Selling Yourself – Appreciation Required Especially When Business Networking
Business networking is a proven way in expanding your influence, getting clients and ultimately in selling yourself. Yet even though many engage in this marketing strategy, far fewer did it well.
Meet and greet events are held in every city in every state in the U.S. From the formal business introduction groups such as BNI to Leads to LeTip to those who engage in uniting angel investors and providing education such as Business Network Chicago. Any small business owners, C Level executive, entrepreneur to independent professional salesperson can find an event any day of the week including Sundays.
However what needs to be looked at are the behaviors after the event. This is where those who understand relationship selling shine and how getting clients really works. These folks truly are the Red Jackets in a Sea of Gray Suits.
For example I attended an after hours educational meeting. During one of the conversations I mentioned a free tool to help individuals understand the traffic of their sited to compared to others. All three gentlemen asked me to send the information via email and I promised they would have my email in their inbox the next morning. Sales Training Coaching Tip: If you are engaged in education based marketing, your goal is to help to educate by providing information especially if it is not about your company.
Of the three who received the requested information, only one acknowledged a response and thanked me for my efforts. Now I realize we all have gobs of incoming email, but when you make the request of someone and they honor the request why would you not issue a simple Thank You?
With the desire to increase sales, so many business efforts are engaged in getting clients to securing more referrals. Yet, because they fail to demonstrate simple appreciation they are working so much harder than smarter. By just taking a few minutes to acknowledge someone else’s action can make a world of difference.
Customer loyalty research suggests an unhappy customer will share their misery with far more people than a happy one. This share the “awful story” is not relegated only to customers, but to anyone who meets you and experiences your direct behaviors.
In relationship selling, it is your behaviors that are recognized and remembered. If you truly wish to increase sales and be known as an appreciative thoughtful individual, then take the time to demonstrate that appreciation.