All Business Networking

Do you have any good stories?

My previous 2 posts shared some experiences during a recent seminar I gave on "How to avoid the 3 common mistakes in Getting your Message Across". During the seminar we helped 3 volunteers work on these things.

The 3rd mistake often made is not using examples. Using stories to illustrate what you do.

One of our volunteers had to think a bit & then had a really great story.
With some real time feedback we were able to turn it into something that highlighted real business benefit together with something to differentiate them. There was also a really topical feel to it in the present economic climate.

His company develops software systems for companies that have reached the stage where they need bespoke development, but cannot really afford an in house team. A recent client is an Estate Agency firm where they have helped reduce operating costs to a fifth of what they were. They have testimonials that the client really thinks of them as their in house team such is their understanding of his business. This means their client is not only surviving the current property downturn, but taking advantage of new opportunities & increasing market share.

What stories do you have where you can quickly illustrate the problems you fix?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Does your network understand what you do?

In my previous post I mentioned the NRG seminar I presented on "How to avoid the 3 common mistakes in Getting your Message Across" before. During the seminar we helped 3 volunteers work on these 3 things.

The 2nd mistake often made is not expressing your proposition in a way that is readily understood. What you really do for your customers.

Our 3 volunteers received a lot of hard questioning on this one. One of them was having a hard job explaining how he helped companies make more money from their existing customers with better use of their data.

Someone said "Do you mean so they can use it like Amazon or Tesco?"

Our volunteer said "Yes, exactly!"

The feedback was unanimous. Use that to illustrate your message.

Is there anything you could use that would be more meaningful to your audience?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

business networking | business networking events | virtual board

Does your network know who to refer you to?

I presented a seminar on "How to avoid the 3 common mistakes in Getting your Message Across" before an NRG lunch last week. During the seminar we helped 3 volunteers work on these 3 things.

The 1st mistake often made is not being clear about your target market. Who do you want as customers?

In a couple of cases our "guinea pigs" had data on exactly the customers they wanted. However, they were not sharing this & were talking in very general terms.
If you know who you want to talk to then share this information. Real company names mean much more then talking about types & sizes of business. Much more powerful then talking about types & sizes of business which can often mean very different things to different people.

Is there any work you could do on naming the organisations that you would like to do business with?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

business networking | business networking events | virtual board