According to networking author Rob Brown, every time someone meets you at a business event, there are some common questions that they ask themselves about you:
1. Do I like you?
2. Do I rate you?
3. Can I sell to you?
4. Do I want to buy from you?
Of course, many novice networkers come unstuck on question 3: they think it's all about the immediate sale. Scanning the room for potential clients, they either don't know or have forgotten that people rarely buy on the first contact. So they make the classic mistake of thrusting their business card into the hands of unsuspecting victims, without so much as a "And what is it you do?"
This attitude is incredibly short-sighted. It's like setting out to do your Christmas shopping, then giving up after an hour because you haven't found the perfect presents for all your family and friends in the first gift shop that you visit.
If you have made this sell, sell, sell mistake, don't worry - there is hope for you.
It comes in the form of a fifth question - one that all good networkers ask themselves:
5. Who can I refer you to?
This how can I help you? mindset is by far the best antidote to inappropriate and sometimes aggressive overselling. If you catch yourself getting overexcited when you see that ideal potential client, calm down and start getting curious about what you can do for them - without in any immediate payback for yourself.
In this way you can approach them, find out about their business, then ask them what sort of referrals would be ideal for them. In this way you find yourself forming an immediate connection with them - one that they going to remember far more than yet another business card thrust in their face.
No comments:
Post a Comment