Sales and Sales Management Blog

October 16, 2008

Working a Networking Event Made Easy–and Effective

Filed under: Networking, Personal Marketing, business, prospecting, sales, selling, small business — Paul McCord @ 5:29 am
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Are you one of the millions of small business owners, salespeople, and professionals who have attended networking events held by the chamber of commerce or a business organization and found the experience to be far less than what you had hoped?  Attending networking events requires more than simply showing up-it requires a disciplined approach.

Typically, the frustrations and wasted time arise from two fundamental issues:

  • overblown expectations
  • not having a plan of attack

Networking events, especially those of a general nature organized by the chamber or a general business organization, will not provide you with a plate full of potential prospects.  If you can walk out of a networking event with three or four good potential contacts, you have done well.

Unfortunately, many, especially those who are not networking junkies, attend these functions with the hope of leaving the event with a whole stack of business cards of great prospects.  When their expectations are not met, they conclude that networking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and decide their time is better spent elsewhere.

In addition, most attendees waste the majority of their networking time.  Rather than an organized plan to maximize their benefit from the event, they simply attend hoping to “run into” prospects.

Yet, if you attend regularly and with realistic expectations, networking can eventually pay great dividends.  There are three “secrets” to making networking pay:

  1. Know Where You’re Going

Knowing who is likely to attend the event you are considering is as important as attending the event.  If you are considering going to an event you have never attended before, try to get a copy of the host organization’s member roster.  By examining the membership directory, you can get a fairly good idea of the type of people you can expect to meet.  If it appears there are a reasonable number of people and businesses of interest, plan on attending.  If you can’t get a copy of their member directory, call the organization and ask-most won’t mind the inquiry and will be happy to give you as much information as they can.

  1. Know Why You’re Going

Go with a definite number of contacts you want to make.  Determine how many good contacts you will need in order to make the investment of time worthwhile.  Depending on your particular product or service, that number may be only one or two-or may be much higher at five or six.  By establishing realistic, objective criteria, you can easily determine whether or not your time was well spent and whether or not you want to attend the event again in the future.

  1. Have a System for Working the Event

For most business owners and salespeople, the real networking event killer isn’t so much who is in attendance or even their own unrealistic expectations, but rather the time they waste during the event.

Working a networking room requires planning and a clear vision of how you will spend your time.  I and many of my clients that I’ve taught the following networking method have found it to be easy and very effective:

Arrive about 15 minutes before the official event start time.  Wear a large, easy to read, high quality, permanent nametag that features your first and last name, not just your first name.  Of course, have lots of business cards.  Business cards should be blank on the back.  Wear clothing with two easy to reach pockets.

Station yourself close to the entry door-close enough that people might mistake you for one of the hosts.  Greet each person as he or she enters.  Nothing more than a greeting-and, hopefully, noticing their company name.  All you want is to hear a name, put a name to a face and to make a quick judgment as to whether they might be a prospect.

When arrivals begin to slow, begin your progression around the room.  Move in one direction-left or right.  Greet the first person or group of people you meet.  This round of conversations should be short-two to three minutes at most.  Your goal is to introduce yourself and learn as much as you can in a very short span of time about the person or persons you’ve just met.  Don’t clutter the conversation with information about yourself-keep everything focused on the person or the persons you are speaking with.  Your goal at this event isn’t to sell it’s to qualify prospects.  This will be your second meeting with many of these people, although you will probably not remember their names.

Since many, if not most, will offer you a business card, you will begin to segregate cards into an interest stack and a non-interest stack.  When you meet someone you believe you’d like to get to know better-a potential prospect, put their business card in your right-hand pocket.  Those you don’t believe are prospects, put in your left-hand pocket.  This system allows you to immediately find the cards of those you want to reconnect with during the event without having to try to remember their name.

If you meet someone you would like to get to know better, before moving on to another group, let them know of your interest in learning more about their business and ask their permission to contact them via phone at a later date.  Once they agree, take one of your business cards and on the blank reverse side, write the day and an hour span of time during which you will call:  ”Thursday, March 12 between 10:30-11:30.”  This day and time will be the same for everyone you meet that you want to call.  It keeps you from having to remember when you will call, but because it is an hour span, you’ll have time to make several calls without concern that you won’t keep your appointment.

Now, move to the next group and continue in this manner for the majority of the event.  About 30 to 45 minutes prior to the end of the event, go into your last phase.  The last phase is taking the few cards in your right-hand pocket and seeking to reconnect with those people.  This will be your third chance to meet them and to put a name and face together.  In addition, since it will be your third meeting, they’ll begin to feel like they know you and they will probably greet you as a friend rather than as new acquaintance.  Just as you are implanting their name and face in your mind through multiple meetings with them during the event, you’re planting your name and face in their mind.

This conversation will be a little more in-depth, but, again, keep the focus on the

other person.  During this conversation, possibly you can move the conversation to the point that instead of a phone call on Thursday, you can invite them to lunch.  If not, prior to moving to the next person, again reiterate the phone call on Thursday and give them another business card with the same information written on the back.

On Thursday, make your phone calls and close for a get to know one another meeting.

This structure allows you to “meet” a prospect three times during the course of the event, set up a definite telephone conversation and help both you and the prospect quickly move from the “just met” stage to acquaintance stage very quickly.  All without having to remember any details during the course of the event.

If you keep your expectations reasonable and focus you time during the event on the few true prospects you meet, you’ll find your time at networking events to be both more enjoyable and profitable.

September 5, 2008

Networking Lessons from Mother Teresa and Machiavelli

Filed under: Client Relationships, Networking, business, prospecting, sales, sales psychology, selling — Paul McCord @ 7:38 am
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Little, sweet, big hearted, concerned only with the poor, the hungry, the homeless. That’s our image of Mother Teresa. And she was that in reality. But she was more-much more.

Conniving, heartless, power hungry, goal focused, destroy anything in your path. That’s our image of Machiavelli. Well, he actually wasn’t all that, but that’s the message that has been gleaned from The Prince, his treatise to his prince on how to govern.

Mother Teresa must have studied The Prince well because she learned the book’s lessons well. And Machiavelli must have been friends with Nostradamus to have envisioned the means by which to create great working relationships in modern American business.

What did Machiavelli understand about modern business so well that he taught it to Mother Teresa and she used it so successfully?

Fortunately, it isn’t the ruthlessness, the exercise of power, or the need to be vigilant in identifying and destroying threats, although it sounds like some modern businesspeople have been reading The Prince also.

What Machiavelli and Mother Teresa understood so well was human nature. They understood how to get what they wanted without the use of force, of ruthlessness, of power. They understood how to create relationships that brought people to do their bidding (admittedly, in Machiavelli’s vision there was always the threat of the more unpleasant means if one sought to resist).

Unlike so many today who try to take advantage of their connections to get what they want, Machiavelli and Mother Teresa understood that you must first give in order to get.

So often I see salespeople and business owners try to coerce people they meet into buying from them or giving them referrals. Not coerce in the sense of force, but rather coerce by immediately overwhelming them with information about who they are, what they do, their great products or service, their stupendous customer service, their unbelievable offers.

They hardly give the other person an opportunity to breath.

They don’t take the time to learn a thing about the other person or what they may or may not need or want.

Their approach is that of a volcano, spewing forth words like lava, hoping to bury them in so much hot BS that the other person capitulates in order to just survive the encounter.

Any of us who have been to a networking event, conference, or seminar have met these people. They swarm the floor like flies, moving from person to person with fantastic speed, leaving in their wake a series of potential connections who hope they never encounter that salesperson again.

We meet them and are appalled. We think to ourselves, “What a dufess.”

But in reality, that dufess just might be us. It’s so easy to fall into that type of behavior without even recognizing it.

Mother Teresa and Machiavelli understood the fruitlessness of this behavior. They understood that in order get what they wanted they had to first take a sincere (Mother Teresa) or calculated (Machiavelli) interest in the other person and to find something of value they could give-and then they could expect to get. And more importantly, they understood the value they gave had to be something the other person recognized as valuable. They understood that they had to dig; they had to discover what was valuable to the person they were dealing with. They didn’t give something they thought was of value; they gave what the other person thought was of value-even if that was something they would not have thought of being of much value themselves.

Whether sincere or calculated, if you want value from your connections, be they clients, family, friends, or new acquaintances, you must find ways to first give value. And you don’t get to decide what’s valuable and what isn’t-that is for the person you’re trying to connect with to decide.

And for their effort what did Machiavelli and Mother Teresa get? Machiavelli’s prince got power. Mother Teresa got the funding and the ability to carry out her work. Each had very different objectives, but they got them the same way. You can too.

July 21, 2008

Netting a Return on Networking

Filed under: Networking, Niche Marketing, Personal Marketing, business, marketing, prospecting, sales, selling, small business — Paul McCord @ 9:06 am
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Networking.  For many, if not most, salespeople and managers that word evokes images of the Chamber of Commerce networking nights, the breakfast lead exchange groups, and pestering mom, dad, the black sheep uncle, and anyone else that might be able to cough up lead.

That word may also conjure up memories-maybe really recent memories from like, yesterday-of wasted time, a room full of no real prospects, dad’s agonized tone of voice that belies his smile and can’t hide his unease with the request to give a referral to his friends and acquaintances.

Although there are many good books on networking, many salespeople are still spending a good deal of time and effort seeking to network in the wrong places, with the wrong people, and with the wrong goals.  They view networking as a grazing activity, seeking out venues where they can find a sizable group of men and women, and spit out their ‘value proposition’ to as many of them as possible in as little time as possible.  Favorite haunts tend to be the local chamber of commerce; the networking events of various local business associations and groups; lead exchange breakfast groups; and the proverbial family and friends.

Not surprisingly, few salespeople who approach networking in this manner find their time and effort to be well spent.  Grazing for contacts and leads generally doesn’t work because it violates some key aspects of business and human nature.

Location, location, location.  The old real estate adage applies to networking as well.  Where you network is of prime importance.

Although easy, floating into the chamber networking event isn’t likely to produce results.  In most instances, these events are overwhelmingly dominated by other salespeople who are also looking for the opportunity to meet new prospects–and who are not the least bit interested in being sold to.  Instead of finding yourself in a room of 125 prospects, it is far more likely to find yourself in a room of 100 salespeople and 25 business owners and managers-of which only a very small handful would be quality prospects for you.  Certainly you can meet prospects.  And certainly there are sales made from the contacts developed at chamber meetings.  But the return on time and energy investment is usually extremely small.

Lead exchange groups can be very viable opportunities for those selling the right products and services.  A mechanic or quick print company might find a lead exchange group to be an extremely valuable source of new business.  On the other hand, a salesperson selling enterprise solutions or a management recruiter would more than likely find little if any success in one of these groups.  Nevertheless, I’ve know management consultants, copyright attorneys, and financial services salespeople who sell money management services with a minimum portfolio size of a million dollars who invested their time and energy in these groups before they discovered it was a poor match for their services.

This is not to say that networking through groups can’t be worthwhile.  It can.  You just have to spend your time and energy in the right places.  Where are the right places?  That, of course, depends on what you sell, but whatever you sell, the right place is where you’ll find a large number of legitimate prospects and that tends to be in specialized organizations and associations.

If you sell high end printing equipment, you want to spend your time where prospects who purchase high-end printing equipment gather-say the local associations for architects, manufacturers, or design companies.  If you sell financial services, you would spend you time where there are likely a number of wealthy prospects.  You want to be where your prospects are, it’s that simple.

Networking general business groups tends to be low return; networking specialized groups where your prospects gather tends to be high return.  Although this is common sense, it goes against the grain of what most salespeople do.

Human Nature: Networking events are usually a terrible time to try to market yourself because you’re going against the grain of the objectives of most of the participants.  There will certainly be a few participants at these events whose only objective is to meet new people or to mingle with friends, but most are there for one reason-to find and connect with prospects.  And how do they intend to do that?  By spending their time talking about themselves.

Probably more than 80% of the contacts you make at a typical networking event have little interest in hearing your story because that’s not what they are there for.  They are there to get their story out.  Their networking methodology is to float from person to person until they find a live target and then to try to wow them with their value proposition and set an appointment.  This is hardly an atmosphere conducive to finding and connecting with quality prospects.

Even if you invest your time in organizations and associations that are full of your prime prospects you can’t go with the intent of collaring prospects and spewing forth your value proposition, your product’s benefits, and how great you are.  Networking is a process, not a one-time event.  Networking is about developing relationships, not grazing for low hanging fruit.

To successfully network takes time, commitment, and a sincere desire to get to know-and help-people.   Networking isn’t a short-term sales generator; rather it is a long-term business builder.

Networking in an organization or association requires a commitment on your part to the organization.  Thinking you can just show up at a networking event and have an impact is going to be disappointing.  But becoming involved-becoming a part of the group can generate a great deal of sustained business because it caters to the way human beings think and how they respond to others.

Humans have a tendency to view their own problems as somewhat unique.  Intellectually they recognize the universality of their own issues, but emotionally they view their problems as distinctly their own.  This tendency to view problems as unique can be one of the most powerful opportunities a salesperson can take advantage of.

Although few problems a trucking company encounters are truly unique to the trucking industry, most decision makers in trucking companies view their industry’s issues as unique to the trucking industry.  Likewise, most decision makers in the printing business view their issues as unique to the printing industry.  This isn’t to say that the issue per se is unique but that the particulars of the issue are industry unique.  If the particulars are unique, then the solution is undoubtedly somewhat unique also.  If the particulars and the solution is unique, then it is natural that the decision maker wants to work with someone who really ‘understands’ their issues.

That ‘understanding’ is where your opportunity comes in play.

By joining and becoming a part of their industry’s association, you become one of the team-in other words, you’re perceived to really ‘understand’ the ‘uniqueness’ of their problems and issues and consequently you understand the solutions they need.  People want to work with people they believe recognize and understand the uniqueness of their needs, issues and problems, not someone who treats every business and every situation in the same manner with a canned ‘solution.’  The heart specialist can charge more and is more highly respected than the family generalist because she has a unique understanding of the issues and solutions of the patient.  When seeking a divorce, most people seek out a divorce lawyer rather than a generalist because they believe the specialist has knowledge and skills the generalist doesn’t.

By becoming a part of the team you put yourself in the position of an industry specialist-you ‘know’ and ‘understand,’ and that knowing and understanding sets you apart from your competitors.  You go to the top of the list when one of the members of the organization needs your services.  You become an expert, not a generalist.

The key to successfully networking within these organizations and associations is to become an actual part of the group.  You can’t just show up at networking events-if you do you’ll be viewed as nothing more than an opportunist.  You have get in and work with the group-volunteer for committee work, help on fundraisers, pay your dues-both in terms of money and sweat.

It’s About the Prospect, Not You: Networking is about relationships and relationships are built on mutual respect, understanding, and a sincere desire to know the other person.  To connect means to bond with the other person and bonding takes time.

Most people love to talk about themselves and they tend to naturally like and respect those people who allow them to do that.  Instead of spending your time talking about yourself and your value proposition, spending the vast majority of your initial meeting-even your initial two or three meetings-learning about the other person will pay great dividends in the long run.  Don’t rush to talk about your value proposition, your products or services, what you do for companies, or even your background.  Concentrate on getting to know the person in front of you-there will be plenty of time later to get to you and what you do.

When you let people talk you learn a great deal about them, about their likes, their history, their wants and needs, their hopes and dreams-and very quickly you learn whether or not they are viable prospects.  The more they talk, the more you learn.  The more you learn, the better opportunity you will have later to direct the conversation in directions that naturally lead to how you can serve them.

Most salespeople spend far too much time talking and far too little time listening.  This is especially so when networking.  Learn to keep you mouth shut and your ears open.  Allow your new acquaintance to lead the conversation by doing exactly what you want them to do-talk about themselves, their business, their needs.  If you remember, Peter Faulk as Columbo didn’t speak much, asked a great many questions, and always got what he wanted in the end because the suspect always ended up telling him what he needed to know-either directly or indirectly.  Turns out selling is similar-prospects always tell you what you need to know in the end if you can keep you mouth shut, ask lots of questions, and like Columbo, know how to listen.

Networking can generate a tremendous return on investment if done correctly.  By just going where your prospects go, understanding the natural tendency of humans to view their problems and issues as unique and becoming that uniquely qualified specialist who understand their issues and the solutions, and allowing your prospect to talk will open a lot more doors than trying to graze the low fruit at artificial networking events.

July 15, 2008

Referral Sources or Referral Partnerships?

Filed under: Networking, Referral Selling, business, lead generation, marketing, prospecting, sales, selling, small business — Paul McCord @ 7:44 am
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Is your pipeline anemic?

Are you finding yourself having to work harder to find and connect with quality prospects?

Is your call list getting short and you’re not sure where you’re going to find new names?

Whether you’re facing the above issues or not, aligning yourself with others who can expose you to new prospects, help set up the sale for you, and help make life more enjoyable is one of the most effective marketing methods you can employ.

Enlisting other salespeople or companies who sell to the same prospects as you to help you find and connect with quality prospects has been a staple of marketing for top producers for decades—and unsuccessfully imitated by countless others.

Why have top producers found working with other professionals for referrals to work so well while so many others have failed to capitalize on them?

I often hear salespeople and managers–and even some sales trainers–talk about seeking out ‘referral sources’ to help them find and connect with prospects.  These referral sources tend to be salespeople who are likely to deal with people or companies that would be great prospects for the salesperson and who might need or want their product or service.

These ‘referral sources’ discussions always interest me, so I’ll engage the salesperson in a conversation about their experience with them.  Typically my first question will be how much business they’ve closed through these referral sources.  A few will indicate they’ve done well with them, most indicate they’ve seen very little to no real business from their sources.

When I ask the salesperson I’m speaking with what the other salesperson gets out of making the referral, they mention that they are giving the referrer the assurance that they’ll take exceptional care of the salesperson’s client, allowing that salesperson to become more valuable to their client by becoming a trusted source of addition advice and services, or they’ll give the salesperson’s client a discount of some sort that only that salesperson’s clients get, or they’ll give the salesperson a $5 or $10 gift card to Starbucks or wherever for every successful referral–in other words, nothing of value to the referrer.

When I assert that the other person is getting nothing of value, I often get a scornful look and verbal resistance.  Some of the responses I’ve received are:

•    From a mortgage loan officer: “Their client has to have a loan and I’ll make sure their client is well taken care of and gets a great deal—and that the loan will close on time.  That’s real value to that Realtor and their client.”
•    From an insurance agent: “She doesn’t offer insurance, just securities.  Her clients need insurance and she can be assured that I won’t try to steal her clients or infringe on her business in any way and if she doesn’t help her client through me, her client is likely to see an agent that will try to steal her business.”
•    From a salesperson for an IT service company: “I often find additional needs the client has and when I do, if he (the person who referred him to the client) sells that product, I’ll send the business to him.  I’ll be a source for additional sales for him to his client.”
•    From a specialized printing salesperson: “My referral sources are also in the printing business.  Their clients will on occasion need some things done that they can’t do and that I can.  My appeal to them is that by referring the business to me, they are assured that I’ll talk up just how good they are and it keeps their client from going to another company that might be able to not only do what I do but might be able to replace them as well.”
•    From a pool builder sales rep: “I target residential remodelers who do a lot of extensive remodeling.   My company isn’t the cheapest but it is very competitively priced and if they refer their client, we’ll give their client a 10% discount.  We make them look good because their client not only gets a high quality company, but they save a lot of money too.”

In each of these cases (and these responses are the norm, not the exception), the reason given for the referral source to send them referrals is that they are doing the referral source a favor!  “I’ll talk them up,” or “I’ll close the loan on time,” or “I won’t try to steal her business,” or “I’ll make them look good.”  The worst part is these salespeople are serious when they make these statements.

Like I said, these referral sources get nothing out of the deal.  Why do they need these salespeople?  A promise of making them look good, or not trying to steal their business, or closing the loan on time is a dime a dozen.  Actually, they’re more like a penny a hundred.  There isn’t a mortgage loan officer, IT salesperson, pool builder, or printing salesperson alive that isn’t likely to make the same promise.  If you think you’re doing your referral source a favor and that is going to earn you their business, you’re in for a surprise.

The first rule in developing referral business from others is that they don’t need you.  They don’t need your promises, they don’t need you to make them look good, they don’t need you messin’ with their clients.

The second rule in developing referral business from others is they need business too.  They need referrals to quality prospects, just like you do.

The ‘secret’ the top producers have discovered when getting referrals from other salespeople and companies is to forget about ‘referral sources’ and develop referral partnerships—real partnerships where the referrals go in both directions, not jut one.

Salespeople and companies need the same thing you need—business.  If they need someone to make them look good or to help one of their clients, they have no problem finding dozens of salespeople willing to help.  What they need are reciprocal relationships where the people they refer clients to also refer prospects back to them.  They need partners, not moochers.  And if you’re not giving back in kind, that’s exactly what you are—a moocher.

Setting up Referral Partnerships

1.  Identify Your Potential Partners: Look for other salespeople or companies who deal with the same prospects as you.  Define your ideal prospect—you may have more than one ideal—and then look for others who target the same prospect.  You want to find salespeople who are already established in the market; who have the reach and reputation you wish for yourself; and whose quality of products and services match yours.

There is no need to waste time and energy on low producing salespeople as they won’t be able to feed you many prospects.  In addition, the quality and cost of your products and/or services should closely match your potential partner’s since you will be looking for the same prospect.  If your product is top of the line and expensive, don’t partner with a salesperson whose products are on the bargain end of the spectrum.  Likewise, if you are selling modestly priced products, don’t think you can partner with a premium priced company to enhance your image—their clients are more than likely not going to be interested in your company’s products.

2.  Know What You’re After: Once you’ve identified a number of potential partners, develop a plan of approach for each.  What are you looking for with each partner—joint marketing?  Maybe joint sales calls?  Simply referring clients back and forth?

Take a close look at the activities of each salesperson or company you’ve identified to get an idea of how they operate.  Do they do a lot of advertising?  Are they constantly running specials?  Are their sales materials high dollar—or maybe they don’t really use collateral material?  Are there gaps in their offerings that you can help fill?  Do they tend to sell mostly to existing customers or to new prospects?

How your proposed partner works will lead you to know what to propose to them.  If they do a great deal of advertising or direct mail, maybe a joint advertising campaign would be of interest to them.  If they work primarily with their existing client base, referring back and forth might be most appealing.  If they use a lot of high dollar collateral material, you better have material that is equally impressive.

3.  Set an Appointment with the Partner Prospect: Invite your partner prospect to lunch.  Your partnership discussion is important and shouldn’t be a viewed as a casual phone conversation.

Many of your potential partners will be men and women you either don’t know or have only met once or twice very casually.  Many will not know who you are.  Since the men and women you’ve identified as potential partners are the best in their industry in their local market, a very effective way to gain a lunch meeting is to acknowledge their success and superior reputation.  Just call them, introduce yourself, and then tell them that you know them via their reputation and the quality of their work and that you’d like to take them to lunch as you have found that it is always good practice to know top people in the business.  Most will accept—people like to be recognized for their work.  Seldom have I been turned down with this approach.  And best of all, it’s true.  I do want to know the best people in the business and they are among the best in the business in their area.

4.  Make Your Proposal: During your meeting, present your proposal.  Your proposal must focus on what the partnership will do for your potential partner, not what it will do for you.  Salespeople are people, meaning their natural interest is ‘what’s in it for me.’  If you approach the conversation from a self-centered point of view, your proposal is dead before you even begin.

If you’ve done your homework well, you should be able to relate exactly why your potential partner would be interested in working with you, what type of working relationship it would be, and what the potential results for them will be.

Since there is a very good chance your potential partner doesn’t know who you are—and possibly they know little or nothing about your company—you’ll have to be able to quickly create a relationship with them and to provide credibility for yourself and your company.  Hopefully you have mutual clients or testimonials from individuals or companies your potential partner will recognize and respect.

Don’t expect a commitment during your initial meeting.  Most often if the person is interested, they’ll need time to do some due diligence, as well as additional discussions to develop the model for the partnership.

5.  The Monkey is on Your Back: The partnership was your idea, not theirs.  That means you’ll have to do the work to get the partnership going.  Even if you gain agreement from your potential partner, they won’t be committed until they see results.  You’ll have to take the lead in getting the partnership moving—and most importantly, you’ll have to provide them with real leads, referrals, and potential business before you can expect them to begin feeding you leads and referrals.

If you’re just looking for free, easy business, don’t bother with a partnership because it won’t do you any good.  However, if you’re willing to invest the time and effort, focusing on creating partnerships with the top salespeople and companies in your area that work with your prime prospects can bring in business you would have had a very difficult if not impossible time reaching.

Partnerships are great door openers and business builders.  But they aren’t magical.  They take work.  They take time and effort.  And most of all, they require you to do what you say you’re going to do—be a source of new business for your partner, just as they are expected to be a source of new business for you.

June 6, 2008

Rachel’s Fixin’ to Prospect Issue Revisited

Filed under: Networking, Personal Marketing, career development, cold calling, lead generation, prospecting, sales, selling, time management — Paul McCord @ 7:40 am
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I received several emails about my post discussing Rachel’s prospecting issues from a couple of days ago. The basic message in each email was that the post was timely and the admonition was needed—but what did I recommend for Rachel?

Without going into all of the details of the recommendations I had for her, let me give three of the most basic recommendations I gave her.

But before I do that let me revisit one aspect of her issue—spending time preparing to prospect. Rachel’s problem is one well know to us Texans. In the vernacular of Texas, she had a “fixin’” problem. We Texans spend a great deal of time “fixin’ to”. We’re always fixin’ to do something. Ask a Texan what they’re doing and they’ll tell you they’re “fixin’ to prospect,” or “fixin’ to make a presentation,” or “fixin’ to eat,” or “fixin’ to take a shower.” We’re so involved with fixin’ you’d think we never actually do anything.

Rachel was always fixin’ to prospect and seldom actually engaged in prospecting. So the solution was to change her focus from fixin’ to doin’.

Rachel’s three primary new prospecting activities:

Calling. Her company’s primary prospecting method is cold calling. She had a list of several hundred names to call of which she had made contact with very few. Her first task each day is to speak with a minimum of 15 individuals. That in itself is a big task. She may have to make 100 to 150 dials to connect with and speak to 15 prospects. If she makes 20 dials an hour, she could be on the phone 5 to 7 hours a day.

Networking. Rachel loves to network, but she had been spending her time at networking events that by their very nature presented limited opportunities. She attended three or four networking events a month held by various local chambers and she also attended two networking breakfast groups. During her 8 months of selling, she had made contact with less than a dozen quality prospects and had acquired none as clients.

Her experience with networking events had paralleled that of most salespeople—there were very few quality prospects at the chamber events and those prospects that did attend were surrounded by her competitors. The networking breakfast events were as fruitless, as most of the other members of the groups were not in a position to meet her prime prospects since few sold products or services to her prime prospects.

Rachel was encouraged to change her networking focus from chambers and breakfast groups to organizations where a large number of prime prospects would gather—the associations of various industries. She is in the process of deciding whether to invest her time with the dentist, manufacturers, pr, or commercial real estate associations in town. She’ll eventually join and become active in two, possibly three of these organizations.

Speaking. Rachel has developed a presentation about financial independence for women and is beginning to book presentations at various business, industry and women’s organizations in town. The presentation is educational, not a sales pitch. Her goals are modest—get in front of and meet as many potential prospects as possible. To date she has only given three presentations, but has already begun developing relationships with more than a half dozen quality prospects—more than she would have met in a month when she spent her time fixin’ to prospect.

Although Rachel and I have been working together for only three weeks or so, she has already tripled her monthly average of new prospect contacts. Her secret new weapon? She isn’t fixin’ to do anything any more—she’s actually doin’ prospecting now. Most of her day is spent on the phone, her networking and speaking is done either before or after working hours or during lunch—works great because they don’t interfere with her phone work.

Three weeks isn’t long enough to know whether she’ll have the discipline to continue with her new focus or whether she’ll be able to convert her prospects into clients, but she now has a real shot at success simply because she went from fixin’ to do something productive to doing productive activities.

April 30, 2008

Yes, You Can Make Linkedin Work for You

Filed under: Networking, Sales Resources, lead generation, marketing, prospecting, sales, selling — Paul McCord @ 6:32 am
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Do you have your profile on Linkedin? If so, have you been actively using it to help you grow your business? Have you figured out HOW to use it? Is it even worth the time and effort?

Although it is the granddaddy of business social networks, a great many who have posted their profiles haven’t used it to its fullest potential; certainly, I’m one. Spending time on the site trying to discover its potential hasn’t been a priority for me as it hasn’t for many others.

Like most, I’ve posted a bland profile, get an occasional request to connect, and visit it once in a blue moon. I, like most, invest little or no time and then wonder why it doesn’t help my business.

If you’re like me—and chances are you are, then I recommend you read a new free ebook, Can Linkedin Increase Your Sales?, written by my friend Jill Konrath. Jill has just released the ebook and—shock of shocks—is giving it away free and you don’t have to sign up for anything—just download it.

That in itself is unheard of.

But the best part is the book is good—unlike so many free ebooks that are all hype and designed to do nothing but sell another product or service, this ebook gives real advice and real strategies to help you generate business on Linkedin.

Don’t belong to Linkedin but belong to another business social network? Get the book. Many of the strategies can be transferred to any social networking site.

February 7, 2008

The Medium, the Message and the Financial Adviser

Filed under: Communication, Financial Services, Networking, Personal Marketing, Referral Selling, lead generation, marketing, prospecting, sales, selling — Paul McCord @ 8:26 am
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The typical financial adviser will spend over 650 hours a year studying their profession through reading professional books and publications, on-line classes, seminars, listening to CD’s, and other study methods.  That’s almost 17, 40-hour weeks of study a year to become good at what they do.  Broken into the equivalent of college courses, it equates to about three full semesters of college work a year. 

Three years into the profession, they will have completed the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree, plus a semester of graduate school.  After only 5 years in the profession, they’ve invested the equivalent of 7 ½ years of class time.  Since most enter the profession with at least a Bachelor’s degree, they have, in essence, earned a Ph.D. 

During the same time, they have invested little, if anything in their profession’s other side—learning to sell and market their services.  By the end of their 5th year in the profession, most advisers have invested little more than a college semester in learning how to generate the clients necessary in order to practice their profession. 

Unfortunately, being technically good is useless if you don’t have a client to work with.  Being half a financial adviser will get you nowhere except into another profession. 

Many advisers struggle when it comes to generating new business.  Some cold call.  Others network the local chamber of commerce.  Some stick their business cards to bulletin boards at restaurants or under windshields in parking lots, send unsolicited emails, fax fliers all over town, invest in direct mail, buy leads, or purchase expensive advertising.  Yet, few invest their time and money in learning more sophisticated prospecting and client acquisition methods.

When acquiring complex and sophisticated services such as financial products and guidance, prospects want to work with an adviser they believe to be expert.  Indeed, whether their assumptions are correct or not, prospects make a number of assumptions about what an expert is and how experts acquire their business.  They assume that experts are not cold calling, sending unsolicited emails, sticking business cards on windshields or bulletin boards, putting up cheap yard signs on street corners, or faxing fliers.  Rather, prospects assume that experts don’t have to do these things because their practice is populated through referrals from the adviser’s current client base. 

Consequently, the very act of cold calling, faxing fliers, blasting emails, or engaging in any other form of prospecting that prospects identify as crude, sends the message that the adviser is not what the adviser proclaims himself or herself to be—an expert.  These prospecting methods confirm Marshall McLuhan’s proclamation that “the medium is the message.”  The medium used to communicate to the prospect shapes the prospect’s perception of the adviser more than the content of the message.  Unfortunately for the adviser using these media, the message the medium communicates is the exact opposite of what the adviser seeks to communicate. 

Nevertheless, there are client acquisition methods available whose medium message can reinforce the adviser’s content message.  Learning and perfecting these formats requires as much dedication and commitment as learning the technical aspects of the profession.  Alternatively, hiring someone who understands the financial adviser’s business and can perform a number of these activities for the adviser will both expedite the process and free the adviser from the time commitment to learn and hone the required skills.

Communicating an expert message requires you use the media of an expert.  Mixing an expert message with a non-expert medium doesn’t send a mixed message, it sends the dominate message of the medium–a message that the adviser is just another one of the crowd. 

What are the media of an expert?  There are many:

Networking:  Networking through various organizations and associations is an expert format.  However, as all things associated with the expert, how and where you network is crucial.  An expert is more likely to be networking through specialized business, industry, and charitable associations than through more general organizations.  Working within a physician, engineering, architectural, CEO, or charitable organization is more “expert” than surfing the local chamber of commerce or breakfast networking group.  In addition, becoming an active member and developing relationships without overt “prospecting” is more “expert” than trying to evangelize someone you just met.  The relationship converts the prospect, not the overt “selling.”

Referrals:  Prospects assume true experts acquire clients through referrals.  Generating a large volume of high quality referrals requires learning and practicing a well-developed process that leads clients to a comfort level to give strong, quality referrals.  Simply asking doesn’t produce the quantity or quality desired.  However, there are processes used by the top sales professionals that work extremely well.

Press Releases:  Learning how to write and distribute well-written press releases about yourself and your practice will have far more impact than advertising.  Most prospects are resistant to advertising and direct mail.  Press releases, on the other hand, have the authority and subtlety of being reported as hard news.

Published Articles:  Becoming a published author on technical subjects important to the prospect demonstrates expert knowledge—and is in a medium most prospects recognize as educational and informative, not one that is “selling.”  With the thousands of article databases on the internet, becoming a published author is quick and easy if the article is well-written, educational, and void of overt self-promotion.

Speeches:  Giving educational speeches to local business and civic groups and organizations will also establish your credentials as an expert.  Moreover, like writing articles, the medium used has automatic expert credibility.  By appearing before the group as an expert, you become an expert.  And like writing articles, the emphasis is on education, not self-promotion.  Experts are far more effective at promoting themselves when they don’t overtly promote themselves.

Becoming an Expert Source:  Recognized experts are interviewed and quoted in various media—print, audio, and visual.  The “experts” quoted and interviewed in your local media have worked hard to become expert sources for the reporters, columnists, and freelance writers interviewing or quoting them.  You can become an expert source also by learning the ins and outs of working with the media and establishing yourself as a source for information, quotes, and interviews when they are dealing with a subject that you can address as an expert.

By carefully matching the medium you use with the content of your message, you can establish a public image and reputation as an expert in a matter of months that will continue to grow over the years.  These media are not easy to use, nor are they a quick solution to client acquisition.  They are, however, highly effective and they come to the prospect in a format that doesn’t confuse the message or, worse, defeat the content of your message.

January 19, 2008

Do Business Networking Breakfast Groups Work?

Filed under: Networking, Personal Marketing, marketing, prospecting, sales training — Paul McCord @ 6:25 am
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If you’re in sales, are an independent professional or are a small business owner, you either’ve attended a business networking group meeting or have been invited to attend one.  They’re everywhere.  Some of these groups are franchised by large, international companies; others are simply small, local groups that have been formed by a local entrepreneur. 

Nevertheless, whether part of a huge company or just a lone group, most of these networking groups work more or less the same way.  The object is getting a number of businesspeople together to work at supplying “referrals” to one another.  Each member is encouraged and expected to actively look for and supply leads to other members of the group.  Generally, membership is limited to only one person or company for each industry or each area within an industry.

Members typically pay a fee to join and then monthly dues—and, of course, there’s the breakfast that must be paid for also.  Each meeting will usually feature a member who has a few minutes to highlight their particular business and define for the group what a quality referral for them is.

I’m frequently asked by salespeople and business owners if membership in these groups is worth the time, effort and investment.  And my answer is—it depends.  If you’re a mechanic, a lawn care company, or a plumber, probably so.  If you’re a CPA, attorney, sell investments, or most any business-to-business salesperson, there are probably far better networking opportunities available to you.

The primary objective of a networking group is to find potential prospects for one another.  The idea is that each member will develop relationships with or meet people who will need or want products or services other members of the group can supply.  If each member actively works to refer business to other members in the group, everyone will increase their business. 

The concept isn’t bad.  And most people if they become active in a group, will eventually see some business developed through their membership—possibly even enough to make their membership worthwhile.

Yet, for most salespeople and business owners there are better places to spend their time.  For example, a CPA whose business is primarily focused on small manufacturing companies would be better served belonging to a manufacturer’s association where he or she could meet and develop relationships with a large number of actual prospects.  Would you rather spend your time networking with 25 other business owners and salespeople who may on occasion run across a small manufacturer, or would you rather spend your time getting to know and develop relationships with 75 or 80 or more small manufacturers? 

Likewise, a financial planner would probably be better served joining and becoming active in a Porsche owner’s club where they can meet several dozen members who presumably have enough disposable income to afford an expensive hobby than spending time with 25 or 30 struggling business owners and salespeople who may only on occasion run across someone that needs financial planning.  No interest in Porsche’s?  Then consider joining the architect’s association or the petroleum engineer’s association. 

There are thousands of business, industry and social associations, many with chapters near you.  No matter what you sell there are associations and organizations that can put you in direct contact with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of your prospects.  For most of us, general networking groups cannot even begin to give us access to that many prospects. 

Networking can work well.  The real question with networking isn’t can it work, it’s where can you most profitably spend your time and energy.  Rather than joining a group of diverse businesspeople who will probably only run across a real prospect for you on occasion, why not join a group made up primarily of potential prospects.  The only thing we really have to sell is our time.  Making the best use of that resource is one of the keys to success.

January 11, 2008

Three Secrets To a Successful Networking Event

Filed under: Networking, Personal Marketing, marketing, prospecting, sales — Paul McCord @ 8:39 am
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Are you one of the millions of small business owners, salespeople, and professionals who have attended networking events held by the chamber of commerce or a business organization and found the experience to be far less than what you had hoped?  Attending networking events requires more than simply showing up—it requires a disciplined approach.   

Typically, the frustrations and wasted time arise from two fundamental issues:
•  overblown expectations
•  not having a plan of attack

Networking events, especially those of a general nature organized by the chamber or a general business organization, will not provide you with a plate full of potential prospects.  If you can walk out of a networking event with three or four good potential contacts, you have done well.

Unfortunately, many, especially those who are not networking junkies, attend these functions with the hope of leaving the event with a whole stack of business cards of great prospects.  When their expectations are not met, they conclude that networking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and decide their time is better spent elsewhere.

In addition, most attendees waste the majority of their networking time.  Rather than an organized plan to maximize their benefit from the event, they simply attend hoping to “run into” prospects.

Yet, if you attend regularly and with realistic expectations, networking can eventually pay great dividends.  There are three “secrets” to making networking pay:

1.  Know Where You’re Going
Knowing who is likely to attend the event you are considering is as important as attending the event.  If you are considering going to an event you have never attended before, try to get a copy of the host organization’s member roster.  By examining the membership directory, you can get a fairly good idea of the type of people you can expect to meet.  If it appears there are a reasonable number of people and businesses of interest, plan on attending.  If you can’t get a copy of their member directory, call the organization and ask—most won’t mind the inquiry and will be happy to give you as much information as they can.

2.  Know Why You’re Going
Go with a definite number of contacts you want to make.  Determine how many good contacts you will need in order to make the investment of time worthwhile.  Depending on your particular product or service, that number may be only one or two—or may be much higher at five or six.  By establishing realistic, objective criteria, you can easily determine whether or not your time was well spent and whether or not you want to attend the event again in the future.

3.  Have a System for Working the Event
For most business owners and salespeople, the real networking event killer isn’t so much who is in attendance or even their own unrealistic expectations, but rather the time they waste during the event. 

Working a networking room requires planning and a clear vision of how you will spend your time.  I and many of my clients that I’ve taught the following networking method have found it to be easy and very effective:

Arrive about 15 minutes before the official event start time.  Wear a large, easy to read, high quality, permanent nametag that features your first and last name, not just your first name.  Of course, have lots of business cards.  Business cards should be blank on the back.  Wear clothing with two easy to reach pockets.

Station yourself close to the entry door—close enough that people might mistake you for one of the hosts.  Greet each person as he or she enters.  Nothing more than a greeting—and, hopefully, noticing their company name.  All you want is to hear a name, put a name to a face and to make a quick judgment as to whether they might be a prospect.

When arrivals begin to slow, begin your progression around the room.  Move in one direction—left or right.  Greet the first person or group of people you meet.  This round of conversations should be short—two to three minutes at most.  Your goal is to introduce yourself and learn as much as you can in a very short span of time about the person or persons you’ve just met.  Don’t clutter the conversation with information about yourself—keep everything focused on the person or the persons you are speaking with.  Your goal at this event isn’t to sell it’s to qualify prospects.  This will be your second meeting with many of these people, although you will probably not remember their names. 

Since many, if not most, will offer you a business card, you will begin to segregate cards into an interest stack and a non-interest stack.  When you meet someone you believe you’d like to get to know better—a potential prospect, put their business card in your right-hand pocket.  Those you don’t believe are prospects, put in your left-hand pocket.  This system allows you to immediately find the cards of those you want to reconnect with during the event without having to try to remember their name.

If you meet someone you would like to get to know better, before moving on to another group, let them know of your interest in learning more about their business and ask their permission to contact them via phone at a later date.  Once they agree, take one of your business cards and on the blank reverse side, write the day and an hour span of time during which you will call:  “Thursday, March 12 between 10:30-11:30.”  This day and time will be the same for everyone you meet that you want to call.  It keeps you from having to remember when you will call, but because it is an hour span, you’ll have time to make several calls without concern that you won’t keep your appointment.

Now, move to the next group and continue in this manner for the majority of the event.  About 30 to 45 minutes prior to the end of the event, go into your last phase.  The last phase is taking the few cards in your right-hand pocket and seeking to reconnect with those people.  This will be your third chance to meet them and to put a name and face together.  In addition, since it will be your third meeting, they’ll begin to feel like they know you and they will probably greet you as a friend rather than as new acquaintance.  Just as you are implanting their name and face in your mind through multiple meetings with them during the event, you’re planting your name and face in their mind.
  
This conversation will be a little more in-depth, but, again, keep the focus on the other person.  During this conversation, possibly you can move the conversation to the point that instead of a phone call on Thursday, you can invite them to lunch.  If not, prior to moving to the next person, again reiterate the phone call on Thursday and give them another business card with the same information written on the back.

On Thursday, make your phone calls and close for a get to know one another meeting.

This structure allows you to “meet” a prospect three times during the course of the event, set up a definite telephone conversation and help both you and the prospect quickly move from the “just met” stage to acquaintance stage very quickly.  All without having to remember any details during the course of the event.

If you keep your expectations reasonable and focus you time during the event on the few true prospects you meet, you’ll find your time at networking events to be both more enjoyable and profitable.

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