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A company will often try to generate more sales by “networking”, this will generally involve going to a small business networking event, Chamber of Commerce business card exchange or a peer to peer meeting in which they then promote their services.

However very rarely is anything either bought or sold at these events and it is you may often get the feeling that very little headway is made. In the following three sub-sections will show you what techniques you need to make the most out of these opportunities.

Getting The Right Perspective.

Firstly it is important to realise that networking is not the same as selling. Although it is true that the vast majority of people are there to sell their products, services or business, the art of networking is subtle.  For instance: when you meet a potential buyer don’t be overbearing and bombard this person with reasons why they should buy your product/service, this will only push the potential customer away.

The idea is to get to know people who are influential so that they use and refer you in the future, and they will be far more likely to do this if they don’t feel hassled and you make a good impression. One way of achieving this is by listening and giving them advice or help.

One thing to understand is that the main focus of your conversation should be that of the customer.

Word Of Mouth.

This is one of the most effective and cheapest forms of advertisement and a great way to get more sales. If you have taken the last section on board you will be well on your way to creating word of mouth advertisement about your product, company or just you yourself.

As with the last section this technique is centered around getting to know the potential buyer better and making a good impression. Here are some questions you may want to ask the potential buyer if you are struggling:

1. What is their name?
2. What do they do?
3. What do they like most about what they do?
4. Who are thier clients?
5. Do they have to travel much?
6. Where are they based?

These are the sort of questions that will allow you to gather the information necessary to redirect potential clients their way. News of your abiliity to generate good leads will soon spread people will feel that they should get to know you,  your reputation will be boosted and it will be far easier to pitch a sales as favors are repaid.

The reason  this method is such a good one is that if someone receives a third party endorsement of a company, i.e. you directing a potential client to a company, then they are far more likely to be receptive because of your endorsement.

The most important aspect of this technique is being able to consistently gather and record information about the people you meet. You will more than likely create your own style and way of doing this as you get use to it and if you do manage it you will vastly increase the word of mouth hype about your company.

Become An Expert.

Become an expert in your field.

One of the best ways to find customers for your company is to have a reputation as an expert in your field. Expert carries with it connotations of prestige and credibility yet it is not as difficult to obtain as you might think. Here is a simple three point plan showing you how to do this:

Find a niche

Instead of trying to be good at everything try and be great at one thing, concentrate your energies and intelligence into just one area and learn everything there is to know on it. It needn’t be an obvious area either.

Write about what you know.

Show off! Make sure that people can see how good you really are, every day there are literally thousands of newsletter publishers, web masters and editors looking for new and interesting articles to publish. If you could get your material published and liked back to your own website then it is like a stamp of approval, if done regularly the snowball effectmakes you become more established and respected.

Speak whenever possible

The same principle applies to this point as with the last point. Although it can undoubtedly be a rather nerve-racking experience, public speaking is one of the best ways in which you can gain credibility as an expert. A competent speech can win an audience. Try to offer free advise and useful material that businesses can use rather than sell your product.  As for nerves it’s bearing in mind is that nearly everyone of the audience will only have respect and admiration for you being able to stand up and talk.

More advice in giving a good presentation can be found in our presentation section

Similar resources you may like

1. 5 Qualities of a Great Sales Person
2. Sales Presentations.
3. Buyer Resistance and Selling Stalls
4. Telemarketing
5. Proper Preparation: the key to sales.

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Business Skills Resources, buyer, company, course, goods, income, marketing, money, networking, pitch, potential buyer, product, public speaking, sale, sales, seller, services, skill, training

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This entry was posted by Colin Welch on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Sales Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.