November 12, 2008 – 6:45 pm
I am indebted to Wendy Dashwood-Quick of Resolution Coaching (www.resolutioncoaching.co.uk) for telling me about this video by Adam Urbanski.
It is not aimed at Network Marketing specifically and it was recorded 12 months ago but the message is equally valid for Network Marketers and is just as relevant today. So don’t wait for 2009, watch the video and make your plan NOW. Follow the link:
http://www.themarketingmentors.com/momentum
November 6, 2008 – 9:39 pm
Network Marketing requires you to do three things:
1. Be your own best customer – use the products/services of your company so you can talk about them with passion and conviction.
2. Retail the products/services and build a solid base of regular customers that will underpin your business.
3. Sponsor people into your business and teach them to do what you are doing.
You achieve 2 and 3 by talking to people and building relationships and one of the most effective ways of getting to talk to people is to join one or more business networks. A business network leverages your talking to people effort because it is not just the people in the network group that you access but potentially all the people that they know.
I’m not talking here about business networks that are purely Internet based; I’m talking about those that meet regularly. To build relationships you need to get face-to-face.
Where do you start – just google “business networks” and you get “about 245 million” choices! Look for national networks that has a group or groups that meet locally to you. That way you can visit other groups in the organisation and extend your network. BNI (Business Network International) is worldwide and is well established in the UK. 4Networking has (at the time of writing) 194 groups throughout the UK. There are many others and all have their unique character so it should not be difficult to find one that suites you.
The strength (leverage) in a business network is third party referrals. It’s not about who you know, it’s all about who they know and who they can introduce/refer to you.
Third party referrals will not come to you just because you join a network. You need to gain trust and credibility and you do this by learning about other members businesses and giving them referrals. This is the BNI philosophy expressed as “Givers Gain”. People will only refer their best contacts to you if they know, like and trust you.
The 7 Golden Rules of Business Networking:
1. Don’t sell to the room.
2. It’s not who you know, it’s who they know.
3. Answer the question they’ll all be (silently) asking: “What’s in it for me?”
4. Remember Stephen Covey’s 5th Habit1: First seek to understand (their business, their needs) then seek to be understood. Meet members on a one-to-one basis outside the formal meeting to get to know them and learn about their businesses. What makes them different from all the other similar businesses in the market place?
5. Find out who, precisely, are good referrals for them?
6. When you know their business, and then explain yours.
7. Adopt the principle of “Pay it Forward”2 or, as BNI puts it “Givers Gain”
Don’t forget that business networks are an investment and like all investments you need to evaluate them periodically – usually at annual renewal time. Are you getting value for your money? This tends to be a subjective evaluation because it is about relationships and the value goes beyond simply gaining more than your subscription in increased business.
Oh yes – have fun. As Robert Townsend (ex CEO of Avis Car Rentals and author of Up the Organisation) said (more or less, it’s a while since I read the book): If you’re not in it for fun or for profit, what the hell are you doing here?
Notes:
1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey.
2. Pay it Forward – 2001 film with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt – rather than paying back, do favours without expectation of reward.
October 12, 2008 – 4:24 pm
We are told that we ought to have goals, we ought to write them down, we ought to focus on them daily, etc. etc. There is so much “ought to” that the whole subject of goals becomes a pain and we end suffering from “hardening of the oughteries”.
When we meet prospects we try to assess if they have a strong driving reason to join and do the business. We ask them what their goals are – what do they “want” in the sense of their life goals – and many simply have no idea. What people want out of life is a big philosophical question in the same category as “Why are we here?” and “What is our purpose?” Big questions are daunting and can be very “off putting” so no wonder prospects hesitate, go away to think about it and never come back.
Instead of using the word “goals” why not ask people what “excites” them, what “turns them on” (you might want to exercise a little subtlety in your choice of words here) and then steer the conversation to whether they would do whatever it takes to reach that state – to be, to do or to have whatever excites them.
Not everything that excites someone will amount to the compelling force we are looking for in a prospect but it will be a non-threatening conversation and will sow a seed in their mind and at the moment of germination they will (because you are conscientious with your follow up) remember who sowed that seed!