| b. A Brief Description of Your Product or Service - Keep it short, you only have 60 seconds for the whole introduction. c. A Key Benefit - Create a one-to-two line benefit statement that summarizes the results your service provides to your clients.
d. How People Can Help You - Share with people how they can help you: Do they know of a good referral or referral source, an upcoming networking event, a speaking engagement? Here are a couple examples of my 60-second introduction:
"I am Kevin Lister, owner of Paradigm Strategies. We are a business advising firm to the trades. We help business owners improve sales, cash flow and profits while making their operations more efficient and their people more productive. You could help me by introducing me to a business owner in the trades with two-plus employees who has talked about either growing their sluggish business or gaining control of their thriving business." Another "How You Can Help Me" phrase I use is, "You could help me by introducing me to a business owner in the trades with two-plus employees who has mentioned that they have been working too many hours and not making the kind of money they feel they should be." 7. Exchange Business Cards With the People You Meet Always be sure to ask the people you meet for two of their business cards, and then they will ask for two of yours. This is a nicer way to get your card into another person's hand. You want to keep your cards in your left pocket and put others' in your right. This prevents you from handing out someone else's business card. 8. Spend 15 Minutes or Less With Each Person You Meet Try to stay focused on making contacts. When you meet interesting individuals with whom you want to spend more time, ask to set up a later meeting. This allows you more time to network at the event. Please don't try to close business while networking. Your focus is on building relationships, not on selling. Selling at these events can be a real turn-off. Work on developing an effective and efficient interviewing system. Here is one I use that works well - I call it "The Four Magic Questions." a. What company do you work for? (Their answer will tell you whether they are a competitor, contact sphere member or prospect.) b. What is your target market/client? (Contact sphere or prospect?) c. What is your position? (Is this person a decision-maker?) d. How long have you been with your firm? (Confirming that they are a decision-maker.) Remember - try to limit your conversations to 15 to 20 minutes. This will allow you to network with more people. When ending a conversation, do so gracefully. Honesty is always the best policy. If you are uncomfortable with this, exit like a host by introducing the person to someone else in the room that you know. 9. Write Comments on The Back of Business Cards When meeting a new prospect or referral source, you want to make a note of the date and the event at which you met on their business card. Also jot down other important information, such as their referral sources, prospects, hobbies, etc. This allows for better organization as well as memory recall. 10. Follow-up With the Relevant People You Have Met Once you get back to the office, review all the business cards you have collected and discard any unwanted cards. Most importantly, be sure to follow-up with any hot referral sources or prospects within 24 hours. This will show them you care. I hope you found these ten steps of networking to be helpful. The eleventh step is to implement them at your next networking event. If you do, you will be very pleased with the results you receive. Link: The 10 Steps of Networking - Part 1 I will be writing a question and answer article each month for Contractor Power. If you have a business-related question you would like me to answer in one of my upcoming articles, please feel free to contact me at info@paradigmstrategies.com. Also, I offer a FREE business planning report - The Seven Proven Steps to Increased Profits - that I feel you would find of value. To get this report, please visit our Website www.paradigmstrategies.com (click on the "FREE Report" drop-down box), or go to our special Web page www.paradigmstrategies.com/freereport1/. About the Author Kevin Lister, founder and president of Paradigm Strategies, the business advising firm to the trades, is a leader in the field of business performance improvement. He possesses nearly 20 years experience in business management and consulting, effectively operating his own ventures and assisting others with realizing business success. With an entrepreneurial spirit and CEO's point of view, Kevin brings hands-on expertise to helping building contractors, sub-contractors, and suppliers. Kevin has deep knowledge and understanding of the trades, based on 14 years in the construction industry, a family history of owning trades businesses, and a genuine interest and enjoyment in helping blue collar enterprises. Kevin possesses a Masters in business administration (MBA) from Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Bentley College. He teaches management and marketing for the University of Phoenix Online. Kevin is a member of several professional and business organizations, including the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC), the Builders Association of Greater Boston (BAGB), the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) and the Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts (ASM).
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