I was talking with a lawyer friend in London last week from a small firm with 2 partners. Although small their client list is very impressive. People with the money to pay well when faced with the type of legal problem my friend is a specialist in. I asked how he had built his practice and he said "a mixture of Networking and Pro Bono work".
He went on to say that he does a lot of networking with other trusted advisers to his potential and existing clients. He also said there are other people very well connected with his clients that do a lot of unpaid voluntary and charitable work. He does as much Pro Bono work as he can for these people and their organisations. His clients, their advisers and these 'volunteers' keep him very busy in well paying, profitable work for others they recommend him to.
Do your potential clients have advisers and other contacts that you should be networking and sharing your expertise with?
I met someone recently who said "The trouble with networking groups is everyone is selling, but nobody is buying". We discussed this a little further and he had been attending 'networking' meetings that were billed as 'the opportunity to find your next client'. Promotion for the meetings described typical attendees as 'decision makers'. In that context he was right as the wrong expectation had been set for people like him. Everyone was trying to sell to each other!
A couple of other people had joined the conversation by this stage. One said "I get all of my business from networking, but I don't sell. Nobody likes being sold to so I build trusted relationships with people that can refer me to their contacts".
She was right and had highlighted the big difference between selling and networking.
Selling is when you are engaged in direct activity with your target market.
Networking is when you are building relationships with others who can introduce & refer you into your target market.
So if you are looking for business directly from the people you meet that is selling. Successful networking builds regular business for the future.
There is an old saying "When the going gets tough the tough get going". I think it would probably be more accurate to say "When the going gets tough the tough keep going". If you are already proactive then you will be ready.
I was talking with a couple of NRG-networks members after a networking lunch earlier this week. You will no doubt have heard the words 'credit crunch' bandied around and we were talking about the domestic property market. This week the UK Government scrapped Stamp Duty on some properties to try and stimulate movement amongst first time buyers in particular. One of the members mentioned two similar sized and neighbouring estate agency firms. In the previous month one had sold four properties and the other over 30! Both operate from similar High Street properties. Both have a similar web presence. Both have similar local advertising. What are they doing differently? He had seen activity reports from both.
The one who sold four was pretty much waiting for business to walk in as it obviously did during the boom years. They are sending out property details, but they are not following up. They are busy filing, keeping the desks tidy, having another coffee, making sure the computers and phones are clean. All important, but not likely to produce business without other productive activity.
The other is doing all these and also proactively building relationships with more potential buyers. They are actively networking in local groups. They are keeping in regular contact with their existing network, people on their database, old clients etc. As they receive new instructions they are also sending out details. They are also contacting prospective buyers by phone, email, letter, newsletters, etc. They are actively arranging meetings and trying new activities. They are keeping up and even increasing their productive activity. They have captured nearly all of the local market.
Are you concentrating on keeping busy or on your productive activity especially the following up?
