How so? Networking has always been the bedrock of sales success. So let’s take a deeper dive into this concept.
Author Jeffrey Gitomer’s book “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless” is the inspiration for this blog.
The premise … SATISFIED customers will do business elsewhere, where LOYAL customers will encourage others to buy from you, and FIGHT before they switch.
Think about it, would you rather have 1,000 SATISFIED customers or 1,000 LOYAL customers? Absolutely… LOYAL customers please!
We’ve all been there before, the dreaded Chamber of Commerce “After Hours” networking event. Cheese plate in one hand, an adult beverage in the other, and the ensuing navigation to one hand for the obligatory handshake or business card exchange. All the while the other person is looking over your shoulder for the next intro … Old School, and certainly not in tune with the “Millennial” generation. Who, by the way, don’t even know what a Chamber of Commerce is.
Networking has long been cited as a productive way of making new professional contacts and a way of expanding prospective clients. The traditional networking approach is trying to gain strategic alliances that help boost your business. The mindset is, “What’s in it for me?”
NetWeaving, on the other hand (a term coined by marketing consultant Bob Littell), is where your intent is to learn all you can from as many people as possible about THEIR business, their needs and their challenges. The objective is to try to help as many people as you can. The help or insight you provide may be putting them in touch with someone you know, or sharing insight that can help the other person.
The underlying theme of NetWeaving is reciprocity – doing good things for others can repay you many times over.
This is certainly a far more relaxed approach than traditional networking. It’s much more comfortable, and even fun, to strike up a conversation with someone when I have a genuine interest in learning about what they do and offer ways that my experience, knowledge and expertise may benefit them.
At the end of the day it is about investing in relationships in a genuine and meaningful way. Instead of “Can this person help me?” consider “Could this person act as a resource for someone I know?”
Essentially, this is “Networking without keeping score.” A key point to remember is that being perceived as a NetWeaver (a “giver”), you automatically open up all kinds of lines of communication. The new openness WILL lead to opportunities.
It’s when you give, you will receive!
