To grow your business, you need to put yourself out “there”. Wherever “there” may be for you to meet potential new customers. For me, I believe in networking. I’m not big on cold calling. So, my goal is to attend at least one networking event a week. My account managers have the same goal, one of them tries to attend two a week.
Why? To widen our circle of potential clients and referrals. If we are constantly in the same circle of influence then we will get the same type of referrals. So, we try and keep a broad reach.
Last week was a particularly productive week for us all. One of my account managers attended a client’s Award dinner. It was successful on many levels. Several of our clients were in attendance. Not just from the College hosting the awards, but also others there to honor the College.
And guess what? Those clients introduced her to other potential clients that were there. Talk about a warm referral! And she already has a meeting scheduled with one of them.
I also had a successful networking week. I attended the Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council Conference (what a mouth full!). It is primarily for certified Minority and Woman-Owned businesses to meet with corporations in the state that support a diverse spend.
I have been attending for several years. Each year I re-connect with prospects that haven’t yet had the opportunity to work with us as well as make new connections. This year, I had one large company that I have met here years ago inform me that an RFP would be coming out soon and I was definitely on the list to receive it. Fingers crossed!
Another company I had been trying to get into explained that I had been referred to the wrong person and offered to make an introduction to the right person.
I also met the diversity manager of one of our new clients. We realized that we are not set up in their system as a diverse spend and needed to be. He indicated it would be the best way for other departments besides the one we work with to get connected to us.
I literally could go on and on. It was a good use of my time for sure.
The conference also offered Match-maker meetings. Basically, you fill out your qualifications and offerings and they match you with a company that’s looking for what you have to offer. I was fortunate to have one such meeting. I think it went well. However, before we can go further, I need to register with their supplier diversity program. But it’s a start.
This conference also had many great workshops and speakers. I attended several and wasn’t’ disappointed. However, there seemed to be a theme going through them all. I don’t think it was intentional, but they all talked about how leaders read. Yes, they were touting different books and resources that we should consider.
They all agreed that just reading the books wouldn’t make us successful but that the continued learning and trying different approaches would. I have quite a list of books I want to get now. I have always been a reader, but one individual recommended reading one book per week. Now, I think that’s ambitious for me at first. But I do believe being more consistent and reading one a month is differently doable.
The keynote speaker at lunch was Troy Taylor, the Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages of Florida. His story was quite impressive and inspiring. He founded Coke Florida in 2015 and has grown it to over $1.2 billion sales and more than 4600 employees in just 3 short years (yes, there were quite a few acquisitions in there).
And, by hearing his story and having a new “connection” to Coke I am hopeful It will work in my favor. Because just a week ago, I met the Coke Territory Manager at a Chamber of Commerce function. I plan to follow up today and mention seeing Mr. Taylor and request a meeting to see if we can do business together. It’s just another connection. Another opportunity to tell our story and grow our business.
In talking with various people at the event I was amazed at how well prepared some people were and how inept others were.
I walked up to a group of people at the evening reception and we were all introducing ourselves. I handed my card to one of them and he handed me his. He was commenting that they had just updated their logo and wanted my impression of it. One of the others in the group said, “aren’t you going to give me one?” And his reply was, “no, I didn’t really give her one either – I need it back. I didn’t bring enough cards with me for this event”.
Talk about a bad impression. Now, the conference encourages doing business with each other as well as the larger corporations. He was being very short sighted and the entire group was insulted. He wanted to “save” his card for what he perceived as better prospects.
Since he really didn’t take the time to find out anything about us, he’ll never know if he passed up a good prospect or referral source.
I met many people that had great pitches. They could tell you in 30 seconds or less what their company did in a compelling way. Made me realize I need to up my game a bit (been doing this too long and felt a bit stale). And then I met others that stumbled along giving a long list of the services they provide and none of the benefits you might get from using their services.
So, if you are looking to grow your business (and we all should be) then I highly recommend you seek out new and different networking opportunities. Just make sure your pitch is up to date and you have plenty of business cards!
And don’t forget to read a new book this month!
Danette Gossett is the founder of Gossett Marketing, co-founder of Promotions Rescource LLC and co-author of the best-selling book “Transform” with Brian Tracy. Danette utilizes her more than 30 years of advertising agency and corporate marketing experience to develop effective promotional campaigns and products for her clients. Visit GossettMktg.com or SalesPromo.org and follow us on twitter @MarketngTidbits.