Have you ever heard the saying, “No Man Is An Island”? I bet we all have at one time or another. Well I am here to tell you that it is true. Having a network of friends makes things a lot easier to get through.
In sales we sometimes try to stand alone against the world. I have written here telling you that you can’t wait for your company to get things for you. You need to do them yourself. Doing things FOR yourself is very different from being BY yourself.
Networking with fellow sales reps will help you to get better views of what is happening in the sales world. It is a way for you to keep up with not just your business but a host of other businesses as well. The combined resources of a network can be amazingly large. Having the ability to tap into the knowledge, experience and skills of dozens maybe thousands of people can give you tools and information that has never before been available to you or any other rep.
So how do you build a network? Easy, start doing what sales reps do best, TALKING! Talk to everyone, anyone about what you do and as you find others in the industry talk to them. Let them know that you are willing to help them in any way you can. In turn, most will offer to help you in the same ways. Keep in touch with these people, and not just to ask for help, but just to say hi and remind them that you are ready to assist them at any time.
From this sales network, you will start to develop a network of business people that are not in sales. These will become a network of people that you may be able to do business with at some time. As with the sales network, this isn’t a group that you only communicate with when you want them to buy from you. You should contact these people just as often as the sales network, and for the same reason.
In past posts I have talked about the “Double Win”, if I help you win I win too. Networking is the double win to the power of thousands.
Wouldn’t it be nice to one day have a network so large that every sales call you made was to a friendly face with whom you had an introduction? Believe it or not, it is happening. There are people out in the field today that never make cold calls, they rarely make warm calls, they make network calls which are always hot leads to familiar people.
Start networking today it is never too late to start. I will make you an offer you can refuse, contact me and I will not only help you, but I will make my personal network open to you as well.
Lorin
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