How to Increase Your Sales by Networking like a Master Networker
I have been in sales and marketing one way or another all my life. I have learned a lot of different styles and techniques; some great, some not so great. But one thing I have learned through my journey is that people do business with people they like and trust. That novel concept literally took only a second to learn, but an understanding that it is an ongoing journey to master. This concept is what I call the LTR Factor. The LTR Factor stands for Likeability + Trustabilty + Reliability = Referrability. Seems simple enough, right? However, this is a concept that few have mastered in order to most effectively leverage resources and convert their relationships to revenue.
Throughout my journey as a sales person, and as an entrepreneur, I learned very quickly how to leverage the LTR Factor. After honorably discharging from the military in my early 20’s, I went on to do what I was “programmed” and expected to do by society. I went back to school, got a great education and pursued a career in corporate America. While climbing the ladder to success in sales, it quickly became apparent to me that buyers could and would buy from whoever they chose. A buyer’s criteria was very simple; you had to have a competitive price, a quality product, be able to make their delivery date and, most importantly, they had to like and trust you. Simple, right? Wrong, so few sales people truly got this concept. Most sales people led with price, or fabricated the truth just a little to get that order. I stayed true to honoring the LTR Factor and by following this simple practice I quickly found myself making a very healthy six figure income in my early 20’s. Suddenly, the industry I was in suffered extremely and deep cuts were made, including my job. I had become a casualty of 9/11. Unemployed and in shock, I had been totally blindsided and never saw it coming.
A dear friend introduced me to business networking. Through the course of networking I was introduced to a business owner who was looking to shift his business and make some changes. Eventually we became business partners. Through strategic networking and building solid and mutually beneficial relationships, we took our business from $197,000 per year and $200,000 in debt to $1.2 million per year and lowered our debt to $187,000. This took 3 ½ years. Not bad, right? All of this was done by simply utilizing the principles of the LTR Factor.
Since being bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, I have utilized this concept to grow and develop two other businesses. Guess what? It worked again… and again! The second time I launched a business using the LTR Factor, and the “Secrets” that I am going to share with you, I started earning $20,000 to $30,000 per month within 3 ½ months. A few years ago was the launch of my sales and leadership training company, Pivot Point Advantage. First year sales, and in a down economy I might add, generated a nice six figure income; 100% from my networking efforts.
Dale Carnegie said it best, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” I love this quote. I believe that if you choose to live by these words and invest the time in developing and applying the right tools and planning, becoming a Master Networker will be inevitable.
As in anything, there are various levels to networking. Regardless if you are a beginner at networking, or if you have been networking for quite some time, you are just a few minor adjustments away from a path which leads you to success.
In this book I am going to share with you a failsafe plan. No tricks, no gimmicks, just tried and true methods that work. Yes, that’s right, actually WORK. You see, that is the second part of the word, netWORKing. It’s not netSITTING, netCHATING, netEATING, netGOSSIPING, netVISITING, netSOCIALIZING, netVOMMITING or netSELLING for that matter. It is netWORKING.
Networking is an art; a skill that gives you so much more leverage and advantage over your competition. If done properly, networking can set you apart from everyone else. The caveat being, IF DONE PROPERLY.
This is where so many fail. People do not understand that there is a right way and a wrong way to network. People fail to understand the networking disconnect. For most, they consider “hunting” as successful networking. That is the furthest from reality.
The Networking Disconnect
I believe in order to understand how to make something work, I need to understand what doesn’t work about it. I took some time to dissect networking and networkers. One thing that became glaring obvious to me, was a significant amount of people who attended networking events, showed up to sell not netWORK or netCONNECT. So, if you have a room full of people, wanting and needing to sell their product, service or solution in a room where nobody has a need, want or desire to buy; you will find a huge disconnect. A room full of sellers and zero buyers.
The next disconnect I discovered is what I have labeled as the Law of PCH. Like any law, it can be broken but there are always consequences attached if you do. The law of PCH consists of three important components (P = Plant the seed, C = Cultivate the Relationship, H = Harvest the Benefits). The problem with today’s society is we have been trained to expect instant gratification, thanks in a great part to technology. Between emails, the internet, voicemail, texting and Smartphone applications we are used to getting what we want in just a few seconds. Well, relationships don’t work that way. They take time, cultivation, significant nurturing. Depending on your profession and a person’s center of influence will impact the amount of time you need to invest in building the LTR factor. Some relationships may only take a few weeks to invoke trust, others may take a few years. If the return is possible, then the investment is worthwhile.
Valuable Exercise
I would like to leave you with a networking exercise. I want you to attend a few networking meeting over the course of the next couple weeks. Find a couple groups that you enjoy and join them. Show up with the intent and desire to add value to people and their businesses. Make a point to be present, really invest on adding value. Spend time after meetings getting to know key individuals that share your same target market but don’t compete with you. Invest in getting to know them, their business, their needs, wants and desires. Be sure to share the same information about you and your business. When you are comfortable and are confident of the person’s LTR factor with you, start connecting them to people that can help grow their business. Really edify them, open doors and help them. Do not show up with the intent to sell, show up with the intent to serve. You will be greatly surprised at your increased ROI, just be adding this one simple step to your networking efforts. If you are interested in more information regarding growing your business through networking, or sales mastery and influence please stop by our website at www.themasternetworker.com. Look forward to connecting with you soon.
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