Okay – so you have decided to start going to network meetings to meet new people to share your business with. You know the meetings I'm talking about. Everyone shares their 30 second commercial and you “network” before and after the meetings. I'm NOT talking about some of the groups that charge hundreds of dollars per year to belong to and require you to attend every meeting. There are lots of “Business networking”, Chamber of Commerce “After hours” networking meetings that are free or virtually free and you can meet prospects for your business there.
Once the decision has been made to attend the meetings, the temptation is to just go and wing it. If you are doing that and it isn't working or you are thinking about starting and would like a leg up, this post if for you. I'll be honest. A couple of years ago I decided to start “going to networking meetings and meet new people.” That was my whole plan and I reaped the rewards that I deserved with that kind of planning. With a little planning you can do LOTS better. So let's get into it.
Step 1 – You must Strategize – yup, you have to think and maybe even talk this over with people who know. It really will help. You have some questions you need to answer before you get in the car and head for your first meeting.
- Why are you going?
- What is your message going to be?
- How am I going to present my message?
- What meetings should I go to?
- What can I do to enhance my credibility and be someone that others want to be with?
- What steps am I going to take approaching every meeting?
- How do I psych myself up on the way to my meetings?
- Who am I going to be at these meetings?
Why are you going?
- Probably the weakest approach is “I'm going to sell some of our great products?” Sales are rarely made at this kind of meeting and it is easy to get pushy and really alienate the very people you spent time and gas money to meet. I often feel ill at ease since I was going for one reason and every time I stood up and talked, I didn't ever mention anything related to why I was really there. I don't like that kind of disconnection.
- For most network marketers the starting answer is “to meet people.” That's okay as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far. You are not going to develop life long friends at a bi-monthly lunch networking meeting.
- For many people at these meetings the purpose is to obtain referrals for their business. This might be your purpose, if so focus on “Getting Referrals”, not “Make a sale today.” For most network marketers a product sale isn't nearly as important as a new distributor. On the other hand customers often convert. You have to decide on your approach.
- A step up from that is “Get business cards from likely candidates so that I can call them and set up a meeting to share my business opportunity." Do not be surprised if you find that you have stacks of cards and virtually no meetings. If you make the business card approach work – more power to you. If you find that you have stacks of cards and no appointments, don't quit, change your approach.
- Suggested answer – to set up two appointments at the meeting and make contact with at least four new people. I'll talk about making the appointments in the next post.
What is your message going to be?
This is a lot trickier than it looks. Are you going to stand up and share the products your network marking company sells. Are you going to give the “I'm looking for a few good men” speech? Are you going to say “we are all looking for a way to get rich and I've found it!!” (puh-lease that is a joke!)
- Share ONE of you products. - lots of people do this. As I mentioned above, you are NOT looking to make a sale at the meeting. Lots of people go meetings to “make a sale” and it rarely works. I will say that every decent network marketing company lives and dies on products actually moving to customers. If you go with this are your message, you will probably end up getting the edgy feeling that what you really want is to find some business partners so what are you talking about selling products?
- In my humble opinion a step up is sharing that everyone needs to be working on a plan B. Some of each week should be dedicated to working on YOUR business instead of your boss's business.
- Suggested message – share your “why” Tell people why are you doing what you are doing and see who resonates with your message. Here is a video that gives you a good description of what “sharing your why” means. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVnN4S52F3k&NR=1 This is a 3 and ½ minute version for Simon Sinek's talk “Start with Why” You can find others on youtube. Here is the mission statement from my company. “Our company's mission is to provide a system for entrepreneurs to create an ongoing income, while providing consumers worldwide with a better way to shop. Through revolutionary technology and the power of people, we are creating the economy of the future.” Turn this into your why and make that your 30 second commercial.
How am I going to present my message?
If you are a network marketer, people will join YOU, not your company. You must present your belief in your system with passion and conviction. Your company will have training on “posture”. You need to find it and bury yourself in it. Posture is your message. I like to think that I am trying to get people to mentally raise their hand and say “That's me! I want some of that!” 99.9% of all product pitches fall on deaf ears because the listeners say “I don't need that”.instead of “I want that.” You need to make them want raise their hand.
- There are a number of web sites like meetup.com. You can sign up for a free account and then identify key words that identify meetings that you would like to attend. Look for meetups (networking meetings) that have had a number of sessions already and have had a number of people attend the meetings. Groups that haven't had any meetings and who only have two people RSVP'd are probably a waste of your time.
- There are church and temple groups – some are Men's Clubs and Ladies Auxiliaries.
- There are quilters groups and other special interest groups. If you have a special interest go to meeting where people like you will be present. It gives you one of the most important ingredients you can have - “Something in common” with the other person.
- You local Chamber of Commerce probably has “After hours” meetings. There are often a LOT of Chambers of Commerce in a given area. Some are free (like MainStreetChamber groups) and some are very formal. Personally I wouldn't recommend paying for an expensive membership.
- There are some networking groups that are very focused on referrals – they often cost several hundred dollars a year to belong to and have strict rules about how many meetings you can miss and how many referrals you “must” give to others. These seem to work best for brick and mortar companies, but you tastes may be different than mine. You can wrangle a free trial visit without much trouble.
- Try for close to home first – while meetings 30 miles away will give you a chance to listen to motivational audios they do take more time and gas and often they aren't worth the extra effort.
- We start with being early and staying late- you have to “network” with the people and you can't do that if you are not there.
- Add to that being consistent. Going to a meeting one time is a complete waste of time. (Of course if you got there and the meeting was a wrong fit for you then don't go back.)
- Be dressed for business. You don't have to go the full suit and tie route, but be a business person, not a beach bum. I see people in Florida attending meetings in shorts and wearing flig flops. Then they want me to use them as lawyers or realtors. Not going to happen!
- Work of your 30 second commercial – and if you are not talking OUT LOUD you practice does not count. You would be well served by video taping your talk at home and looking at yourself. You will be surprised. If you practice the same short speech over several days you will find that it starts to flow very naturally. You do not want to memorize you speech word for word. It should be a little different each time, but it should cover the same points every time.
- Be vibrant, energetic and passionate! People don't get inspired by a wallflower who talks so softly they can't be heard.
- Take your materials – these are covered below.
- Suggested best practice – develop a tag line in your talk that requires audience participation and use it every time. People will start to remember you. One I like is “Brian does printing, printing, printing.” Then he asks “What does Brian do?...” and the audience responds “Printing”. We remember what Brian does. Here is mine. “My name is Hale Pringle (pause) and for me the first question is always 'Is this a great day?' and for me the answer is always “Hale yes!” After a couple of times the groups will respond right after the question. When the group responds to your tag line, it does three important things. 1) It engages the audience – they focus on you, 2) It helps people remember you – far better than a “Here is what I sell?” speech. 3) When the group respond it gives you instant credibility with newcomers. It is obvious to everyone that you are a regular and people know (and respect) you.
What steps am I going to take approaching every meeting?
- What should I take? -
- Business cards are a must. Be sure that you can write on your cards. I see plastic cards and all black cards and it is impossible to take notes or write a note of the card. I actually have several – each emphasizes a different part of what I do. I also believe in having a business card holder. They are about $5 at the office supply store. Not only do they give you a set place to have nice crisp business cards, but they give you a place to place the important cards you get at the meeting.
- Something to write with – you need to write on the cards you give to people (it makes them memorable when they take them out of the stack at home) and the ones you get (where did you get it, what should you remember about the people when you talk to them next, etc.)
- Your list of people you plan to contact.
- Your calendar – you can't make appointments without your day-book or smart-phone (if that is where you keep your calendar.)
- You may need a copy of your speech to go over. It doesn't really hurt to have a 3 x 5 card in your hand while you talk and refer to it.
- You may want to take fliers or handouts. If you are doing a product show or makeup party, you might want to print up something to hand to people. I hear people in some of my meetings who rattle off their phone number three times and if we are going to remember it. You need something people can take with them. I like to take a notebook to take notes in.
- As noted above, plan get there early and plan to stay late.
- Figure out how many new people you will talk to (this will vary depending on the size of the group and your readiness to contact people on the fly.)
- Figure out how many appointments to share your business you will make. (Again this will vary.)
- Plan to talk some to the people you know. Think of this as getting to know them well enough that you can actively and confidentially introduce them or refer them to someone else AND you can ask them to refer or introduce you to someone you know. (You will see some of them at other meetings and they may not know how you do your main business, but they do know you are on-time, have helpful comments, are willing to help out as needed, etc. This is enough to introduce you as “a nice guy” or a “dynamic lady.”
- Suggested best practice – If you meeting is announced on a web site like meetup.com, go to the web site a couple of days before the meeting. These web sites ask for RSVPs. You can look at who said they are planning to come and identify people you definitely want to seek out at the meeting since they look like very high potential prospects for you business. You can even send message through these systems. “Hey, I see you are coming to Tuesday's meeting of the XYZ networkers. I think we have some interests in common and I look forward to meeting you there.”
How do I psych myself up on the way to my meetings?
You should be listening to motivational audios on the way to the meeting. Get in the zone. You should also be making positive affirmations (“I am going to find the perfect person today.” “I am going to be on fire today”) Say it out loud and your mind WILL believe it.
Who am I going to be at these meetings?
This may seem like a strange question, but network marketing is about redefining and building a new you – not finding yourself. You need to make a conscious effort to put on your extrovert personality when you attend these meetings. I know for the first few months that I attended meetings I regularly thought “What the h@#$ am I doing here?” as I sat and watched others schmooze. I discovered that I needed to redefine my public persona and you may to as well. One part of this is to find things that you can give to others. Help them improve their presentation. Offer to be a sounding board while they working on their marketing pitch. You can be a helper and people will respond if you are trying to help them instead of constantly working to help yourself.
NEXT TIME – Tactics
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