The Art of Networking – for a Successful Home-Based Answering Service
To be successful in your business, you must develop a network of contacts. These are people whom you know who can provide a favorable introduction to potential clients. The more people in your network, the better the prospects for success. With an increasing number of contacts comes numerous opportunities to offer your services to people who may well be interested in contracting for them.
You network constantly until it becomes a routine, part of your business. No matter who you are talking to at the moment, that person could be helpful to your business in some way. Most people are complimented by your faith in them as a contact person since it emphasizes the influence they can provide.
Networking is a reciprocal process. If you are seeking someone’s help to obtain a lead, you must also be prepared to assist your contact in the same exact way.
Use your business card to introduce yourself where possible, perhaps at a social setting or at local meetings like Rotary or Kiwanis. Chamber of Commerce meetings also hold some potential to meet other business owners in the area. These are the people you want to meet since the idea of an answering service may be important to them.
Don’t be afraid to talk about what you do. When meeting someone new, the conversation inevitably turns to the type of business you’re in, so describe it with the enthusiasm you have for it. You don’t need a resume. Your card and your voice are more valuable in networking.
Your immediate and extended family is the best initial source of networking you can do. Get in touch with your local relatives, explain what you are doing and see if they can provide leads for you.
Past business associates, college friends, church members and other individuals in organizations to which you already belong can be great sources for prospective clients.
Join organizations! Kiwanis and Rotary meet every week, with new members (and prospect!) coming in all the time. If you play golf or tennis, talk to your partners. Consider the people you see regularly: post office, hair salon, cleaners, gas station, all of the normal daily activities encompass some form of business who could use your service.
Once you’ve made a network of contacts, stay in touch with them. A birthday card, a newspaper article of interest, a note about a promotion, all of these are ways to communicate with you network people when you’re not asking for names. Your are creating the opportunity, however, for future business.