Have you ever wondered how companies get on the “Top” lists.  I recently made Evan Carmicheal’s Top 100 Sales Experts to Watch on Twitter.  He publishes this every month.  In April I was #77 .  Pretty exciting, I think.  How did I get on this list?  And what does it mean?  Does it get me any business?

One of the things it means is that I am showing up and someone is noticing.  Are you showing up and is anyone noticing?  And really not just anyone, but your ideal customers.  The game is to get noticed by them and have them contact you. Social media is certainly one of the ways to get noticed, along with traditional media and great customer service that turns your customers into a walking advertisement.

The real question is are you at the top of your customer’s list.  Do they think of your first. I’d like to think so, but I make sure.  I use social media, email marketing, networking, one to one calls and visits, handwritten notes, fun gifts, this blog and anything else I can think of to stay there.

What’s your networking strategy?

How many hours do you spend preparing , driving , and attending networking events that feel like a waste of time?  If your feeling is  “There is no one there I want to meet,” or “These never result in business,” then it is time to rethink your networking strategy.  Yes, you need a networking strategy.

If your purpose in networking is to generate leads, referrals, and sales, you need to start by making sure you are in the right place.   If you do all the right things in the wrong place, you will leave without the results you are looking for.  There are so many  places to network,  it can be difficult to know where to start.

• Which events are worth your time?
•  Which ones are most likely to result in business?

With any marketing campaign, you need to know your target market .  Don’t take that the wrong way.   I know you know your target market; your ideal customer – right?  We better take a second here and double check that . . .

• First write down the characteristics that describe the customers that buy from you, or you think would buy from you if they knew about you.
•  How would you describe them demographically?
• What size, what revenue, how many employees, location, privately held.
• Who buys from you?

Until you do that, your networking efforts are going to be pretty much wasted. So I will wait for you.  When you get that figured out, I will be right here…….

OK, so now you know who your target audience is for your product or service.  Then ask yourself -  is that your target market for your networking effort?  The answer is yes, and no.

• Yes, you absolutely want to network in places where your potential  customers will be.  You also want to network in places where there are credible people who can refer business to you.  Your mission is to figure out where those two groups of people are, and be there.

Where are you currently networking?  Who goes to them?  Can they either buy from you, or refer you to people who can buy from you?  If not, then you aren’t networking to develop new business.

So, where are the people you want to network with?  Would you be better off doing one networking meeting a year with people who can actually help you build your business, than 5 networking meetings a month with people who can’t?  Probably.  You wouldn’t send out marketing letters to people in your neighborhood, if who you really needed to reach were CEO’s of fortune 500 companies (well, not my neighborhood anyway).  So, you aren’t going to attend your local Chamber of Commerce Meeting if your target market is doctors.

Take the time to create a Networking Strategy that will help you reach people who will help you build your business, and then follow it.  Choose organizations, trade shows, conferences and social groups where the people you need to meet gather.  Look for places both online and off where you can build relationships with the people you need to meet.

I’d be happy to brainstorm with you and help you set your strategy.  Mention this blog post and get a special networking strategy session for $97.

For more on networking read my most recent articles in Connect , and Rejuvenate.  Also read my related articles and  go to my website to request my free e-book Connecting Your Way To New Business.

Related articles

• Pre-event Preparations for Networking Success (smartsalestips.com)

We have all been asked a million times, “What do you do?”  How do you answer the question?  Do you launch into a long winded explanation, or do you say something boring like, “I’m in sales at ABC Company.”  Your answer can make or break the conversation. It can help you engage or repel the person you are talking to,  and yet, so many people spend little or no time determining what to say and actually practicing it.

My initial response used to be: “I’m a sales consultant and what I do is work with  senior management to do a gap analysis and figure out what they need to do to get them from where they are  to where they want to be. ”  I have watched eyes glaze over and hear the word, “Oh” come out of their mouth.  I was stuck there.  When they said “Oh” I would immediately ask, “What do you do?” and switch the attention to them.

It took time, but I worked on a (short) interesting answer that prompted, “How do you do that?”  I finally ended up with, “I help companies increase sales.”  When they ask how I do that, I have a few short stories prepared that I can tell, or if it’s the appropriate situation I’ll offer examples for their own company. If the situation allows, feel empowered to tailor to the person you are speaking to.

• Your goal: to engage the people you are conversing with and prompt more interest. Once you reach that point, you can give your “elevator pitch.”

The idea of an “elevator pitch” is that if you had a one minute elevator ride and someone asked you, “What do you do?” you could tell them in that time a way that catches their interest. I suggest having a couple different lengths, as sometimes 30 seconds is all you have. Here are some examples:

• Instead of, “I’m a Realtor and I am looking for anyone who wants to buy a home.”   This doesn’t help you stand out and it’s not engaging,  you are one of thousands. But if you said, “I help first time home buyers find their dream home.  I specialize in homes under $200,000 in the Reno area, and I would love to meet people you know that are looking for their first home.” Not only would people be more engaged, they would know exactly what kind of lead to send your way and might even know someone who fits your description.
• Instead of , “I’m a tax accountant.”  Say something like, “I like to help business owners keep their money in their pockets.  I specialize in preparing taxes for companies with revenues under $10 million and I am looking for business owners who believe they should be paying less to the IRS.”

Those sentences convey clearly what you do and who you do it for.  It tells the listener an idea of who to refer to you, all in 15 seconds.  If needed you could probably add 2 or 3 more sentences.  I recommend brainstorming some things you can say, write them down, rework them and then practice saying them until it becomes second nature. Then practice, practice, practice.

Need help crafting your answer to “What do you do”?  Call me for a special session for only $97,  if you mention this blog post.

For more on networking, read my most recent article in Connect and my related articles or go to my website and request my free e-book Connecting Your Way To New Business.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Working the Room: Network for Success (smartsalestips.com)
• Networking is not Selling (smartsalestips.com)

Networking is one of the easiest and most effective ways to generate leads and increase sales.  This being said,  I often hear people say they attend a lot of networking events but don‘t get any business from them.   I then ask them a series of questions:

• How do you choose which events to attend?
• What do you do at these events?
• What do you do after the event?

Through my training, I teach my clients how to approach people by asking questions instead of walking up and trying to sell.   I  teach them what to say in 30 seconds that tells people what they do.  I also teach them to ask directly for the type of business they want, and most importantly, what to do after an event.

The biggest problem seems to be follow up.  They rarely do what it would take to turn those contacts into business.  In last week’s article,  “Working the Room – Network for Success”,  I showed you four simple steps to turn a networking event from social hour into a successful evening of  new sales and business partners.  Now let’s talk about what to do after the event:

• What do I do after the event

Immediately enter the business cards you collected into your database.

Be sure to add any notes you made on the cards during the event. I always add the name of the event and the date so I can remember where we met.  If you don’t enter them in your database throw them out!  Yes, it is okay to throw out a business card.  If you’re not sure, band the cards from a specific event together, and if you don’t touch them in a month or two, toss them.  If I send an email or a card,  I make a note of that also.

•  If you say, “Let’s get together for coffee or lunch,” then make that happen.

It shouldn’t be something you just say to make conversation. You need to call, email or connect on social media after the event to set it up. A handwritten note is also a nice touch.  You should send it within 48 hours after the event.

•  Decide how you plan to keep in contact on a regular basis.

Once you have made the connection, interact with them. Read their posts and comment. Watch the media for the people you are interested in. If you see an article about them, clip it and send it to them with a note about doing business together. If you read an article that would interest them, send it.  If they are not a potential customer build a relationship that could lead to referrals or a potential collaboration by referring people to them. If they are a potential customer, learn as much as you can about their business and the ways you might help them.

Everyone can learn to network. Salespeople and entrepreneurs need to become expert at it.   Develop your networking strategy. Choose carefully the events you attend and follow your strategy to turn all the time, money and effort spent  networking  into business.

For more on networking read my most recent article in Connect and my related articles or go to my website and request my free e-book Connecting Your Way To New Business.

Related articles

• Working the Room: Network for Success (smartsalestips.com)
• Networking is not Selling (smartsalestips.com)

Frequently I walk into “networking” events and see the following: people registering, walking into the meeting room, finding their friends or co-workers, sitting down, and starting to eat. They chat with the people they know and then listen to the speaker.  When the speaker finishes, the raffle prizes are given, and people leave.

Though they are advertised as networking events, they are not.  “Meet and eats” are extremely common.   Professional and service organizations have them frequently.

The purpose of the event is to prompt members to get to know  each other, conduct the business of the group, and hear an informational speaker.  The “get to know each other” part is the area that needs work.  Some people may attend these “meet and eats”  for years and never meet any one new.  They are not building relationships that could lead to referrals and direct business.

In last week’s article  ”Pre-event Preparation”  I talked about five, pre-networking event steps to ensure you will be prepared to build relationships.  Now, here are four simple steps to turn a networking event from social hour with friends into a successful evening of drumming up new sales and business partners:

• If you’ve been there before, make it a point to meet all of the people in the room that you don’t know

Don’t just talk with your friends and coworkers.  Say “hi” and keep moving.  Try to meet at least 3 people you have never met before.  If you are shy or are uncomfortable doing this ask the membership person or one of the board members to introduce you to people.

• When you approach someone, make conversation by asking questions about them and their business

Don’t pitch your business.  Don’t even mention your business unless you are asked. Ask good questions and listen.  Find something you have in common.  If you are shy or not sure how to start a conversation prepare a list of general questions to get you started.

• Have plenty of business cards with you

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at networking events and asked someone for their card and can’t believe my ears when they say, “I didn’t bring any,” or “I am out”.  Always have plenty of cards handy. Keep extras in your car, briefcase, purse, pockets and anywhere else you can think of. Have a pen handy to write notes on the cards you collect.

• Help others with referrals

When you are ready to end your conversation you can say something like, “It’s been great getting to know you a bit, tell me what type of referrals are you looking for?” Once they have told you, say something like, “I’ll keep that in mind.”  Get their business card and give them yours if they ask.  While giving them your card, if they haven’t asked you it is okay to say something brief about your business and the type of referrals you are looking for, say “I help companies increase sales and I am always interested in CEOs who would like to discuss that.”  Keep it brief.

If you felt a connection with the person, suggest a meeting in the next week over coffee or lunch and be sure to follow up once you get back to your office.

Remember when you are networking you are not selling.  You are looking for people you can do business with, collaborate with and develop into a referral source.

For more on networking read my most recent article in Connect and my related articles or go to my website and request my free e-book Connecting Your Way To New Business.

 Related articles

• Pre-event Preparations for Networking Success (smartsalestips.com)
• Networking is not Selling (smartsalestips.com)

Do you network effectively in a crowd?  Does the time and money you spend attending association meetings and events turn into revenue?

Networking is one of the easiest and most important things you can do to increase sales.  But just showing up doesn’t cut it.  Simple preparation and a well thought-out networking strategy will turn a networking “meet and eat” into a series of lucrative sales opportunities.

Follow some simple rules during networking events to revolutionize your approach to building new business. First, arrive to the event during the registration period, which often begins 30 minutes before the meeting starts. Use that time to meet as many people as you can. Choose the organizations you attend based on the objectives you have and the results you get.  If you are not comfortable meeting new people then find someone who will introduce you or follow the steps below.

These five, pre-networking event steps ensure that you will be prepared to build relationships, close business and leave your networking meeting with contacts and connections that will show up on your business’ bottom line.

1.  Figure out the best places to meet your ideal prospects. Make a list of the networking events you attend on a regular basis, and analyze how much business you have received from each; determine if you should continue attending.  Even if you are attending for charitable purposes the relationships you build can result in referrals or direct business. A newspaper or business journal will be helpful to find listings of local networking events.  You can also research organizations on the Internet and find local chapters. There are many wonderful business and service organizations for almost any profession you may be in.  Don’t just attend your professional organization, visit the others as well.  The people who attend those are potential clients, referral sources and maybe new friends.
2. Set goals for each networking event. What do you want to accomplish at the event? What would you like to come away with? Don’t leave without meeting your objective. If your objective is to meet 10 new people, then stay until you meet it.
3. Dress for success. Confidence is integral to the first impression you give when meeting potential clients and business partners. Wear something comfortable that makes you feel like a million bucks. Always wear your company name tag. If you look great, you will feel great and be more comfortable meeting new people.
   
4. Attend new events with a member who will introduce you.  If you don’t know any members, call the president of the organization and let her know that you’d like to attend as someone’s guest. Call that person in advance and ask her to introduce you to the members at the event. Is there someone who will be attending that you have been trying to meet?  Ask specifically to be introduced to that person.
   
5. Be prepared with a great answer to “What do you do?”  If asked, give your 30-second answer and then talk about the results your customers receive in the form of a short success story. Rehearse, not so that it sounds scripted, but enough so that it sounds great. Stating the name of your company and your title is not enough. You need to say something that helps people understand what you do and engage them.

For more on networking read my most recent article in Connect.

It doesn’t  seem to matter how many times I say it,  there are still people out there who are selling at networking events. They are anxious to get their business card in as many hands as possible and with each conversation they are trying to sell you their product or service. We all want to run from these people as fast as humanly possible. It’s no wonder business owners don’t attend networking events.

I am always telling business owners and salespeople to get out and network but so many of them don’t follow my advice.  There are many reasons but one of the biggest hurdles is approaching someone you don’t know; it’s a lot like cold-calling which most people hate.  Even me, as outgoing as I am, sometimes find it difficult to walk up to a group of people I don’t know and try to get into the conversation.  But what’s the point of networking if I go to a networking event and only talk to the people I already know?  Granted, it might remind them to use my services if needed but  to continue to expand my business  I need to meet people new people as well.

So how do you walk up to a perfect stranger and strike up a conversation that could lead to sales?  The first thing is don’t think about sales.  Don’t think about yourself.  Think about getting to know the other person.  When I am at a large networking event, I always look for people standing alone; I figure they are an easy target because they aren’t integrated and may be feeling left out. They are usually grateful that someone approached them.  I use my smile – one of my best assets – and catch their eye and walk over.  Of course I extend my hand and say hi.  I usually ask if they are a member of the organization or if they have been to the event before and then follow the line of conversation based on their answer.  I keep the person engaged by asking questions about the organization, the event, the speaker and when appropriate I will ask them questions about themselves and their work. As long as I am asking and they are answering, I have their attention.  As I wind the conversation down, so that I can have the chance to meet a few more people, I ask for their card and offer mine and if I will be following up I let them know by saying something like, “I’ll give you a call so we can arrange a time to grab a cup of coffee.”  It’s not so hard but for me but for someone more introverted this can be a challenge.

What I find harder is approaching a group that is talking. But at some events everyone is standing around talking to the people they already know.  If I am going to meet someone, I have to approach a group.  I usually look for a smaller group of 3 or 4 and again, use my smile to catch someone’s eye and start walking toward them.  If I can’t catch an eye, I try another group.  When I get close, the group will usually expand to let me in and if they don’t immediately greet me, I just listen and get involved in their conversation, never talking about myself, always joining in on the topic and when the appropriate time comes, I thank them for letting me squeeze in on the conversation and introduce myself.  Trust me, I know this isn’t easy for many people and that is why I prefer  attending structured networking events like the BizTalk Blender, so that I am in a comfortable setting that guarantees I will meet new people that I can do business with, collaborate with or develop into a referral source.  If you are not in Reno, you can bring the BizTalk Blender to your business community or look for other structured networking events to attend.

Here’s a short video from www.candogo. com on approaching someone at a networking event.

Gotta love twitter – it is the place where I get most of the news that keeps me current with what’s going on in sales and social media as well as the world. I learned today about BMWs that can drive themselves and got an update on the Planned Parenthood – Susan G. Koman debacle.  I also looked at a graphic that showed the difference between conservative and liberal presidents and  how that effects the voters.  There is no end to the information you can get to quickly through twitter depending on who you are following.

In monitoring twitter today I came across this excellent article describing further some of the things I posted yesterday. “Twitter says more than 200 million tweets are sent each day, yet most users get little feedback about the messages they send besides occasional retweets, or when followers opt to stop following them.” This speaks directly to my point that your opportunity on twitter exists in engaging followers not just sending out messages. “A well-received tweet is not all that common,” Bernstein said. “A significant amount of content is considered not worth reading, for a variety of reasons.”

Is your content worth reading? More importantly is it worth commenting on? Are you just retweeting or are you commenting on the tweets. Try interacting more and see what happens.

The article shares nine lessons for improving tweet content.

Thanks to the researchers at Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Georgia Tech for caring enough about this great communication platform to give us this feedback.

(In an earlier post, I discussed whether or not you should be on LinkedIn. If you’re new to LinkedIn, you’ll want to read that article first to learn how to build a strong network.)

There is lots of talk about the new LinkedIn company pages. For some it is just another place on the internet they need to keep current. It can seem daunting at times. I currently have business pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google +, and Youtube that I need to update regularly, along with all of my personal profiles. Not to mention this blog that needs new content weekly. It does take a lot of time, but so does any sales and marketing plan. The better you get at it the faster it is and the more results you get. That said, it is a lot to keep up with and it is constantly changing, so I do recommend you train someone at your company to help you or hire and train an intern.

There is plenty of good information out there on how to put up your company page and I have linked to those at the end of this article. What’s missing is what to do once you complete your company profile. It’s like any other social media, if you are posting things and no one is watching you don’t get results. So here are 5 things I am doing to get people to follow my company page. First and foremost, I let them know I have one and share the link in the following ways:

1. Add a LinkedIn button to your website – when clicked it will take them to your company page.

2. Follow your clients. When they see you follow them, they may follow you.

3. Post an update on your personal profile and include the link to your company page. (See example below.)

4. Get the url for your company page (like this http://www.linkedin.com/company/alice-heiman-llc) and put it at the end of your LinkedIn email messages.

5. Add a link to your LinkedIn Company page in the signature of your email (see below) and have it link to your company page. If you need to know how to do this, watch this screenr.

But don’t forget, once you have followers, you have to add value. So make a plan on what you will post and when. Then go back and check frequently to see if people are interacting and be sure to connect with them.

Below are some other resources to help you with LinkedIn Company Pages:

• Social Media Examiner - 5 Tips for Using The New LinkedIn Company Pages
• HubSpot’s ebook - How to Use LinkedIn for Business
• HubSpot - 11 Reasons Your LinkedIn Company Page Sucks 

If you’d like to learn more about how to use LinkedIn I’d be happy to provide training for you and your sales team online or in person.  Just call 775-852-5020 or visit www.aliceheiman.com.