Sales networking needs just two things
I can’t believe we are already over halfway through January despite only taking our decorations down last week. We live in Spain during the winter and over here the celebrations don’t stop until after the Kings day on the 6th.
Personally I question why the Spanish don’t keep their decorations and lights up all year round. Nearly once a week there is somewhere nearby holding a fiesta of some kind. Even our tiny little village had four days of partying this weekend to celebrate the Saint who looks after the village, San Anton.
Now our Spanish is not great. It doesn’t help that we rarely have lessons and for more than half the year we aren’t even in Spain. However, we thought we would join in with the fun and entertainment and try not to let our dreadful language skills affect our fun!
So before it all started, my husband Mike and I sat down and wrote some little introductions about ourselves and where we live just outside the village. We also wrote down and practiced some questions so that we could get our Spanish neighbours talking, which would give us valuable thinking time.
Well needless to say we had a great time stuffing our faces with migas (fried breadcrumbs), paella and chocolate cakes, washed down by a lot of local red wine and beer. We didn’t understand an awful lot that our neighbors in the village said and I bet they were confused by our Spanglish, but it was a great weekend all round.
So what did my weekend have to do with selling!
[easy-tweet tweet=”You can buy networking; you can’t buy friendships – Lindsay Fox”]
First steps to successful sales networking
Well we spent a lot of time this weekend introducing ourselves to our neighbours using the same principals that a business person might use to introduce themselves to their customers. Selling is a communication process after all with the only difference being that money exchanges hands at the end of the sales process.
As our goal what to network with our neighbors, there was two areas of sales networking that we focused on:
- Preparing to sell
- Introducing ourselves face to face
When you get these two things right then you are a long way towards building a great rapport with your potential clients. Once you start to build a rapport with your prospects you will find it easier to uncover their problems and therefore their needs. Understanding your prospects requirements is vital to be able to win their business by solving them.
If you need help with preparing to sell then download my 7 point essential check list. Clients tell me they have used it successfully to ensure they make a great impact when they meet new potential clients.
Introductions face to face or over the phone use the same principals and the process is very easy to use. Download my introduction formula to learn how to introduce yourself and lay the foundations for a non pushy, non salesy relationship with your clients.
So after the weekends celebrations I am firmly back at my desk and looking forward to speaking to some of my clients this week. I wonder if they too have been using their sales networking skills with new friends as well as new clients?
I must ask!
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