perfect it. I like to try out various versions on the team, my family and friends and then clients that know us to get their feedback. Then as you actually use your pitch you can determine if you are getting the response you want. I like to intrigue more than sell so that they will ask to know more!
Engage, Don’t Lecture
Depending on the situation I may also work in a brief “success story” that may end with “and we increased their employee productivity by 20%”. They always ask how.
As you develop your sales pitch it helps to understand who you will be speaking to. What types of industries? That way you can also adjust your pitch accordingly.
As you understand your audience you can also determine the types of organizations and events you want to attend to promote your business. There are strictly networking events where everyone is there to make connections. If they provide a list of the attendees before the event, I will review and pick at least 5 key people I want to meet. As I search them out, I ask others if they know them and can make an introduction.
But please, don’t be that person that just walks up to everyone and hands a business card! No one will remember you and you don’t even know who you met, because you didn’t really meet them.
There are other opportunities like trade shows that get you in front of a lot of prospects, either as an attendee or exhibitor. We get some of our best leads attending various industry specific shows and walking the trade show floor. We get to see how they market themselves and then introduce ourselves and explain how we can help. We picked up three new clients at one recent show!
Have a Plan for Following Up on Leads
One of the main ingredients to successfully convert prospects to clients is in the follow up. I was speaking with a fellow business owner recently that admitted that he had made 15 great connections at a show about six months ago, but only converted two to clients. Why? Unfortunately, he didn’t effectively follow-up with the other 13 companies on a regular basis!
And that is a common occurrence. As a matter of fact, almost 50% of salespeople follow-up only once with prospects after making a connection. Of the remaining 50%, less than 1/3 of those will follow-up twice and the pool just gets smaller and smaller.
However, most sales are made after the eighth contact!! So if you don’t have a way to keep track of your leads and follow up regularly you are losing a lot of potential business. Most sales people are afraid they are going to be perceived as pushy or bothersome. But if you are leaving effective messages, sending notes or spec samples they will at some point take notice and respond.
It is true, not everyone you meet is a good fit. We’ve all met those people that seem genuinely interested and may even ask for a quote. We provide it to them on a timely basis and follow-up with absolutely no response. I think it is rude not to respond, but that’s just me.
If you ask for a quote at least acknowledge it and say you’ve decided not to move forward. It will save everyone a lot of effort.
Persistence Pays Off
However, persistence does pay off, so if it takes six months or more to get a meeting with a solid prospect (someone you know has decision making authority and a budget) then have a plan to do it and follow it!
When I was first starting out in business I went to a lot of networking events hosted by many different organizations to see which ones fit my goals. I wanted to determine the type of attendee businesses and decision maker levels they attracted. Over the years I have moved on from some of the organizations as my business grew and the level of client I was seeking changed.
If you haven’t looked around at new organizations in a while, I highly recommend you check them out.
If you don’t have an active and long business development pipeline then at some point your business will probably stop growing.
Danette Gossett is the founder of Gossett Marketing, co-founder of Promotions Rescource LLC and co-author of the best-selling book “Transform” with Brian Tracy. Danette utilizes her more than 30 years of advertising agency and corporate marketing experience to develop effective promotional campaigns and products for her clients. Visit GossettMktg.com or SalesPromo.org and follow us on twitter @MarketngTidbits.