Working the Room . . . even when you don’t Know Anyone! 
Confident salespeople want to work the room! They are prepared and eager to get out there to proactively network in business settings. So why do so many salespeople shy away from working a room? It’s simple. They don’t have confidence in their ability to handle themselves in a social/business networking situation. They say things like I’m shy, I hate talking to strangers, I don’t know what to say or maybe…my boss made me come. Well the good news is that this is an easy problem to tackle. When you are prepared with a list of conversation starters you will know how to interact with different types of people and your confidence will build so that networking will become easy for you!
As part of your strategic sales plan you want to network with a purpose. Look at networking as a series of conversations meant to engage prospects. Some subjects work well to steer the conversation towards your product/service. Some subjects are basic human interest (i.e., current events, sports, weather, etc.). All conversations, regardless of topic, are valuable in developing a business relationship.
Here are some pointers to get you started networking with a purpose:
- Have a short list of conversation starters with the purpose of getting the prospect to start talking (e.g., giving you information)
- Have questions prepared to get the conversation started in the direction you desire. For example: I see you work for XYZ company…what does your company do?
- It’s always good to ask probing, open-ended questions to start with. o For example: Why do clients buy from your company versus your competition? You need to be well versed in your company’s solutions and how they benefit your customers.
- Be prepared to answer the same question about you and your company by sharing your company’s Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
- Practice, practice, practice! Thoroughly know what you know so that when you answer a question it is completely natural and to the point so you can steer the conversation where you want it to go.
So you’ve have made it through the initial conversation with your prospect and now comes your action items to begin your business relationship. Follow this thread on:
- LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/rjohnboyens/
- Twitter at https://twitter.com/JohnBoyens
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BoyensGroup
Your sales manager will be glad you did!
