If you enjoy going to networking business social gatherings or Chamber of Commerce Mixers as a way to develop a referral network and have some fun and do a little business then you need to stop trying to sell so hard to other salesmen and start talking about how you two can work together in a common cause, sharing information, customer databases and business card stacks. Why? Well, because one salesmen at a business meeting is not going to make your year most likely for your sales goals, but one sales person who is on the ball may know 50 people who could in fact give you a good running start at achieving your sales objectives. So, stop trying to sell to other salespeople at networking gatherings and start discussing how you might work together to achieve both your objectives. Ask the other party to tell you the advantages of all of their products or services and what type of prospect that they are really looking for and tell them of your target customer as well and then share information about who you know that they wish to know and vice versa. This is a game about synergy and sales are a lot about getting yourself in front of the decision maker who is so elusive. Referral networks work, but only if you stop trying to sell to salespeople and start using the networking tool like it should be used. Consider all this in 2006. |
