What is one of the main reasons for failure in networking?
Impatience.
We all know that networking is very rarely something that producesimmediate results, but it is wise to take a step back sometimes and really understand the power of patience when it comes to networking.
Just consider the following:
It takes anything between 7 and 37 contacts on average to make a sale these days. (A contact is any occasion that a potential customer is exposed to your brand. So meeting you at a networking event + visiting your website + receiving a mailshot + an email + seeing your advert = 5 contacts).
Do you really think that you can turn up to a group, make your 60 second pitch, and watch the orders roll in?
People’s buying behaviour has changed since the credit crunch. Consumers(including business customers) take longer to come to a buying decision than they ever used to. You need to plant the idea in your prospects’ heads, then wait for it to take root.
You never know when someone will need your product or service. The selling guru Richard Denny once told his sales staff that the person with the most number of ‘No’s from potential customers would get the following Friday off work. Why was this? Because he knew that a ‘no’ often means ‘not today’ – and that the prospect might well come back when the time was right.
These are 3 extremely powerful reasons to be patient with your networking.
And to add to the above - the more specialist your product/service is (therefore the more obscure to potential buyers), the more time has to elapse before he or she will buy from you, as they get to know your product/service's benefits from the repeated contacts with you. In other words, a slow-burn approach works best. The first year of networking for a specialist product/service is best seen as awareness building, and at the same time your contacts get to know and trust you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Graeme
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