NETWORKING SUCCESS: New To Networking? No Problem!

Networking Success with Ivan Misner, Ph.D.

Build Your Networking Skills, One Step at a Time


As a business owner, one of your primary goals is to continue to fill your pipeline with new business. One of the most cost-effective ways to do this – particularly for a smaller business – is through networking. Before you can begin to be an effective networker, it’s important to identify some of the strengths and skill sets that you bring to the table as a business professional.

* Are you a “people person”?
* Do you enjoy public speaking?
* What kind of professional background did you have before starting your business?
* How long have you lived in the area where you do business?
* What other natural skills do you have (such as time management, staying organized, keeping clients focused) that don’t fall directly into your business expertise but are valued by people?

One of the biggest roadblocks to networking is the fear that being more of an “introvert” impedes any successful attempts at trying to network. In fact, it’s a question I get quite frequently: “How do I network if I’m not a naturally outgoing person?”

Go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief—because you don’t have to become Mr. Public Speaker, Person About Town, to be a successful networker. Most business people, given a little real-world experience, naturally develop a certain level of comfort in dealing with customers, vendors, and others in their day-to-day transactions. Even people who are not gregarious or outgoing can form meaningful relationships and communicate.

Over years of teaching people the art of networking, we’ve found many techniques that can make the process a whole lot easier—especially for those who consider themselves a bit introverted. For example, volunteering to be an ambassador or visitor host for a local business networking event can be a great way to get involved without feeling out of place.

Think about it. When you have guests at your house or office, what do you do? You engage them, make them feel comfortable, perhaps offer them something to drink. What you don’t do is stand by yourself in the corner thinking about how you hate meeting new people.

By serving as a visitor host at your local chamber event, you effectively become the host of the party. Try it! You’ll find it much easier to meet and talk to new people.

Online Networking: Building Your Social Capital at Your Desk

If it is taking you a bit longer to get used to face-to-face networking, remember that thanks to technology’s continuing advances, you can also network without ever leaving your desk – online networking is a very effective way to connect with potential clients and referral sources.

Computer technology and the growth of the Internet have made it easier than ever before to connect with large numbers of people. Online networking gives you broad reach at low cost and effort. What it doesn’t do, however, is provide a forum where relationships can deepen naturally. The nature of the medium strips out communication cues such as facial expression, tone of voice, and body language, restricting communication to the verbal. This is why emoticons were invented—to help convey whether one is happy :D, angry ):o, or perhaps just joking ;). Text messaging on mobile phones is even dicier; sometimes THX C U L8R just doesn’t do it for gratitude.

Online networking has a rude etiquette all its own. Communications are more direct and blunt, less polite, and this often comes across as aggressiveness. It’s easy to get “flamed” online—that is, encounter open hostility—when you’re chatting or messaging invisibly behind the curtain of cyberspace. In person, social norms dictate more restraint.

This is one reason it’s usually better to use online networking with people only after you’ve established a relationship with them by traditional means. To develop trust, respect, and true friendship, it’s hard to beat in-person conversation and the occasional handshake or pat on the shoulder.

Offering Advice to Break the Ice

So we’re back to the challenge of doing some face-to-face networking when you haven’t had much practice at it, or are not sure how to “break the ice.” To get you started, you might want to try offering some free professional advice.

Let’s say you’re a real estate agent talking with someone at a networking event who, although not ready to buy a home today, is heading in that direction. You could say something like this:

Well, I know you’re not interested in buying a home right now. But when you’re ready to start looking, I’d highly recommend checking out the north part of town. A lot of my clients are seeing their homes appreciate in the 10 to 20 percent range, and from what I understand, the city is thinking about building another middle school in that area.

See how it’s possible to offer some value-added advice without being too salesy? A statement like this acknowledges that your prospect is not currently in the market (first sentence) but still demonstrates your expertise, so he will remember and perhaps contact you when he’s ready to move.

This model works for just about anyone in a service-based industry in which knowledge is the main product. If you’re a marketing consultant, give your prospects a couple of ideas on how they can increase the exposure of their business. Don’t go overboard; maybe a technique you read in a magazine or tried with one of your clients. Just give them something they can “try on” to see if it works.

Not only will this open up a good conversation with the person (while you’re out networking), but if you play your cards right, who do you think they’ll go to when they’re in need of your kind of service? When it comes to building rapport and creating trust, nothing does it better than solid, helpful information provided out of a genuine concern for the other person.

Become a Trusted Source for Quality Referrals and Contacts

Another way to ease into networking is to provide a referral or contact. This could be a direct referral (someone you know who’s in the market for this person’s services) or a solid contact (someone who could help in other ways down the road). Let’s say you’re networking and you run into a person who owns a printing shop. You talk for a while, you hit it off, and even though you don’t know of anyone who’s looking for this person’s selection of print services right now, you’d like to help him out. So you say:

Jim, I don’t know of anyone who’s actively in the market for printing services right now, but I do have someone who I think could be a big help to your business. Her name is Jane Smith, and she’s a marketing consultant. I know a lot of her clients need business cards, flyers, and things like that printed, and while I don’t know if she has a deal on the table right now, I think you both would really hit it off if you got together.

You see how easy that was? You stated right up front you don’t know of anyone in the market right now. You then followed up by saying you do know of someone who you think could help and briefly described how. Chances are, this will sound like a good idea to your new contact.

Being new to networking does not have to be a barrier to building and maintaining relationships that will help grow your business. Simply identify your professional skill set and make it work for you: Volunteer to be a presenter or host at a local chamber, civic, or networking event; offer professional advice as a way to develop a new relationship; and be willing to share your valuable relationships with others so they will identify you as a go-to person for trusted referral sources. Before you know it, you won’t remember a time when you were anything but a solid, professional networker.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His newest book, Networking Like a Pro can be viewed at www.IvanMisner.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com).

For more information, please visit Ivan's TNNW Bio.






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NETWORKING SUCCESS: New To Networking? No Problem!

NETWORKING SUCCESS: Business Networking Predictions for 2010

Networking Success with Ivan Misner, Ph.D.

2009 is almost over (and many are glad about that!), and it's time to look ahead. I have before me my crystal ball. I am looking into the future, and this is what I see for 2010:

1. First, the economy IS going to improve. OK, this isn't a"networking" issue, but it IS important. Have faith. Look for opportunities. Focus on what you do best. You will have a better year next year, but you need to focus on solutions and get out of the quagmire of problems.
2. Online social networks will continue to grow in prominence. OK, I didn't need the crystal ball for that one. However, consider this . . . digital schmoozing may continue to grow, but so will the frustration over how to convert that technology into viable business opportunities. This is an emerging field, and much of it will be established over the next few years.
3. Companies, small and large, need to create a social media strategy. What's your plan? Oh . . . you don't have one? Big mistake in 2010. You need to start working on one now. Don't know where to start? Do a little research. There are some really good experts out there who can help you in this area. I've been working with Social Media Expert Mirna Bard this year, and she has really helped my organization create a strong, cutting-edge social media strategy that we are now pursuing globally
4. Victims of downsizing will become active in networking groups (both face-to-face and online). Many people have been laid off. My experience in running BNI, the world's largest networking organization, is that within a few months of an increase in unemployment rates, there is almost always an influx of new members into networking organizations. I am confident that there will be such an influx in 2010.
5. We will begin to see more of an integration between face-to-face and online networking opportunities. Online networks will do things to promote face-to-face opportunities, and face-to-face networks will begin to integrate online networking more effectively into their programs.
6. We will see the slow death of the "one-way" website. More and more, companies will create websites that operate in two directions. They will not only provide information to their customers but will also seek feedback from their customers. Blogs, interactive newsletters, social network sites, consumer feedback groups . . . all of these will continue to grow in importance for companies.
7. Face-to-face networks will continue to grow, IF they stay true to a fundamental mission of helping people grow their businesses. Nothing beats networking in person (see my blog on this subject from earlier this year).
8. Companies that succeed in 2010 will remain agile and will focus on relationships. Technology is a tool. Relationships are king when it comes to networking. Companies who are creative in using tools to enhance the relationship building process will be the leaders in a company networking program.

Well, there it is. Those are my predictions for 2010. What do you think of these ideas AND what, if anything, would you add to these business networking predictions?

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His newest book, Networking Like a Pro can be viewed at www.IvanMisner.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com).

For more information, please visit Ivan's TNNW Bio.





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NETWORKING SUCCESS: Business Networking Predictions for 2010

SALES AND MARKETING: The Art of Listening . . . for Success

Sales and Marketing with Bill Doerr

15 Second 'Speed Read'

Business people value a timely response from vendors. But they value an effective response even more. Effective listening - combining both active and empathic listening causes you to be seen as a person of interest and value.

This article explains WHY listening can be a challenge and HOW you can develop the ability to listen effectively, build relationships, invite trust and build revenues.

Listening is a Key Skill and Behavior

Public speaking. Everyone has taken a course in it or knows someone who did.

But, Public listening. Whoa! Where did THAT come from? Not so common, is it!

That's a problem. And, an opportunity . . . for you to develop an extremely important skill and artform: Listening.

Listening . . . taking in information and using it to engage, effectively with another person . . . is a skill-set that is not taught in schools. And yet, success in business depends heavily on your ability to process what people are saying and use it effectively.

Steve Porcaro - The Surgical Sales Coach

I had the pleasure of reconnecting with Steve recently. He's been 'on the circuit' a lot lately. He speaks before numerous networking groups, sharing his wealth of knowledge on various ways to improve revenues in these challenging times. Lately, 'listening' has been a very hot topic with his clients. For a good reason. It's a very valuable skill to possess!

"It's all about sales" (or, is it?)

Steve is a business coach who works exclusively with people who are selling medical equipment and services to physicians and other health care professionals.

"Someone becomes my client because he (or, she) is not getting sales as easily or extensively as he'd like. He's not sure why. And often externalizes the source of the problem citing: "It's the economy" or "My company isn't competititve" or something similar."

In many cases, blame-scaping on an external factor . . . the economy, the company, the product, the marketplace, etc. only serves to take the focus (and, pressure!) off of the one constant in every case . . . the person who's responsible for generating new revenues.

Sellling is Like Surgery

Before becoming a 'surgical sales coach' Steve actually was in surgery. A lot. In the US Navy, he was a surgical technician. After leaving the Navy, he sold medical equipment and services to civilian surgeons. So he knows the reality of both selling and surgery, first-hand.

"In surgery, you prep (prepare) the patient BEFORE surgery". Seems obvious. In an operating room! But in the business world . . . in sales . . . your preparation requires your ability and commitment to listen . . . to process what is being said by someone . . . before selling can begin.

"If you don't listen . . . you can't prepare to sell as effectively as you might like . . . and you learn that when, symptomatically, you lose sales you should have won, they take longer to close than you might like or you end up with a lesser sale when a greater one was well within your grasp."

Why People Aren't Listening

I asked Steve, "OK, why . . . aren't more people in business listening effectively - especially when the consequences of not listening are so serious?" "Good question", he said. "If I had to, I'd have to say either:

1. they don't know how to listen - it is, afterall, a learned skill, not a natural one
2. they're not used to 'slowing down' and 'digesting' the information they receive from a prospect" (the 'Ready, Aim . . . FIRE! syndrome)
3. they haven't considered the consequences that not listening effectively will produce
4. they're in a 'comfort zone' with their current level of success

Once you're receptive to change (Porcaro-speak for 'frustrated beyond all belief') then . . . you are ready to learn how to listen effectively. But, how?

Make 'Bare-handed' Calls!

"You must clear your mind. That way, your focus is on the other person, not you" (I swear, I thought I saw David Carradine there for a moment!) "When you first meet with a prospect for example, I recommend leaving all your brochures, pamphlets, etc. in the car and just seek to answer one simple question . . . "How might I help you, today?" or "What are you hoping I can do for you?" Either one will work!"

This type of question helps you focus on 'getting the top off of the soda bottle'. Unless and until you do that, the bottle's contents . . . the person's hopes, fears, dreams, goals, frustrations, etc. . . . will remain 'locked up' -- unavailable and unable to help anyone.

"It's not easy to do this" says Porcaro. "But it's not impossible, either." Steve believes listening is a learned skill more than a natural ability. "Until you do though, you're focusing more on giving your information to someone, than allowing their information to flow to you".

What's The 'Next Step'?

"Information gained from a focused conversation with someone must lead to a decision". I could imagine the granite rock on which that expression is kept in Steve's brain! Actually, Steve refers to that as the 'Next Step'. "Sometimes, there isn't one. But often there is. And the best one reflects whatever you learned by LISTENING to the other person!"

Everyday we connect with other people. How many of these points-of-contact are producing value . . . for both parties?

Listening effectively . . . actively and empathetically . . . will do much to ensure that you glean something useful from every conversation you have.

Final Thoughts

I asked Steve, "If there's ONE thing you'd like someone to take away from this article, what would it be?". He thought about it and said, "I like what Steven Covey said, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood". There's a sequence there - an orderliness. When I worked with surgeons, their success was always based on proper preparation . . . of the patient as well as themselves and the entire surgical team. Great results are often more reflective of great preparation than anything else. It's no different in business or networking. People. Communication. Every day each of us is exchanging information to create value for ourselves and others. So just remember . . . it all begins with learning how . . . and caring to . . . LISTEN!"

*******

Steve Porcaro, ACC is the 'Surgical Sales Coach' and founder of 1•4•All Coaching in Windsor, CT. To learn more about Steve and his services you can contact Steve Porcaro, ACC online at: www.14allcoaching.com or by phone at: (860) 243-9757.

*******

Bill Doerr is CCO of SellMore Marketing. He helps professionals and other service providers to market their problem-solving expertise simply, effectively and affordably.

You can reach him at www.sellmoremarketing.com, or by phone at 860-798-6964.

For more please see Bill's TNNW Bio.

*******

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SALES AND MARKETING: The Art of Listening . . . for Success

NETWORKING SUCCESS: Top 10 Ways to Waste Your Time in a Networking Group

Networking Success with Ivan Misner, Ph.D.

Networking groups pay off handsomely in terms of referral business, so make the most of every single meeting and avoid wasting time—especially in the following ten ways.

Word-of-mouth marketing is a sure-fire way to generate new business. A single referral can bring in a chain reaction of business, as one satisfied customer tells others, who in turn tell still others. It’s no wonder that networking groups pay off handsomely in terms of referral business and a membership in a good networking group can be worth a considerable amount of money; especially if you calculate the time you spend each month and the business value of your time.

Make your time and efforts worthwhile. Don't squander your opportunity by doing the wrong things in those meetings!

Success in a networking group comes when the rest of the group members trust you enough to open up their best referrals to you. Until they've seen your work, you have to earn that trust by demonstrating your professionalism to them. Since I founded BNI almost 25 years ago, I've seen how people have truly succeeded in networks and I've seen how people have totally wasted their time in them.

Here are the top ten ways to waste your time in a networking group (avoid all of them):

# 10. Go ahead, air your grievances among your fellow networkers and guests; after all, they really want to hear about your complaints.

#9. Wing it in your regular presentations to fellow members, you've got plenty more chances anyway.

#8. Use 1 to 1 meetings to talk about your networking groups' issues instead of learning a lot more about each other.

#7. Focus your efforts on selling your services primarily to the members of the group.

#6. Don't rush to follow up on a referral when someone gives you one. Hey, they know where to find you if they really need you… right?

#5. While other people are doing their introductions, that’s the perfect time to think about what referrals you can give that week.

#4. Why invite your own guests? Just focus on those who show up.

#3. Don't worry if you get to the meeting late. No one will notice.

#2. Be absent, it's no big deal. You can just call in your referrals... right?

And the #1 way to waste your time in networking groups...

#1. It's OK, take that phone call or text message during a meeting, it won't bother anyone and it's a real sign of professionalism that everyone admires.

So there it is - The Top 10 Ways to Waste Your Time in a Networking Group! Imagine how you might respond to someone in your networking group who continually exhibited the behaviors above. Would you be anxious to pass them referrals? Of course not! You would be hesitant to pass them any referrals at all because you would be pretty well convinced that they would be just as unprofessional and irresponsible with your valued connections.

We all need to beware of these ten pitfalls and take great care to avoid them. They are great reminders that doing business through word-of-mouth marketing requires a special ingredient that only you can supply: your commitment. You have to commit to the process from the beginning. You have to be an active, responsible, professional, accountable participant and show your fellow networkers the respect, attention, and support that you want them to give you.

You see, the key concept in referral marketing is relationships and referral relationships don’t just spring up full grown; they must be nurtured. Avoid the ten mistakes on this list because they are detrimental to growing your referral relationships and they will cause the time you spend in your networking meetings to be nothing more than a waste of time.

Focus on growing your referral relationships by acting in ways that are exactly opposite of what’s described above and concentrate on building relationships based on mutual trust and shared benefits. You’ll get a lot more out of your group and so will your fellow members. So, print out this list, memorize it, and share it with your fellow networking members.

Remember, your network is not something you can start putting together when the need arises. When you need it, you need it now. You need to begin developing relationships now with the people whose help you will need in the future and your networking group meetings offer the perfect opportunity and the perfect place to do this. Make the most of this opportunity because there’s no room for wasted time.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com).

For more information, please visit Ivan's TNNW Bio.

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NETWORKING SUCCESS: Top 10 Ways to Waste Your Time in a Networking Group

NETWORKING SUCCESS: Anchor Your Networking With Strong Relationships

Networking Success with Dr. Ivan Misner

This summer, our family took a multi-day, small-ship tour of the Great Barrier Reef near Australia. The first night we noticed that the anchor being used to secure our small ship in the middle of the Coral Sea was quite small compared to the size of the ship.

The second night we were anchored off Hope Island, very strong winds came up. Our captain started the engines and backed the ship up, letting out more length of chain to the anchor. Curious (and I must admit, a bit concerned), I asked him how it was possible for such a small anchor to hold the ship in place with the winds blowing against it so strongly.

“It is the chain that is holding the ship, not the anchor,” he informed me. After the anchor is lowered, the captain looks to the first mate who signals from the prow which direction the chain is laying on the bottom of the sea. The captain can then maneuver into the right position and let out the necessary amount of chain to hold the ship in the particular conditions at that time.

This particular night, with the winds growing stronger, he recognized that he needed to let out more chain.

Well, I began to see how this dynamic was relevant to networking. An anchor in any good networking program is the system, the process of doing business through relationships. But it’s not the system or the process that has the strength at all! It is the length of the chain holding the networking program in place!

As you take a look at the networking groups you may be participating in, think about the links or relationships, you have formed with the individual members. How many links does your chain have? Do you have strong relationships with many of the other members of the group, or are you closely linked with some, but disconnected and detached from others for whatever reason?

So how do you go about letting out more chain during times when the economic winds have strengthened against our businesses? I submit that it’s time to get serious about developing stronger relationships with each and every member of the networking groups you participate in, even with the people you don’t think have the contacts you might want or perhaps are in a business that is not exactly symbiotic with yours.

Have you done one-to-ones with those people as well? Spending the time to do one-to-ones with each and every active member of your network helps you develop a longer and stronger chain. Each person in your network is one of the links that lengthens that chain.

The wisdom of laying down a longer chain to strengthen the ability of the anchor to hold strong is critical for the success of your personal network.

Another aspect of this anchoring process is watching the first mate. Look for networking organizations that have leaders who are qualified to signal the direction the chain is lying as the dynamic in your group changes. Watch for guidance in what adjustments to make to ensure that your network is pointed in the right direction. At one point in our anchoring process while at sea, the first mate literally dove into the water to loosen the chain where it had become hooked on a coral formation. You need qualified people in your personal network who are willing to dive in to help lead a network in the right direction.

So starting this week, try making your main focus to develop your “relationship chain” within your personal network. I guarantee it will be what anchors your business and your networking efforts for longevity, despite economic fluctuations. The old adage that a chain is as strong as its weakest link is true for a ship as well as a network.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder & Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com) and writes a regular blog at www.NetworkingEntrepreneur.com. He can be reached at misner@bni.comFor more information, please visit Ivan's TNNW Bio.


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NETWORKING SUCCESS: Anchor Your Networking With Strong Relationships

NETWORKING SUCCESS: OMG, I’m an Introvert!

Networking Success with Dr. Ivan Misner

By finding ways to enhance strengths and minimize weaknesses, anyone can be a good networker.

Okay, if you don’t know what “OMG” means, ask a teenager (that’s how I learned what it meant). Now, let’s talk about the introvert thing.

My wife and I were having a relaxing dinner one night recently. We were sitting around the kitchen table and we were talking when I made some off handed comment about being an extrovert (it fit into the context of the conversation). She looked over at me and said, “Uhh honey, I hate to break it to you but, you’re an introvert.” I smiled and said, “Yeah sure, I’m an introvert [insert laugh track here].” She then looked at me quite earnestly and said, “No, really you’re an introvert.” I protested strongly. I said, “Come on, I’m a public speaker and founder of the world’s largest networking organization - I’m not an introvert! I can’t be. I mean, you’re joking, right?” She absolutely insisted that I was an introvert and proceeded to share with me all the ways that I have introverted tendencies. Well, I have to admit I was taken back by this. All the examples she gave were true, but I still couldn’t believe that I was an introvert. On the other hand, we have been married for 20 years, I mean, there’s a chance that she might actually know me pretty well.

So off I went the next day to do some research. I did an internet search and found a test that tells you whether you are an introvert or extrovert. Was I in for a shock: The test said that I was a “situational extrovert!” It explained that I was something of a loner that was reserved around strangers but very outgoing in the right context. It was at that moment that I said, “OMG, I’m an introvert!?”

In the haze of my surprise, some very important things came into clarity for me. It struck me why I started the BNI networking organization more than two decades ago. I was naturally uncomfortable meeting new people. This approach created a “system” that enabled me to meet people in an organized, structured networking environment that did not require that I actually “talk to strangers.” OMG, I’m an introvert!

When I visit regions of BNI, I ask my Director to have someone walk me around and introduce me to visitors and members so that I could connect with as many people as possible. But in reality, it’s because I’m uncomfortable walking around introducing myself alone. OMG, I’m an introvert!

I realized that the whole notion of “acting like the host, not the guest” and volunteering to be the Ambassador at a Chamber event or the Visitor Host at a BNI group were all the ways that “I” used to move around more comfortably at networking events not just ways that I recommended for those poor introverts out there to network. OMG, I’m an introvert!

Who would have thought! (Well, OK, besides my lovely wife.)

Now more than ever, I truly believe that whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, you can be good at networking. Both have strengths and weaknesses. By finding ways to enhance strengths and minimize weaknesses, anyone can be a great networker.

How about you? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Whichever one you are, how do you use this trait in your networking?

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com .

For more information, please visit Ivan's TNNW Bio.

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NETWORKING SUCCESS: OMG, I’m an Introvert!

NETWORKING SUCCESS: Ask For a Written Testimonial

Networking Success with Dr. Ivan Misner

Make it standard practice to ask clients and contacts for testimonials and you’ll build your credibility and your business.

Written testimonials influence our actions and choices in myriad ways, sometimes without our even thinking about them. For example: You and a friend decide to catch a movie on Friday, but your tastes don’t always coincide. So, you open the local paper and, together, check out the film reviews written by the paper’s resident movie critic. You decide you want to go to dinner first, but there are so many restaurants in your area that you don’t know which one to pick. So, you open up a local magazine that always features restaurant reviews, and you scan the recommendations of the magazine’s food critic.

Even more powerful than these “professional” testimonials, however, are those that come from trusted personal contacts. If you have enough time, you might call or e-mail a couple of other friends to get their movie and restaurant suggestions. You’re likely to follow their advice, too, because you know that they know your likes and dislikes pretty well.

So it is in business. Before people come to your firm for a particular product or service, they often want the comfort of knowing what others have said about you. Let’s say you refinish hardwood floors. Many consumers, before they let you haul your refinishing equipment into their house, will ask you for either written testimonials or phone numbers of people who can attest to your work. You may even have experience with another form of testimonial: providing references when applying for a new job. Those references are expected to respond by written or spoken word about you and your work performance; quite frequently, a testimonial can clinch the job for you. That’s a lot of weight riding on someone else’s words!

Testimonials carry a level of credibility because they come from someone who has direct experience with your product or service. Consumers generally place more trust in a testimonial from another consumer than in a business’s own marketing message. They believe that the average person is unbiased and has nothing to gain from providing a testimonial. The business stands to gain—or lose—everything, so its own words are seen as less trustworthy. Although most businesses are truthful with their customers, it’s not hard facts but consumers’ perceptions that drive their decisions.

Recognizing consumers’ skepticism, some businesses make a practice of asking for customer testimonials. Ditto for businesses that serve other businesses. If anything, a business can be an even more demanding customer than an individual consumer, because it has its own reputation and ability to function at stake. Thus, a written testimonial on professional letterhead from one business to another is a powerful word in your favor, especially if the business represented on that letterhead is itself highly credible.

Have you ever asked a satisfied client for a written testimonial? I recommend making this standard practice for your business. Written testimonials can be used in many ways to enhance your credibility and set you above your competition—your business’s website, for example. Some websites have them strategically sprinkled throughout so there’s at least one testimonial on each page. Others have a dedicated page where a browser can view several testimonials at once. Both designs have their advantages. Either way, scan each testimonial to keep it with its letterhead. This will enhance its credibility—and yours.

If your business attracts a lot of walk-in clients, it’s helpful to display your written testimonials, each encased in a plastic sheet protector, in a three-ring binder labeled “What our customers say about us” or “Client Testimonials.” Keep this binder on a table in your reception area, where your customers can browse through it while they’re waiting for services. It’s a good way to connect with your prospects and enhance your relationship with current clients.

Another way to stand out from the competition is to include testimonials with your business proposals. This strategy works best if you have a wide variety to choose from; you can include a section of testimonials that are most relevant to a specific proposal.

Here are three keys to successfully using written testimonials:

1. Ask for testimonials at every opportunity.
2. Guide the content of your testimonials.
3. Update your testimonials.

Make it standard practice to ask clients (or other contacts) for testimonials. At what point in the sales cycle should you ask? This is a tricky question, but in general, ask for no testimonial before its time—which may be before, at, or after the completion of a sale or project, depending on your client, your product or service, and your own needs. Let’s say that one month before finishing a project, you call your client to ask how things are going. The client tells you that she’s very happy with the results and that her life or business has changed for the better because of your product or service. At this point, your testimonial detector should be pinging loudly. It’s the right time to make your pitch: “That would be a great thing for other people to know about my company. Would you be willing to write me a testimonial on your company letterhead by the end of the week?”

If the answer is yes, the next step is to coach your client in writing a testimonial that fits your needs. Ask her to tell why she chose to work with you, how she benefited from your products or services, how you solved a problem for her, and what other people should know about your business. What things are most people concerned about when using a business like yours? Ask her to address those issues. Don’t be afraid to offer suggestions; you’ll make it easier for her to write an appropriate testimonial, and the result will be more valuable for you.

Finally, review your testimonial file or binder at least every two to three years to identify testimonials that are no longer valid or credible. Specifically, you may want to discard or refile a testimonial that:

• is from a company that’s no longer in business;
• is/was written by someone who has left the company;
• represents a product or service that you no longer offer;
• has begun to turn yellow with age; or
• needs to be updated with new statistics from the customer.

So, now that you understand what testimonials can do for your business, try asking for three written testimonials on company letterhead this week. Make it easy for your advocates: specify what you would like their testimonials to cover, based on what you know of their satisfaction or successes from using your product or service. Ask for them to be typed on company letterhead, signed, and submitted by a certain date.

One more thing: Remember the law of reciprocity? It works here too. If you want to truly motivate someone to write you a testimonial, write one for him or her first.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder & Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com) and writes a regular blog at www.NetworkingEntrepreneur.com.

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NETWORKING SUCCESS: Ask For a Written Testimonial

NETWORKING SUCCESS: Why Getting Published Can Help You Network

Networking Success with Dr. Ivan Misner

Focus on branding your company and yourself in the marketplace to enhance your networking efforts.

Recently, an associate of mine who read one of my books and attended some of my training sessions called me and said, “I really love your material, but why don’t you put more emphasis on your ideas about ‘creating your identity as a brand’ and how it affects your networking efforts? These ideas have made a huge impact on my business, but I don’t hear you talking about it very often.”

I admitted that this associate of mine was right. I haven’t talked a lot about identity in my material, and I agree that I should say more.

When I started my first business decades ago, I had no idea how important it was to focus on branding my company and myself in the marketplace as a way of enhancing my networking efforts. I understood the concept from an advertising and marketing perspective, but with a small business I didn’t have the advertising budget to mold myself or my company into any kind of brand—at least, that’s what I thought at the time. So I ignored it. I realized later that I’d made a big mistake in not pursuing any strategies to brand my identity. It wasn’t until the early ’90s that I started to think about branding and how it would help in my networking efforts.

Networking is all about relationships. Relationships are about establishing credibility. Credibility takes time. What I needed to do was expedite that process as much as possible while still creating genuine credibility in the marketplace at large. Not having much of a budget, I had to get creative about how I would make this happen.

I saw that if I wanted to increase my visibility and enhance my credibility in the community, I needed to be viewed as the local expert. The way I decided to start creating that brand was to begin writing articles. Now, you may say, “What’s so special about that idea? I’ve heard people suggest it before.” Well, here’s the bottom line: hearing it and doing it tend to be very different things.

You can derive the same identity-building, brand-boosting benefit from writing articles as I did. It may surprise you, but editors and reporters need good story ideas and will use them wherever they can find them. Think about the things you know and understand best. What elements of that knowledge might be of interest to the general public, a specific industry, or some targeted demographic? Review the types of media outlets that write for your chosen audience. Consider newspapers, magazines, and industry journals, but also take a good look at online opportunities such as e-zines, online newsletters, and information sites.

Either by phone or letter, tell the editor why readers will be interested in the feature idea you have or why it is newsworthy. What are you doing in your business that strikes a chord in the community? What can you share that will educate the editor’s readers? A word of caution, though: too many people who seek to be featured in newspapers or magazines send the equivalent of a company brochure. They fail to realize that editors and reporters need hooks, angles, ways to relate to a distracted, overworked, frenzied readership.

Guided by the Certified Networker training I developed for the Referral Institute, the associate of mine that I mentioned earlier chose a topic he knew about and worked with it for some time. He is in the travel industry, so he wrote a series of articles about travel and sent them to various outlets each month for several months. He received some responses—all “No, thank you”—until, finally, one local newspaper called him and said they’d like to use his piece in the next day’s edition. After it came out, they contacted him again and asked if he’d like to do a monthly piece. Before long, another media outlet saw his work and asked him if he’d like to write for them.

Today he writes regular articles for several media outlets. More importantly, it has totally changed his business. Although many travel companies are going out of business due to vast changes in the industry, he is actually growing and thriving, because his articles have created an identity or brand for him and the company he owns. Moreover, he is still an active networker, and he notes that the articles he writes put him way above his competition by enhancing his credibility with the people he meets. He capitalizes on this regularly by bringing his recent articles to networking meetings.

This businessman’s experience serves as a great example of what’s possible for your own networking efforts. When you get some of your pieces published, promote them. They won’t necessarily increase your sales overnight, but they will greatly enhance your credibility throughout the networking process, which absolutely increases your sales over time. My friend also told me that he now includes links on his website to some of the online articles he produces as a way of enhancing his credibility with existing and potential clients.

So, if this is such a great idea, why haven’t I said more about it in the past? Well, in my book Masters of Success, I talk about success being the “uncommon application of common knowledge.” If you ask a successful person the secret of his success, you will almost never hear a secret! Writing articles regularly and continually to increase your credibility and enhance your networking opportunities is not a secret. It’s simply an idea that most people are just too lazy to implement.

The bottom line is, 98 percent of people won’t actually do it. Or, they’ll do it for a little while and give up. The associate that encouraged me to talk more about this strategy agreed, but he said, “Do it for the 2 percent of people like me who will apply the idea. It will make a difference for them, as it did for me.”

If you believe you can stick with this strategy over time, sit down and jot out topics of four articles you could write that fit with your business and networking goals—and that you believe would serve the readers of a particular publication. Then, draft a letter addressed to the editor of that publication, and pitch your ideas. If he says yes, it’s time to start writing! If the answer is no, consider following up with him to determine what kinds of articles would better fit his needs.

Here’s a professional tip for ascertaining in advance what kinds of articles that publication might want: visit its website and check out the section devoted to prospective advertisers. Look for the publication’s editorial calendar. It tells advertisers what themes will be covered each month or in each issue. Review that editorial calendar for topics that you could credibly write about.

If you are not an experienced writer, you may want to practice a bit before sending out your work. Make sure to have someone proofread at least your first few articles (the publications do have editors but you will look more credible if you submit your articles free of major spelling and/or punctuation errors). You might also want to make sure your library includes such reference materials as a dictionary, a thesaurus, and at least one style manual (many publications use AP style).

Well, there you go. That’s a lot of advice and my associate should be happy that I took his good suggestion to talk more about branding for the 2 percent of people that will follow through. So, the question now is: Are you part of the 2 percent or the 98 percent? It’s your choice.

Editor's note: The above article is based on material from the bestselling book The 29% Solution: 52 Weekly Networking Success Strategies by Dr. Ivan Misner and Michelle R. Donovan.

Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com .

*******
Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER (TNNW). All rights reserved.

To subscribe for your free TNNW Newsletter, go to http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/ For the complete National Networker (TNNW) Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free continuous RSS feed (available either by traditional RSS or by direct email), go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/

You are also invited to click our buttons:




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NETWORKING SUCCESS: Why Getting Published Can Help You Network