Networking your business means developing a list of business contacts that can help improve revenue and grow your business. There is more to business networking than having business cards on you when you run into people at a restaurant or colleagues at events. Business networking requires planning and preparation to be effective.
Elevator Speech
An elevator speech is a 15-second sales pitch that you would give to someone you just met on an elevator. You need to describe what your company does and explain why that person should be interested in your company. The elevator pitch is usually two sentences with the first sentence being the company summary and the second sentence designed to create interest and explains why your business is unique. The only way to develop an effective elevator speech is through experience and repeated revisions. An elevator speech is extremely effective in situations such as business conferences and trade shows where you are trying to interest new clients or vendors, but your time to make a first impression is limited.
Benefits
The people you are trying to network with are interested in hearing about your company to a certain point. After you introduce who your company is and what your company does, you will want to steer the conversation toward what your company can offer. This varies depending on who you are networking with. If you are a distributor, then the benefits you offer to manufacturers are different from the benefits you offer retailers. Understand who you are talking to so you can move immediately to benefits that will interest him.
Human Touch
A business conversation that is all business will lose the listener's interest in a short period of time. Once you have made your initial introductions to each other and have exchanged company information, try to establish a personal connection that you two have in common. It could be a favorite sports team, a favorite city or a good book. Use the situation you are in to start the personal side of your networking conversation. If you are at a trade show that is extremely large, then start a discussion about trying to see everything at the show and how difficult that can be. Always steer the conversation back toward business, but integrate the personal angles in there as much as possible.
Be Ready to Sell
Sometimes a business networking contact can go so well that you may find yourself in a position to close a sale on the spot. It is not unusual, and it is something you should always be prepared for. Always have a pen and small notebook with you (or a personal digital assistant you can make notes in) and get all of the pertinent information from the customer. Confirm what you discussed, and then ask for a good time during business hours to call the customer and finish the deal. If you have your sales tools online and have access through your cell phone, then try to complete the transaction on the spot. Always give the customer your business card, and tell the customer that you will stay in touch to discuss future deals.
