Networking Effectively Part 3: Making the Contact Concept Work for You

In Part 2 we learned about the Contact Concept. So how do you make it work for you?

• Start to think actively about who you know that you can refer people to. And who could refer business to you.Set a specific goal for the process
• Develop an awareness for opportunities to develop contacts.
• Make a point of listening and asking the right questions.
• Let people know the exact type of customer that you want. Learn to ask the questions that will tell you the exact type of customers others want.
• Develop a 30 - 60 second commercial, telling people in a quick and clear way what you do and why you're the person they want to do business with.
• Network on purpose, and with a purpose!

Defining your perfect customer/prospect
This may seem like an obvious thing to you, but it might not be to the people you deal with. You have to be specific when you let people know your ideal customer.

Examples are a better way to explain this:

* You sell insurance. Don't say "Everyone's a good prospect." Say something like : "I'm looking for middle income people who have recently bought homes or had children. The types of changes that make them start thinking about the future."

* You are an interior designer. Your ideal prospect might be : "Someone who has bought a home in the suburbs that is looking to add to their property values, or someone who was recently promoted to a position that requires more entertaining than they are used to."

* You sell cars. Specifically Mercedes Benz. Your ideal prospect might be "Someone who is moving up the ladder, has an eye for quality and is long term thinker."

Get the idea ? Sit down right now and come up with a short, clear description of the person who is most likely to want, use, and afford your product or service.

Define your ideal customer.
This is a valuable exercise not only for networking, but for your marketing efforts as a whole. You might find that it gives you a clearer focus on where and how you advertise, what you can do to be more efficient, and who you *don't* want as customers.