Networking Information

By Alan Boyer

I’ve found the best way to understand a prospect is to ask him to explain his thinking. So, I do several seminars a month and I frequently use them to get my answers.

Recently I asked those in a seminar

If you meet someone in a networking event that impresses you with what they said, and no appointment was set right then and there, how many times do you take the business card back to the office with you and then forget to call, or lose the card?

Answer: nearly 95% of the time.

What happens then?

Answer: I hope they call like they said they would?

How often does that call come in?

Answer: Almost never.

Let’s turn that whole scenario around. You meet someone at a networking event, pass your card out to someone you’d like to do business with, and ask them to call you right away. How many times do you receive a call?

Answer: Almost never; Let’s take that to yet another level What do you think of someone IF: They call you almost right away, or at least the very first thing the next day? Answer: They are FAST and efficient. Call comes two days later? Answer: I may have even forgotten we talked. They have to remind me what was so important. Call comes 1 week later? Answer: They weren’t interested in the fact that I had an immediate need, and probably even cost me some money.

NOTE: I’ve discovered that the bigger the company that has asked you to call, the busier that person was, the less tolerant they are. Most large companies know the value of time. Most small companies do not. I once gave a referral to a web developer in a networking group that I am a member of. It was for doing a website for one of my clients. 3 weeks later my client is angry with me because they had delayed and hadn’t received the call. I called the company I had given the referral to and asked why they hadn’t called. They apologized and said they would call right away. 1 week later, no call and my client moved on to another web developer. The reason: once they had decided that a good website would bring them new customers, and looked at their current overhead. They were seeing $5,000 a week going out the door, and due to the delay of 4 weeks, that is now totaling $20,000. In their opinion, the delays just cost them $20,000. The cost of buying the website would have been $2,000 if bought 4 weeks earlier. Their opinion now: You just cost them $20,000 instead of generating them a higher income. Your value just went negative. Your reliability just went through the floor.

So, look at it this way.

• The bigger the client, the bigger the potential return, a big, busy client has a higher value TO YOU.

• The bigger the client, the more they see the VALUE or the lost opportunity. So, if you want to work with a big client, you MUST respond quickly.

If you are small, and want to stay small—keep responding slowly. The faster you respond the more prospects you’ll get, and the bigger they will be.

Alan Boyer, President/CEO of The Leader’s Perspective, LLC is considered one of the world’s leading breakthrough specialists working with clients to find what has held them back, and then breakthrough that barrier.