Sales and Selling – The Importance of Connecting

Sales and Selling – The Importance of Connecting

When I first moved to Edmond, OK and decided to begin a business, I knew that the first thing I needed to do was to meet people.  I was blessed to have a great neighbor (who is also a fantastic real estate agent) who wanted to introduce me to people.  Every time an opportunity came along to meet someone she knew, I jumped on it.

The next thing I did was join the Chamber of Commerce.  Now, I am not an extrovert by nature, meaning that being in large groups of people and extending my hand in blind greeting is not something I am good at naturally.  However – I knew that in order to build the kind of referral-based business I wanted, I needed to start sticking out that hand as often as possible.

Armed with the will to “network and connect”, I:

  • Went to Business-After-Hours
  • Joined committees and volunteered to do something
  • Offered to speak to groups on topics in which I was well versed
  • Developed connections with business owners and bank presidents
  • Asked people if I could buy them a cup of coffee to spend time learning about them and their business
  • Attended “speed dating”-type events for networking
  • Joined two other Chambers
  • Sat on boards of directors
  • And the best thing I did was join a networking and referral group

How are you currently “connecting” in your community?

Do you need to make some changes to your method of connecting?  What would you change and how?

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