What to choose: stay in a comfortable state or achieve results?
A young man named Peter K. (his real name was changed to preserve the confidentiality of the client) got a job as a Sales Manager. The job consisted of selling the company's services to small businesses. Peter's manager explained that it was necessary to establish contact with business owners and present the company's services. In this case, active sales should go.
Peter knew several business owners, and he decided to offer the company's services to them first. Peter's acquaintances became interested and placed an order after the presentation of the company's services, but the circle of potential buyers ended rather quickly...
The question arose before Peter: how can the circle of acquaintances of entrepreneurs be expanded? The easiest option is to attend networking groups, where businessmen communicate with members of the community and present the company's services. This lesson didn’t bring any special results to Peter. Two months later, Peter stopped going anywhere and sat down in the company's office to solve the problem of lack of sales in a different way.
The thought came to Peter: “It's not about my approach to sales, but that the company has a poor presentation of services via the internet!” With this idea, Peter began to study website development. A couple of months later, a new internet portal was ready, a very colorful and informative site, but there were still no sales.
The reason is that there is a certain kind of sales that cannot be carried out only through Internet resources. For such “specific” sales, a website is needed so that the client can learn more about the services and the field of activity in which the company is involved.
A couple of months later, Peter had to leave this job because, in his opinion, it led him to a dead end.
2 main reasons why networking didn't work.
The first mistake is that the Sales Manager shouldn't be involved in website development. Sales and website development are not the same thing. The development of marketing activities is not the main activity of a person whose main task is to sell. A Sales Manager should not replace his type of activity with any other.
The second mistake? Peter was hoping for a big sale after the first contact with a potential client. Before making any decision, the business owner needs to know the plans and specifics of the company.
The key to success is realistic expectations when looking for an investor.
Do not expect your new “acquaintances” to take the initiative in further communication. Your task after the initial introduction is to get in touch with a person a second or third time to strengthen and establish further interaction.
Do not immediately look for a well-to-do investor by ceasing to communicate with other people. By acting in this way, you will create a reputation for yourself as a greedy and self-serving person. Your task is to meet and maintain communication with people of any level. This way you will be liked, and make a good impression, and the number of people interested in you will grow. This is the only way you can reach wealthy people.
6 rules for finding investors using networking.
- invite everyone you contact (not just those you think are potential investors) to follow-up meetings;
- be a “patient” seller;
- prepare to present yourself;
- separate your work as a salesperson, from the marketing department, and IT department;
- do not wait for the investor to take the first step, but continue to initiate continued contact and communication yourself. Take the first step;
- explore our class - “Searching for an Investor”.
