Find excuses to call your clients. It might be to wish them a happy birthday or Christmas. It might be to congratulate them on the success they just shared on social media. It might be to recommend a book or movie you know they’d like. These should be friendly chats rather than sales calls. If you [...]
Every day, you should call at least one person from your network. This might be a client, a referral partner, a supplier, an industry colleague or even a friend. Don’t call with an agenda – call just to chat. This will do two things. First, you’ll develop a reputation as a friendly person, which will be [...]
Do you anticipate a time in the future when you’ll need a strong network? Well, you won’t have a strong network tomorrow unless you start building it today. Building a strong network isn’t a quick process, nor is it a process that happens by magic. You need to put in the work, over the long-term, to [...]
The more often your customers think of you, the more often they'll buy from you and the more often they'll send referrals your way. That's why you should look for ways to regularly remind your customers of your existence. One-to-many interactions (such as email newsletters) are great, but you should also look for ways to have [...]
Starting your own podcast can be a powerful marketing weapon – but not for the reason you're thinking. Most podcasts have tiny audiences, which means it's really hard to make an impact on podcast listeners. But where you can have a big impact is with podcast guests. If you interview a potential client or referral partner [...]
Don't keep score when networking, because if you do that, you’re not going to succeed. People will quickly realise you don’t care about them; all you care about is trying to get as much from them as possible while giving the least in return. Instead of keeping score, focus on building long-term relationships. That means getting [...]
Networking groups can be a great way to grow your business – provided you remember two important rules. First, you have to be selective about which group you join. You want to hang out where your customers and/or referral partners hang out; so only join networking groups that give you access to those key people. Second, [...]
Have you noticed the connection between relationships and sales? It's easy to persuade a family member or an old friend to buy from you, because they know, like and trust you. That’s why it’s so important for you to constantly work on building new relationships and nurturing existing relationships. And that’s why relationships are a form [...]
One of the reasons people fail with networking is when they meet someone valuable … all they do is talk about themselves. This is often a sign of insecurity – you’re so desperate to impress that you can’t stop talking about what you do and how good you are. So if you’re not going to talk [...]
Just as the best time to fix a leaky roof is when it’s sunny, the best time to start networking is before you need a network. Don’t wait until you lose your job or start a business – because then it’s too late. When you network from a position of weakness, you network with the wrong [...]
