Prospecting is one of the key success factors in sales. If you’re great at closing and presenting, but lousy at finding the right people to sell to, it will hold you back.

Question: If you were going to open a new restaurant in town, what is the one thing you would want most? If you are thinking a great chef, some wonderful recipes, a fantastic location or a great name, I cannot guarantee your success. Marketing guru Gary Halbert says a starving crowd. In other words, it’s no good selling good stuff if you can’t find good people to sell it to!

In Part1 of this two part series, I'll show you hw to get your head round the most tricky but often the most productive of prospecting methods: networking>>

Here's a run down of networking, which could be your most lucrative prospecting strategy:

1. Go out.
2. Meet people you don’t know.
3. Talk a little and listen a lot.
4. Learn what they do, who they know and what they need.
5. Keep in touch.
6. Sell to them or their contacts at the appropriate time.

The problem is that most professionals are very good at what they do, but struggle to market themselves in very competitive arenas. While many have a rough idea how to network effectively, few are comfortable with it, and even fewer have been properly trained to put together a strategic plan of action to make the most of what is still premium, ‘non-fee-earning’ time. Networking is simply talking and listening in a way that builds relationships as a bridge to future business. Good networkers come in all shapes, sizes and personality types. They do the simple things well and the natural things better than most. And it’s all coachable.

Your prospects are out there, but to them you’re still the best kept secret in the world. They won’t do business with you, or introduce you to their contacts unless they know you. To do that, you need to get out there to the right events, meet the right people, say the right things and follow up in the right way. If you’re still inhibited, simply think of it this way. All the money you will ever earn is right now sat in someone else’s pocket! So let’s get it out of theirs and into yours with the seven keys to perfect networking:

1. The Right Attitude

Networking is not selling, although they both go in your financial engine. We just put them in separate containers. It’s simply talking and listening, and building relationships. As my mentor, Will Kintish, taught me, it’s about Knowing, Liking and Trusting. In that respect, it’s a numbers game. The more people you get out there and meet, the greater number of people will like you and therefore trust you. It’s important, also, to be confident, expectant and professional. You do that by preparing!

2. The Right Preparation

Many people flounder in networking because they go to the wrong events. You must be choosy where and when to spend your valuable time. There’s nothing worse than wasting time ‘net-eating’ and ‘net-drinking’ with nothing to show for it. Events take many forms, from regular clubs to one-off annual events and dinners, from seminars and conferences to exhibitions and expos, from informal social and leisure gatherings to impromptu connections in planes, trains and queues. I have identified four types of networking events depending on what you want:

1. Business Development (many of your prospects, a large proportion of your target market, a collection of people that could use what you do)

2. Contact Development (lots of your fellow professionals, peers, coaches, trainers, consultants, key suppliers and advisers that won’t buy from you but can help you save money, cut costs and be better at what you do)

3. Referral Development (connectors, introducers, key professionals, people in other fields that won’t buy from you but are connected to people that might and could introduce you or refer you)

4. Professional Development (featuring great speakers, gurus, experts, presentations, seminars or key educational input to take you to the next level).

Many events have a mixture of all four. It’s your precious time. If you’re in prospecting mode, go where the people are that you want to meet!

See Part 2 for five more keys to perfect networking...

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