The Growth of C-2-C Marketing | CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH

Connecting Is Not Enough with Andy Lopata

UK author and business networking strategist Andy Lopata discusses the concept of 'C2C Marketing'. In his article Andy looks at:
- How people like to buy in the modern world
- The growth of reviews and recommendations on sites like IMDB and Amazon
- The challenges facing B2B Marketing professionals
- Why referral strategies are more important than ever


"The power is in the hands of the customers".
Last month I spoke at a B2B Marketing Symposium in London, along with a number of experts and practitioners from the B2B Marketing world. Much of the focus was on how the way we market has had to change due to the huge shifts in commerce and behaviour in recent years, much driven by social networks.

One of the speakers was Gerry Brown, a senior analyst for Bloor Research. Gerry's presentation grabbed my attention as he talked about a shift from B2B Marketing to what he termed 'C2C Marketing', or Customer to Customer.

"People want to hear from other customers", said Gerry. "Don't think B2B, think C2C. How can you facilitate your customers to do your selling for you?"

Gerry's comments reflected the opening words of my new book, where I quote Grant Leboff, author of Sticky Marketing: Why everything in marketing has changed and what to do about it. "In every major channel of marketing, response rates have dropped", said Grant. "Buying behaviour has changed from the days when consumers used to make decisions based on the adverts on the television and in magazines.

"If you want to purchase a product or service today, you do one of two things - ask your network for recommendations or search online."

Referral strategies have become increasingly important in markets where competition has become fiercer and mass communication is at almost everyone's fingertips. Do a bad job and your customers will not only talk about you, they have a greater reach than ever before. But you don't need to just firefight, progressive companies also recognise that armies of customers who are used to sharing their views and their preferences with the world will happily Champion brands they are proud to be associated with.

One of the first things any new author is told to do by their publisher is to encourage readers to post good reviews onto their Amazon page. Sites like IMDB for cinema goers and TripAdvisor for travellers now mean the people are more likely to make their decision on what to see or where to holiday based on what other consumers say rather than critics or travel agents.

According to Gerry Brown, B2B Marketers are finding marketing in the modern world more demanding than ever before. In a recent survey 140 marketing professionals were asked for the one word that would describe the biggest challenge they faced. The top three areas were:

1 - Time
2 - Clarification and focus
3 - Clarity/Clutter/Relevance

Among the responses they received in the survey were:

“It's so easy to get distracted by all of the noise, new tools, etc. and spread yourself too thin”
“Too many new options. So much change is happening so quick that businesses lose focus”
“Customer scepticism - 'it's just marketers trying to get us to do/think/try something’”
“It’s tough to have so many places to market these days with no expansion of the budget! In the olden days it was so much simpler!”

A strong C2C referrals strategy offers the opportunity to overcome these challenges. Set up properly and maintained effectively your customers can be doing much of your marketing for you, freeing time to explore other routes to market while overcoming scepticism from prospects who trust the people recommending you. But it needs to be approached proactively, you need to treat C2C marketing as much a part of the marketing mix as you would more recognised and formalised routes to market.

"The power is in the hands of the customers", Gerry said in his presentation. Companies now have the choice of letting their customers decide where their business goes, or working in conjunction with them as they grow.

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Are you struggling to put an effective networking or referral strategy into place? Do you want to know more about how to ensure you get the maximum possible return from your networking?

Visit Andy's website at http://www.lopata.co.uk/ for more resources and ideas about how Andy can help you.

Andy's new book, 'Recommended: How To Sell Through Networking and Referrals', will be published later this month.

“In this book Andy Lopata demonstrates how so many businesses ignore potentially their most powerful resource – their networks. Andy’s in-depth, practical advice will show you how to both build and profit from the relationships in your network.”
Ivan Misner, NY Times Bestselling author and Founder of BNI and Referral Institute

Andy Lopata's newsletter archive
Andy Lopata's LinkedIn profile
Join Connecting is not Enough - Andy Lopata's Facebook Page

For more information, please visit Andy's TNNWC Bio.

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For complete tactical and strategic business planning, marketing, media, lead-generation, technological and capital resources, scalable solutions and tools to support every entrepreneurial start-up, young enterprise, small- to medium-sized business and emerging high-growth company, talk to the Advisors and Experts at TNNWC Group, LLC. We are a collaborative entrepreneurial, creative organization offering you hands-on, personalized assistance in every aspect of achieving your monetization, profitability and financial sustainability objectives, domestically and globally. We don’t just “coach” you or offer you pre-packaged, push-button solutions – we listen to you, analyze your exact needs, and work within your scale of operations and your budget to: (1) create your optimal tool kit , and (2) work as your partner (with our sleeves rolled up) to implement your plan by supporting you in the most efficient and productive use of every tool. Visit our website, which is located at http://www.TNNWC.com To receive your Free Subscription to our critically- acclaimed business newsletters, publications, information bulletins and alerts, simply join us as a Member. Two of our most widely-read publications include The National Networker (TNNWC) Weekly Newsletter, and The BLUE TUESDAY Report. Every Subscriber automatically receives Free Membership. Membership will grant you access to our unique suite of business planning, business-building, business promotion, business cost-reduction, business capitalization and strategic planning services, as well as entry to our expert management consulting services. These benefits are unequalled anywhere. Just go to our home page, and click on the “JOIN US” button. Find out about what WE can do for YOUR growing enterprise -- we are recognized advocates, champions, thought-leaders, writers and keynote speakers on such timely subjects as social networking and relationship-building, traffic -building, social media buzz, branding, developing international trading and joint venture relationships -- and structuring and obtaining alternative forms of capitalization. We are on top of every significant business, regulatory, technological, social and consumer trend worldwide. At TNNWC, we have a specific orientation: We Solve Problems. We Help Our Clients To Achieve Their Goals And Objectives. Prosperity. Peace. Collaboration. Sustainable Solutions For Continuous Growth™. Subscribe. Join Us. Visit Us. http://www.tnnwc.com/. You can access our free supplemental RSS FEED by clicking *HERE*

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The Growth of C-2-C Marketing | CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH

Recommended, The Book | DAVE CLARKE

by Dave Clarke

This month sees the launch of the third book from my fellow National Networker Columnist, Andy Lopata. The book 'Recommended: How to Sell Through Networking and Referrals' is both a good read and a useful manual that you can dip in and out of to help build an effective referral strategy for yourself. It is published by the Pearson Group with the imprint of Prentice Hall Financial Times. It follows hot on the heels of the updated version of '...and Death Came Third!', the definitive guide to networking and speaking in public.

I chatted with Andy this week at our NRG Metropolitan Networking Group in London.

1. Why write this third book, Andy?

"Far too many organisations, of all sizes, either fail to consider referrals in a strategic way for their business, or have a half-hearted and ineffective approach to generating word of mouth. Businesses need to have access to a simple, yet much more focused, process of referral-based lead generation and treat it in the same way they do other routes to market.

From a personal point of view, much of my work over the last three years has been focused on networking and referrals strategies, rather than the skills covered in '...and Death Came Third!' In addition, my approach and content have evolved, so there was a need to write something more representative of what I do now and who I work with.

I have also worked increasingly with larger organisations and wanted to be able to make my approach easily accessible to smaller business who weren't necessarily in the position to bring me in to work with them direct."

2. What’s the reason for the title, Recommended?

"I had been struggling to find a strong title throughout the writing process. I then heard a good friend of mine, Grant Leboff, speaking to promote his new book Sticky Marketing. In his talk, Grant discussed changes in buyer behaviour and how we have moved from people being open to others selling to them, to finding out for themselves what they want to buy. And they find out using two methods; they search the internet or they ask friends, family and colleagues to recommend a supplier.

If we accept that our prospects are more likely to buy from us if a third party recommends us, surely we should have a strategy to encourage those recommendations and, even better, referrals. Hence the title."

3. What's the most important thing you want people to take from reading the book?

"That a strategic approach to generating new business through referral is both essential and also can pay huge dividends. Knowing that people are successful applying my Referral Book process would be fantastic. But if each reader takes away one or two key tips and implements them, they will win more business more easily.

I hope it's an entertaining and engaging read, but that is far more important."

4. So what’s next for Andy Lopata?

"I have a couple of exciting speaking engagements coming up, starting with my first trip to Vietnam this month. I've already spoken with my publisher about future projects and we have settled on a couple of ideas for new books which I'll come back to look at early next year.

We are also looking to develop a wider range of resources to help companies and individuals implement their own networking and referrals strategies."

As it says on the cover, if you want to grow your business, get Recommended!

Until next time...
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get this free download to building business through networking



For more information, please visit Dave's TNNWC Bio.

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Powered By TNNWC Group™

For complete tactical and strategic business planning, marketing, media, lead-generation, technological and capital resources, scalable solutions and tools to support every entrepreneurial start-up, young enterprise, small- to medium-sized business and emerging high-growth company, talk to the Advisors and Experts at TNNWC Group, LLC. We are a collaborative entrepreneurial, creative organization offering you hands-on, personalized assistance in every aspect of achieving your monetization, profitability and financial sustainability objectives, domestically and globally. We don’t just “coach” you or offer you pre-packaged, push-button solutions – we listen to you, analyze your exact needs, and work within your scale of operations and your budget to: (1) create your optimal tool kit , and (2) work as your partner (with our sleeves rolled up) to implement your plan by supporting you in the most efficient and productive use of every tool. Visit our website, which is located at http://www.TNNWC.com To receive your Free Subscription to our critically- acclaimed business newsletters, publications, information bulletins and alerts, simply join us as a Member. Two of our most widely-read publications include The National Networker (TNNWC) Weekly Newsletter, and The BLUE TUESDAY Report. Every Subscriber automatically receives Free Membership. Membership will grant you access to our unique suite of business planning, business-building, business promotion, business cost-reduction, business capitalization and strategic planning services, as well as entry to our expert management consulting services. These benefits are unequalled anywhere. Just go to our home page, and click on the “JOIN US” button. Find out about what WE can do for YOUR growing enterprise -- we are recognized advocates, champions, thought-leaders, writers and keynote speakers on such timely subjects as social networking and relationship-building, traffic -building, social media buzz, branding, developing international trading and joint venture relationships -- and structuring and obtaining alternative forms of capitalization. We are on top of every significant business, regulatory, technological, social and consumer trend worldwide. At TNNWC, we have a specific orientation: We Solve Problems. We Help Our Clients To Achieve Their Goals And Objectives. Prosperity. Peace. Collaboration. Sustainable Solutions For Continuous Growth™. Subscribe. Join Us. Visit Us. http://www.tnnwc.com/. You can access our free supplemental RSS FEED by clicking *HERE*

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Recommended, The Book | DAVE CLARKE

Networking with Different Genders | CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH

Connecting Is Not Enough with Andy Lopata

In the latest extract from the second edition of his Amazon UK bestseller '...and Death Came Third!', networking strategist Andy Lopata looks at networking for different genders.

Andy discusses the gender-balance at many networking events, looks at research into the way men and women network and then offers some suggestions as to how to network considerately with these points in mind.

Many networks, ours included, suffer from a poor representation by women amongst their membership. As a result many networking events are male dominated and women–only networks are growing in popularity.

This is something that we are keen to reverse. The more male–dominated events become, the less attractive they are for women to attend and the problem, subsequently, becomes worse. In general (and I accept that this is a generalisation), women are much better listeners than men and tend to be more alert to connections that they can make. Networks would undoubtedly benefit from a better gender balance.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph in November 2005, Etta Cohen of Forward Ladies in Leeds said, “Women behave differently when men are not there. It’s more relaxed. Women spend more time getting to know people.

“Men will concentrate more on ‘We have come together for business, what is your business?’ Women will talk more about family, clothes, holidays. It’s not that they are not business focused, but they want to get to know people.

“Every lady comes to this network to do business. But they want to do it in an environment where they don’t feel threatened.”

It is important to be aware of the key differences in how men and women communicate when networking with people of the opposite sex, as this will drive the way they approach such events. Men will often look to dominate conversations and bring them around to their point of view, while women look to be more inclusive.

Mary E. Hughes, in her presentation Gender Differences in Communication, said, “Some of the differences in communication styles between men and women reflect general differences in their world views. For men, conversations are negotiations and reflect who is in charge, who is right, and who knows the answers. For
women, conversations are opportunities to be close, to connect with others, to create a network, and to maintain relationships.”

Interestingly, the Australian feminist and author Dale Spender has run a number of studies on this issue. In her book Man Made Language she taped people’s conversations and discovered women: “asked the right questions, provided encouragement and feedback, made the male speaker feel important. But this meant that men did most of the talking.

“Women who did talk for more than about one third of the conversation were most often described as bossy, aggressive, rude, and as dominating the conversation, even when they got much less than a 50 per cent share.”

In another study, Dale found that men interrupt 98% more than women and men generally define a good conversation as one where they held the floor, while women generally define a good conversation as one where everyone had a turn.

Once you have a strong understanding of the different way men and women approach networking, approach conversations and interact in a group, you should be better able to adapt the away you participate.

There is a clear responsibility for event organisers to address key issues such as the time and location of the meetings to encourage more women to attend. Everyone present also shares the burden of responsibility, ensuring that the overriding focus of everyone present is ‘getting to know people’.

Many people feel strongly that men should treat women in exactly the same way that they would treat other men in business. I agree with this view, to a point. While traditional courtesy, such as opening a door, should not be out of place, too much attention paid to the other person’s gender can be counter productive. In the very worst scenarios you risk being seen as ‘slimy’ or your behaviour as inappropriate.

Where I disagree with the point of view above is that it does not allow for women’s feelings on attending male–dominated events. Where men congregate in groups it can be daunting for women to ‘break in’ to the group. The same is true for men attending women’s networking events, as I have done in the past, and it is
important to be aware of such feelings and ensure that you are welcoming.

If you are female, new to networking and are daunted by the prospect of going to a male–dominated event, there are two positive steps you can take to ease the fear. You can start by going to women–only events to get used to networking and presenting and build your confidence. These events are excellent and well–worth attending but, depending on your networking strategy, I would suggest looking to attend other events as well.

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Are you struggling to put an effective networking or referral strategy into place? Do you want to know more about how to ensure you get the maximum possible return from your networking?

Visit Andy's website at http://www.lopata.co.uk/ for more resources and ideas about how Andy can help you.

Andy's new book, 'Recommended: How To Sell Through Networking and Referrals', will be published later this month.

“In this book Andy Lopata demonstrates how so many businesses ignore potentially their most powerful resource – their networks. Andy’s in-depth, practical advice will show you how to both build and profit from the relationships in your network.”
Ivan Misner, NY Times Bestselling author and Founder of BNI and Referral Institute

Andy Lopata's newsletter archive
Andy Lopata's LinkedIn profile
Join Connecting is not Enough - Andy Lopata's Facebook Page

For more information, please visit Andy's TNNWC Bio.

---

Powered By TNNWC Group™

For complete tactical and strategic business planning, marketing, media, lead-generation, technological and capital resources, scalable solutions and tools to support every entrepreneurial start-up, young enterprise, small- to medium-sized business and emerging high-growth company, talk to The National Networker Companies™/ TNNWC Group, LLC.

We are a collaborative entrepreneurial, creative organization offering you hands-on, personalized assistance in every aspect of achieving your monetization, profitability and financial sustainability objectives, domestically and globally.

We don’t just coach you or offer you pre-packaged, push-button solutions – we listen to you, analyze your exact needs, and work within your budget to: 1) create your tool kit and 2) work as your partner to implement your plan by supporting you in the most efficient and productive use of every tool.

Visit our website, which is located at http://www.TNNWC.com .

To receive our newsletters, publications, information bulletins and alerts, simply join us as a Member. Membership is free and the benefits are unequalled anywhere.

Just go to our home page, and click on the “JOIN US” button.

---

Capital, Traffic Building, International Customers and unique SERVICES.
The National Networker Publications™ produced by TNNWC Group, LLC

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Networking with Different Genders | CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH

Why Networking Events Are Not Sales Opportunities | CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH

Connecting Is Not Enough with Andy Lopata

In his column this month, UK Business Networking Strategist and co-author of '...and Death Came Third! The Definitive Guide to Networking and Speaking in Public', Andy Lopata explains why selling at networking events is not only counter-productive, it can lead to you missing a sale.

In this article Andy looks at:
- Why networking events aren't conducive to effective selling
- The networking myth
- One example of someone who got it very, very wrong.

Networking has moved a long way since I went to my first event some thirteen years ago. And that is a good thing. Back then it was hard to go to an event without someone thrusting their business card under your nose as soon as you walked through a door and giving you a contract, and pen with which to sign it, almost before asking your name. There are a few people who still don't get it and network purely to sell, but they are much fewer in number.

But they still exist. One of the main reasons networking has had a bad name in some quarters is because people attending events or joining social networks have been sold to. And that's not why they have participated in the first place.

There is a myth in business that if you need to sell you should go to an event where your prospects will be present. Once you meet them you can give them a carefully crafted elevator pitch and close the sale. It's led to managers sending their staff to events and judging their performance, and the business case for the event, by the number of cards they've collected, which they subsequently add to their sales database.

The problem with this approach is that it is ill-conceived and poorly thought through. Let's try and look at a networking event from a logical perspective. If you go to a networking event predominantly to sell, why do you think other people have gone? Unless it is specifically a 'meet the buyer' event, it would be safe to say "the same thing".

So you have a room full of people looking to sell to each other, and no one interested in buying. Everyone is in broadcast mode, and not trying to engage others in genuine conversation. Can you think of a worse place to find potential customers for your product or service?

Broadcast mode is not a good place to be in when you go to a networking event. If you broadcast and don't receive, you will alienate people rather than attract them. Recently, I witnessed just how painful this can be. And ironically, it cost someone the opportunity to sell to someone they met at a networking event - me!

I went to a full day seminar recently. One of the speakers, let's call him Tim, demonstrated how well his social media strategy was working - and it was very impressive. He mentioned someone in the room who looked after his social media for him, let's call him Michael.

I was very interested in meeting Michael to find out if he did the same for other businesses. In other words, I was genuinely interested in buying from him. I mentioned it to Tim and then was caught in another conversation. Michael heard that I wanted to speak to him and looked for me. Eventually we caught up but didn't have time for an in-depth conversation. I told him that I was interested in what he had to offer in terms of social media and gave him my card, inviting him to get in touch.

I should mention at this stage that, while selling to people you meet at networking events is to be frowned upon, if they show a genuine interest in buying from you, there is no reason at all to discourage them!

Back to Michael. I did receive an LinkedIn connection request from him the next day. This is what he said:

Hi Darryl,

Andy,

Was great to meet you at yesterday's event.

I will send you an email with some more training videos from Tim

Keep in touch!

- Michael

It was a stunning display of attempting poorly to sell to everyone he met at the event. The greeting tells me immediately that he sent exactly the same email to everyone he met, and forgot to remove the previous recipient's name as he did so. He did not recollect our conversation and what I clearly said I was interested in. He simply sent everyone the same sales message.

A classic example of broadcast rather than receive and engage. And it got better...

A couple of days later I received a call from Michael. After a quick and, to be honest, quite insincere greeting, he launched into a sales pitch. And not even pitching what I had already told him I was interested in. I politely interrupted his presentation, explained that this wasn't a good time to speak but invited him to call me back and discuss the social media services he provides. We agreed a time for him to call.

Michael called me back on the appointed day, but later than the time we agreed. I explained that, once again, he had called at a bad time and suggested an alternative time. Before ending the call he wanted to ask me one simple question, "Exactly what area do you niche in?".

I asked Michael if he'd looked at my website. After all, if you are going to speak to a prospect wouldn't you at least do that? Once there, it doesn't take much to find out what I do for a living. One look at my home page should give you a clue. Without needing to click or scroll it says 'What's Your Networking Strategy?' 'Networking Shop' and 'The Networking Blog'. There's even a video that automatically plays of me talking about networking strategy. Let's just say you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to have an idea about what I do!

Michael clearly hadn't done any research, despite his protestations to the contrary. He had put my card in with all of the others he had collected at the event to pitch afterwards. He ignored our conversation and treated me in the same way as everyone else. How many other conversations did he ignore and just use them to collect a card and pitch?

Michael was only interested in selling and had tunnel vision as a result. The only thing he actually achieved was to lose a sale by chasing the wrong sale. His lazy and discourteous approach meant that he failed to listen to what I was interested in and just treated me as a number.

Networking is not sales. Yes, you can let people buy from you and, if you do the right things and build a strong relationship, you can sell through them, but never try to sell to people in the room. It's the surest way to destroy your reputation.

Networking is about relationship building. It's about listening. It's about engaging.

It's not about broadcasting and it's definitely not about sales.

*The names in this article have been changed to protect the innocent, and to avoid embarrassing the very, very guilty!

The second edition of Andy and Peter Roper's bestselling book '...and Death Came Third! The Definitive Guide to Networking and Speaking in Public' was published in May 2011 and can be purchased from Amazon. com or Amazon.co.uk

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Are you struggling to put an effective networking or referral strategy into place? Do you want to know more about how to ensure you get the maximum possible return from your networking?

Visit Andy's website at http://www.lopata.co.uk/ for more resources and ideas about how Andy can help you.

Andy's new book, 'Recommended: How To Sell Through Networking and Referrals', will be published later this year.

“In this book Andy Lopata demonstrates how so many businesses ignore potentially their most powerful resource – their networks. Andy’s in-depth, practical advice will show you how to both build and profit from the relationships in your network.”
Ivan Misner, NY Times Bestselling author and Founder of BNI and Referral Institute

Andy Lopata's newsletter archive
Andy Lopata's LinkedIn profile
Join Connecting is not Enough - Andy Lopata's Facebook Page

For more information, please visit Andy's TNNWC Bio.

---

Powered By TNNWC Group™

For complete tactical and strategic business planning, marketing, media, lead-generation, technological and capital resources, scalable solutions and tools to support every entrepreneurial start-up, young enterprise, small- to medium-sized business and emerging high-growth company, talk to The National Networker Companies™/ TNNWC Group, LLC.

We are a collaborative entrepreneurial, creative organization offering you hands-on, personalized assistance in every aspect of achieving your monetization, profitability and financial sustainability objectives, domestically and globally.

We don’t just coach you or offer you pre-packaged, push-button solutions – we listen to you, analyze your exact needs, and work within your budget to: 1) create your tool kit and 2) work as your partner to implement your plan by supporting you in the most efficient and productive use of every tool.

Visit our website, which is located at http://www.TNNWC.com .

To receive our newsletters, publications, information bulletins and alerts, simply join us as a Member. Membership is free and the benefits are unequalled anywhere.

Just go to our home page, and click on the “JOIN US” button.

---

Capital, Traffic Building, International Customers and unique SERVICES.
The National Networker Publications™ produced by TNNWC Group, LLC

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Why Networking Events Are Not Sales Opportunities | CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH