Fri, 15 November 2019
Networking Effectively and Creating a Sphere of Influence The idea of networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence is nothing new in sales. It’s a facet of sales that everybody understands and executes. Networking is one sure way of meeting new people, building relationships, and it eventually opens doors for opportunities. Likky Lavji has been meeting people and building relationships for 30 years. He built and grew his IT company based on his referral network. By the time he sold his company, he had ample knowledge about how to do the business. Now, he’s sharing his knowledge with others. The old methods of doing business Face-to-face meetings and getting to know people before starting the business are old methods of doing business. Today, people depend on social media to grow their business. We are bombarded with social diversions making us adept in communicating using social media platforms. The downside to that is it’s becoming more difficult for many to have conversations face-to-face. As salespeople, we need to combine old and new methods to make it work. It’s great to go back to the basics. Look at your existing base of connections and get to know them. Identify your best clients from your database, the ones who not only bring in revenue but referrals as well. Once you’ve identified your clients, you can start building your sphere of influence. Creating your sphere of influence is easy to do. You need to know your people and reach out to the people they know as well. In a networking event, look for the person who has people around them. Find an opportunity to start a conversation and be authentic. Don’t force anything. It has to be organic. Likky once stuttered and it held him back. With the help of Bob Burg, the author of The Go-Giver Way, he was able to move past his stuttering. Building relationships It’s normal to have some level of fear when talking to strangers in a networking event, or anywhere else. However, that fear can be overcome. You need to veer away from the misconceptions of others. Put those aside and just be who you are. People fear networking because of the notion they have to sell. Change that mindset and think of networking as meeting people and making friends. Build connections allows people to get to know you and like you. As these relationships are built, they will get to trust you and your business, which can lead to referrals. #SalesSkills Don’t go into sales mode right away. Likky uses the acronym F.O.R.M. to start conversations: F - Family. Everybody wants to talk about their family. Some people even have their family photos in their wallets. You can talk about their dogs too. O - Occupation. You can ask about their occupation. For example, ask them how they got into their business. R - Recreation. Find your common ground and talk about their hobbies and interests. M - Message. These are the things you stand for. Listen to what they say Build meaningful conversation and listen to their response. Ask more questions about their interests. It doesn’t matter if they don’t ask you questions because this isn’t about you. Make sure they do all the talking. Bob uses 10 field questions when meeting new people such as, “What do you enjoy most about your profession?” and “Describe the strangest thing you’ve experienced in your business.” People get excited when talking about these things. It’s your job to hear and understand what they’re saying. Show empathy and put yourself in their shoes. Understand what they’re going through. Listen well, take notes and follow-up. In Bob’s book, he suggested listening with the back of your neck. This means listening to what they’re saying and putting everything aside. All the words would go through your mouth, your face, through your ears, and to the back of your neck. There’s nothing else present except for those words coming into you. Giving out business cards isn’t the best way to execute networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence. Whenever Likky sees he may need to give away his business card,he tries to avoid it. Connect them to others In networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence, another way to do this is by giving referrals to someone else When you meet people in a networking event, ask them who their ideal customers are and you will see there are others in the room who have the same audience that they have. Refer them to those people and help them make a connection. They will learn to trust you because you helped grow their business. Don’t worry if the referral sources aren’t 100% successful. All you need to do is make the introduction and let them have the conversation. If they want to do something for you in return, then talk to them about the kind of customers you are looking for. Consider having a meeting with them first so they know who you are and what you want. You'll also get to know who they are, their centers of influence.. If you meet somebody and you promise them something, always make sure to follow through within 24 hours, either by email or follow-up, because they may forget you beyond that time frame. A handwritten letter or card is also a great idea in networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence. Start building relationships and connections before you start selling. The more relationships you build, the more people know what you do, and the easier it will be to get referrals and make business happen. When it comes to building your sales income and boosting your sales, developing the skills of appointment setting. It pays more than the skill of closing sales. The secret to mastering the art of appointment setting is persistence, being assertive, and being polite and professional. “Networking Effectively and Creating a Sphere of Influence” episode resources Connect with Likky Lavji and visit his site. He has a free workshop coming up and you can check it on www.salespitchmastery.com/register. For other sales concerns, you can also reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let him know how they work for you. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. We hope to see you there! You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. |
Mon, 17 June 2019
We’ve all encountered the guy who attends events just to see what he can get for himself, but there are ways to effectively use networking events in your sales outreach efforts.
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Thu, 16 May 2019
Jordan Ray has endured more challenge in her 21 years than most people experience in a lifetime, so when she goes into a large hospital to share the product she has developed, many people believe that she is too young and they fail to understand that she is making a difference and helping others. It's a common challenge that many people face, and I faced it in the early days of The Sales Evangelist when I was 30 years old and advising people who were twice my age. GenerationsWhen Jordan's health failed at 17, she discovered a need for patients with chronic health conditions to accurately track their pain and symptoms. The log helps patients track their own experiences as a way to improve their treatment plans. Jordan isn't offended when people discount her because she's young. As a softball coach for 15- to 18-year-old girls, she recognizes that she's only three years older than her players, and she remembers what it's like to be immature. She said she doesn't get frustrated by the fact that people assume she'll waste their time because she's too young. In fact, she attributes some of it to the fact that people make assumptions about her generation. First impressionThough you only get one chance at a first impression, it's possible to change the impression people have. Jordan points to the story and relationships as the keys to overcoming people's assumptions about her. She's very big on building relationships because she understands that people who aren't sold on her product won't buy it no matter how hard she pushes. If they aren't interested in her product after she shares her story and the value she offers, pushing won't change that. [Tweet "Focus on building relationships instead of selling because even if people don't buy, they might refer you to someone who will buy. #BuildingRelationships"] She considers herself good with people and she said that's key to owning a sales company. Building relationshipsJordan goes to a breakfast networking event every Tuesday where she's the youngest person by about 25 years. She estimates that she has shared a sit-down with all 50 members of the group despite being too young. Many of them like her story because she only shares a 30-second brief. She tells them enough of her story to leave them intrigued so that they want to have a follow-on meeting with her. She begins the relationship by looking for ways to refer business to her prospects. Her goal is to serve them by helping them. Biggest challengeShe admits that sometimes she feels like she doesn't have enough to offer in terms of referrals because she has only been doing this for seven months. Compared to people who have been working for 40 years, her connections don't feel very significant. Jordan said that her years playing sports taught her to have very high expectations for herself so she struggles when she can't match the referrals that others can. While other people are helping her and giving referrals, she finds herself wishing she could do more to return the favor. Business friendsJordan laughs about the fact that her personal friends are in their 20s and her business friends are in their 50s. She said she loves keeping up with those people. Though the sales are obviously nice, she understands that the relationships are going to last beyond one sale or one year. If she makes one sale, that can't compare to a relationship with someone at a nonprofit who knows countless people and who will support her even as she supports them. PersistenceShe calls herself big on persistence. She got lots of no's before she launched the company. Many people were convinced she should stay in school. She recommends staying persistent and refusing to give up on your vision. You'll get a hundred no's, but you'll get that one yes. "Too Young" episode resourcesYou can connect with Jordan at www.limitlessmedicallogs.com. You can also email her at jordan@limitlessmedicallogs.com and share your story with her or you can find her on social media @JordanRay. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.
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Fri, 26 April 2019
When you interact with your prospects, your goal should be to provide such great value that you leave people better off whether they buy from you or not. We've been talking about value all month, and today hypnotist Jason Linett talks about how people can change their thinking to grow their business. Growth isn't just about your platform but it's largely about how you tell the story to your audience. We often miss the power of a story and its impact on our potential customers. Help prospects winIn almost every category, there are others out there who do the same work you do. Storytelling is the one thing that truly sets you apart from the competition so that you're no longer just a commodity. Your customers can go find another business coach or web designer, and even another hypnotist. Jason points out that he didn't get married by approaching a pretty girl at school and announcing that they were going to have children together. Instead, they built a relationship through the natural progression that occurs when people get to know each other. Look at the relationship building aspect of it. You know that you want to help people, so look for something that will help the customer. Find things you can set in motion that will help your prospects win. Suddenly, there's a collection of people out there who didn't need your entire service but they are in the raving fan category. Some of those that you helped will move forward in the funnel in order to see how you can help them even more. Ditching fearMost people don't seize this concept because they fear giving away too much. They believe that if they give away too much, people won't buy from them. Jason said that he has given away more than most people in his industry. He has also earned more than most of the people in his industry. He believes the two naturally go together. Think of it as a difference of show versus tell. I can tell you what methods may be helpful and you can research them and dig into them in order to determine whether they might truly work, or I can get together with you and actually help you do it. [Tweet "Be willing to give away your best content to your customers sometimes. Give away an abridged version that helps them along on the journey and prompts them to consider what more you might have to offer. #BuildValue"] Many people want to try an at-home version before they commit to the live "being in the room" version. Convince people to careHow do we get people to care before we ever really ask them to listen? We need to think differently. It's about listening to the audience and responding to their requests. Jason calls hit pitch "The Hollywood Effect." It's based on the tendency of movies to launch you directly into some piece of the action, get you swept up into it, and then rewind to tell you the back-story. He launches into a story about murder, and about a new mother who moved into a hotel after seeing a bug in her home. By the end of her first meeting with him, she killed a housefly with her bare hand. Draw in the entire room. Get them to put down their food and listen to what you have to say. Value-first mindsetDo the opposite of what everyone else is doing. If everyone else is doing things one way, let that be your cue to do it differently. As you decide how to move forward, pick the option you are most comfortable with. That's your first entry point and you should flesh that out completely and make it exactly what you want it to be. Once that piece has become a machine that's running itself, you can branch off to some other thing. Finding the timeJason suggests that there's no such thing as "finding the time." It's a game we invented to trick ourselves into not doing things we're absolutely capable of. Instead, we should use the mechanism of making time. Consider putting everything on a scheduling platform. Make use of color-coding. Choose one color for the events that cannot be changed. The number one tip is to listen. So often we catch ourselves trying to mind-read our audience instead of starting with the ask and discovering the customer's greatest need. Sometimes what they want is different than what they need. You're selling what they want, so you'll deliver what they want, but along the way, you can overdeliver by providing what they need. "Leave people better off whether they buy from you or not" episode resourcesYou can connect with Jason at jasonlinett.com or on social media as Jason Linett. You can also grab a copy of his book, Work Smart Business: Lessons Learned From Hypnotizing 250,000 People and Building a Million-Dollar Brand. Head to worksmartbusiness.com for a freebie called the Positive Influence Power Pack that will teach you specific strategies to influence yourself and others. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester in April. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. |
Wed, 20 March 2019
As you're working to expand your reach and grow your network, recognize the importance of building diversity into your network so you'll be better positioned to succeed in your industry. I met Sharon Manker at the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council ROAR Conference, which connects minority-owned and women-owned businesses with Fortune 100 companies. Sharon has worked in supply chain for two decades, in both the for-profit and the nonprofit sectors, in utility and now in healthcare. In her words, she negotiates for a living. She also works to engage diverse suppliers in a woman-owned, veteran-owned, minority-owned system. Small business challengesMany small business owners lack the vehicle to connect with the right decision makers. They don't know how to meet the people who actually influence the contracts. When they discover their limitation, they often observe that they just didn't realize how it impacted their work. As a supply chain person, Sharon works to connect qualified suppliers to the businesses who need them. She also works to connect those same businesses with her business stakeholders. To that end, she attends events and even hosts events that allow people to connect and build relationships. The trick is to recognize that as you're working to connect with the decision makers, there are people along the way who can help you do exactly that. Diversifying suppliersWhen you aren't able to attend these events, Sharon points to other opportunities to connect with people: chambers of commerce and councils, just to name two. You'll be positioned to find corporate partners there. You'll encounter people who are actively engaged and ready to increase their supplier diversity. Even if you attend these events and find out about developments that are 24 months away, future gains will happen. Put in the work now and build relationships now. Benefits of partnershipMany corporations prioritize working with small businesses because they have committed to certain diversity goals, such as spending a certain amount of their operating expenses with diverse suppliers. In some states, in fact, this diversity is mandated. This demands a pool of Minority Business Enterprises, Veteran Business Enterprises, and LGBTQ enterprises that can help meet the needs of those businesses. It can't be a last-minute effort, either. You don't want to wait until you're in an emergency situation to begin vetting partners. Those organizations must proactively work to find the best option in every category to provide the product or service they need. Some corporations connect with small businesses simply because they value giving back to entrepreneurs and small businesses. If you're an entrepreneur or a seller listening to this, find groups like this to connect with, because if you can land a large contract, you can eat pretty well for a while. If you balance your regular prospecting with your networking events while you work to connect with large corporations, you'll more easily keep a steady flow of connections. #CorporatePartners Strategic planCreate a strategic plan for your business. In your case, your plan for success is that failure is not an option. Instead, when you fail, you learn a lesson, and you repeat that until you get to a successful outcome. You can't give up. You must stay positive. There won't always be immediate opportunities, but building a network of resources or opportunities provides some security. Then, if you don't have a resource or an opportunity for those organizations, you could always help connect them with another partner that you've met and added to your network. We've talked recently about the need to focus on a champion rather than only focusing on the decision maker. Your network will help you accomplish that. You may bypass a champion on your way to connecting with a CEO, but the champion can be a much quicker connection. You can build a relationship with him more quickly, and then he can help you get to the CEO. Intentional communicationsWhen you're building relationships, be mindful of your communications. Some people are very aggressive in their approach, but they often overlook all the other restraints that these decision makers are facing. They want to do a deal now, but they aren't mindful of the other projects these professionals are working on. There are hierarchies of communication in every organization. There are also barriers to entry. Your champions can't advocate for you if you're perceived as aggressive or pushy. The vetting process may take weeks, and you must be willing to exercise patience. You don't know about all the things that the organization is working on. Be strategic. Recognize the structure in each organization. People will notice the way you communicate. Be preparedWhen your network does call on you for your product or service, make sure you are ready and able to give your brief, to-the-point presentation. Make sure you're being active so you'll stay positioned to meet other professionals. Make sure you're open and willing and teachable. Even if you aren't a minority, realize that if 51 percent of the company ownership is minority, that classifies as a minority-owned business. "Building Diversity Into Your Network" episode resourcesYou can connect with Sharon on LinkedIn where she shares tremendous amounts of information about supply chain. We are currently in the Beta portion of our new TSE Certified Sales Training Program. The first section is about prospecting, the second is all about building value, and the third is about closing. This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If 2018 wasn't the best year for you, check out TSE Certified Sales Training Program. We can help you out of your slump. If you gave a lot of great presentations and did a lot of hard work, only to watch your prospects choose to work with your competitors, we can help you fix that. The new semester of TSE Certified Sales Training Program begins in April and it would be an absolute honor to have you join us. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Mailtag.io allows you to see around the corners. You can see when people open your email, or when they click on the link you sent. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. |
Wed, 24 May 2017
As salespeople, we tend to not do the things that we know we need to do and networking is one of them. Unfortunately, many people are scared of doing it because they do it the wrong way or they just don’t know how to do it. Networking is a tool for you not to sell, […] The post TSE 579: Sales From The Street -“I Discovered Networking” appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Wed, 17 May 2017
Today, we’re having a lawyer on the show. Lawyers in sales? Yep! Lawyers know a lot about sales too. Today’s guest is Shawn Yesner. He is a lawyer in the Tampa Bay area where he focuses mostly on consumer issues and helping people who find themselves in financial distress and difficulties. He also has to […] The post TSE 574: Sales From The Street-“Meet New People” appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Sat, 13 May 2017
Today is yet another episode of Sales From the Street but I will be the one on the hot seat today as I share with you a crazy experience. Taking My Client to a Game Back in software sales where I worked as an Account Executive, our company had just partnered with a data center […] The post TSE 554: Sales From The Street-“She Jumped Out of the Car” appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Thu, 15 December 2016
As a sales professional, networking is one of our regular activities to find and build relationships with potentials prospects. In this episode I will share with you some key places you can go online and offline to find where your ideal customers maybe spending time. The most important thing for you to do is to […] The post TSE 465: TSE Hustler’s League-“Prospecting At Networking Events” appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Sat, 24 September 2016
How can people connect with others so deeply? How do they even do this? Your job as a seller is to sell of course. But imagine how much more you can sell or grow your business if you were able to connect with more key individuals including movers and shakers in your community. I was […] The post TSE 407: 6 Easy Networking Strategies All Sellers Must Do! appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Fri, 2 September 2016
Emailing influencers is easy, it’s getting them to respond to you that’s the real challenge. So how do you actually do this? How do you actually get influencers to notice you? How can you make yourself stand out from all these other people who are trying to get to them? Today, my guest Jason Treu […] The post TSE 396: Emailing Influencers & Getting Responses appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Fri, 29 July 2016
Last week, I shared with you a stupid example of prospecting I’ve done that didn’t prove to to be effective. It basically involved throwing spaghetti against the wall to see which one sticks. It’s dumb, I know. It wasn’t planned properly. So obviously, it didn’t generate great results. Today, let me share with you a […] The post TSE 367: One Great Contact Led To All Of This… appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Sun, 19 June 2016
If you’ve been hiding behind your product or service all this time then it’s time to come out of that shell if you truly want to grow as a seller or entrepreneur. Today, I’m bringing in Matt “Handshakin” Holmes as we talk about how you can utilize personal relationships to help you in your sales […] The post TSE 341: The Power of In Person Networking appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |
Mon, 23 May 2016
Today, we talk about the idea of partnership or getting the right people into a project. How am I going to get this deal? Shall I collaborate with somebody else? Should I split the commission? Should we get connected with them? The challenges of partnership, so to speak. Here are the highlights of today’s episode: […] The post TSE 319: Sales From The Street-“Collaborate” appeared first on The Sales Evangelist. |