Should My Lead Generation Marketing Center Around Networking?
Posted by: Cheryl Clausen in sales marketing coaching, tags: lead generation marketing, networking, sales marketing coachingThis is an interesting question I get a lot. Especially from people who don’t have a lot of money to invest in marketing. While the question sounds simple the answer isn’t so simple.
First off, I wish every group or organization that holds networking events would give a copy of a networking etiquette booklet to all attendees so fewer people would embarrass themselves. Shawn Kincaid wrote a nice little list of 10 things you should know about networking. This isn’t secret or earth shattering information it’s common sense. Common sense that most people new to networking seem to lack.
The reason most people embarrass themselves at networking events is because they completely misunderstand the objective of networking. They think the objective is to sell someone something. WRONG! The objective of networking is to meet new people and make FRIENDS.
If you expect to make friends you should anticipate having a give and take conversation where the other person shares a little about them and then you share a little about yourself. You should walk away feeling positive about having met that person. Perhaps they’ve even peaked your interest to the point you’d like to speak with them further. And that’s exactly what you should be trying to accomplish as well.
You want to make certain the other person looks forward to seeing you again and, ideally, you’d like that person to want to spend some time talking with you one on one so they can find out more about you and perhaps what you do.
Beyond the objective and etiquette of networking though, there is an important question you must be able to answer before you consider investing the time and money it takes to network well. That questions is… “Will my best potential clients attend this event?”
The next most important question is… “Will I be able to engage with these people and make friends in the group?”
Contrary to what many people think even “free” networking events are far from “free”. If you’re going to produce serious results from networking it requires a serious commitment. That means you’ll need to:
- plan on actively participating in group events and activities
- prepare to make friends first
- prepare to add value to the members of the group
- take time out of your schedule to attend and participate consistently
- invest in travel, meals, and other expenses
To mention just a few things.
If you identify networking opportunities where you can respond “yes” to those two important questions AND you’re willing to make the investments you need to make to produce a return from your investment THEN networking could play a key role in your lead generation marketing strategies.
If you can’t respond “yes” or you can’t make the required commitment then networking probably isn’t worth any investment. Don’t expect to sporadically attend random networking events and have big things happen.
Just like it takes time to make friends and develop relationships in any situation it takes time to accomplish those sames things from your networking efforts. Networking is a long-term investment that can produce tremendous value as long as you know what to expect going into it.
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September 4th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Just like what you have said, groups and companies who organizes networking events should have at least oriented their guests on what and not to do. Especially on what newbies think on relationship marketing. They usually refer these kind of events as “Marketing/Selling/Promoting Time” rather than creating bonds and meeting new friends.
It’s nice that you have listed things to prepare for a networking event. But I would also like to add that you should always try to find out who’s on the event’s guest list. So if there’s not too much targets showing up the event, you might as well skip and just prepare for another one.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I have to disagree with Johnny. Sure, you can look at a guest list but isn’t networking and relationship marketing all about connecting with people and getting your name out there even if the target person is not present?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met with sales people who talk to me about their business and its nothing I need, but then I talk to my friend and they are looking for that exact service I was just introduced to.
I could be wrong, but that’s how I see relationship marketing to be.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Great reminder on how to handle the situation of networking to produce leads. In our industry, everyone has potential to help you professionally, and you should be willing to help others. Make sure you attend quality events that best suit your purpose. Time is money.