Selling Breakthroughs – August 19th 2010 – Kelowna Sales Training

20 spots available / 13 left

Call today -250-768-9415 to book your spot!!!

Total cost – Selling Breakthroughs – $495.00

Sign up before August 1st 2010 and receive!!
One hour Sales Training on: How do people Buy? (Value $150.00)

Keep your customers satisfied to create lasting relationships.

The secret to making a successful sale is knowing what, why, how and when your audience wants to buy. Learn the processes and stages of both buyer and seller simultaneously to understand how to apply sales skills and behaviors that accurately match the buyer’s state and motivations. Understand how to use your expertise confidently to positively influence outcomes and meet both the buyer’s and your own requirements. A sale isn’t over until your client knows that the solution to their business problem is you and your product or service.

This course will help you:

• Accurately assess customer needs and establish needs awareness
• Present solutions based upon priority and big picture needs, not products or services
• Use the buyer’s motivations for increased focus and creating opportunities
• Communicate as a problem-solver and a trusted partner
• Develop professional, long-lasting business-to-business relationships

Who should Attend:

Anyone involved in the selling process.

Format:

• A highly-interactive 1-day workshop.

Tools Provided:

• A Comprehensive Learning Guide
• A pre- and post-workshop skills assessment
• Half hour with our sales professional one month after training

Detailed Synopsis: Selling Breakthroughs

The Selling Breakthroughs workshop. will give you the skills needed to transform selling products, services or ideas into selling “business solutions” are essential for salespeople at all levels.

The program will broaden your understanding and develop your selling skills to uncover the underlying business need, create a desire to act on solving the business problem or to take advantage of a business opportunity, make client centered sales presentations, gain commitment, and enhance the relationship by ensuring client satisfaction.

The program provides practical planning tools and processes, with case studies and practice sessions to learn and enhance your selling skills.

Unit 1 An Overview of the Selling – Buying Process:
In this overview unit we examine the process and stages that a buyer moves through in any buying situation. This enables us to appreciate the skills and behaviors required by the salesperson to support the buyer throughout the process.

Unit 2 Need: Establishing buyers’ needs and need awareness:
The foundation of any sale and worthwhile relationship requires a clear understanding of the buyer’s real needs – their situation, problems and opportunities. In this unit you will learn the importance of first impressions, and how to use appropriate selling and interpersonal behaviors to achieve strong and positive relationships. You will enhance your questioning skills to obtain appropriate facts and information, and to get confirmation, agreement and commitment.

Unit 3 Priority: Activating needs to priority:
This stage is the vital link between establishing needs and presenting a solution. We explore general and specific buying motives, and identify and establish the individual motivations and drives of our buyers. You will learn specific questioning skills that focus the buyer on their real situation, and help them clarify those needs that are priorities for them. You will become comfortable challenging the status quo.

Unit 4 Solution: Presenting a business case solution:
This Unit is designed to move you towards mastery of presenting a business case that meets the buyer’s specific product and service needs, demonstrates value, and is based on positive relationships. You will further enhance your questioning and listening skills. You will learn how to prepare generic and client specific product and service analyses, based on a complete understanding of features, advantages, benefits and end results. You will prepare a value-based solution, with a documented value added package, that effectively differentiates your solution. You will learn how to deal with various forms of resistance, including “price” issues, and positively sell on value and
relationship factors.

Unit 5 Implement: Closing and implementing:
Through an understanding of buying signals, stress and risk assessment, and closing techniques, you will learn how to support the buyer to implement their solution choice. Preparation of a checklist and plan will ensure both parties commit to and complete full implementation.

Unit 6 Relationship: Cementing the relationship and managing expectations:
This unit looks at our customers in terms of importance and worth to help us better allocate our time. Development of an expectation feedback system helps us monitor and evaluate results against expectations. Proactive follow-up will ensure an ongoing relationship based on trust and credibility.

Total cost – Selling Breakthroughs – $495.00

Sign up before August 1st 2010 - and receive!!

One hour Sales Training on: How do people Buy? (Value $150.00)

For more information and to see how FloodLight can help you Sell smarter, call:

Donald Robichaud
FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

The exchange of services and cash were crucial to the survival of the business.

Stories of bartering exist in my family since I was a child so I believe I gravitated to it more naturally in my business development. My grandfather was lobster fisherman in the spring, a farmer throughout the summer, a logger in the winter time and he also had his own gravel pit. When did he and my Grandmother have time for 11 kids? (That’s a story for another time)
I remember many family stories of fields being ploughed, or the delivery of produce to pay for services that were needed around the farm. People have been bartering since the dawn of man. There is no proof of a society or economy that relied primarily on barter but there are many examples in history of major countries bartering their wares for other products and services.
As a business owner you can barter to purchase what you need or want, and pay for them with the additional sales of your goods or services.

Bartering helps improve cash flow as it allows you to pay for what you need with your own goods or services, allowing you to preserve working capital for other expenses.
When you use barter, instead of cash, to purchase needed goods and services, you reduce your cash costs by paying for them with revenue generated by incremental barter sales. This means that new sales are made by bartering which help reduce cash outlays for overhead costs. Obtaining these overhead services through barter rather than writing out a cheque saves you cash.
Bartering can also allow you to move excess inventory and improve inventory management by converting excess products into valuable goods and services. If you barter, you avoid having to liquidate excess inventory through drastic discounting.
So the art of bartering and negotiating can help companies enhance productivity and put inventory, equipment and employees to good use, creating new revenue that would not have been available otherwise. That new revenue can be used to finance the purchase of new equipment, raw materials or services to support the business. Essentially, a company can move less productive assets and exchange them for more valuable goods or services through the help of a barter exchange.
Bartering benefits your company and your clients with a mutual benefit in exchanging goods and services rather than cash, and it also enables those who are lacking hard currency to obtain your goods and services.
In the last year I have recommended some of my clients to join “Trade Exchange” a local Kelowna company to help expand and grow their business. Using a trade organization helps foster new relationships, markets your products to new range of potential clients and helps you to Build your Business.

Donald Robichaud is the President of FloodLight Consulting and can be reached at 250-768-9415

With the end of the Olympics, it’s a great time to reflect on the journey that our Olympic athletes have taken to reach their goals. I was very taken by the number of athletes that found interesting ways to motivate themselves to reach the podium, through innovation or with goals and persistence.

Many of the athletes challenged themselves in untraditional ways to achieve great results or set forth on a path to change their lives by reaching for an Olympic medal.

As with any business, goals were set and the training and learning of new skills and tactics were accomplished.

A few examples of out of the box thinking were:

Speed Skating – Men’s Team Pursuit – Utilized a new tactic where they gave a gentle push to the slower skater in their group and kept that skater from falling back. This tactic was only revealed for the Olympic Games in this event and gave them a clear advantage to help win the race. The push off had never been used before in team pursuit. Two of the skaters came from short track where this technique is used. Incorporating this skill won them a gold medal.

Snowboarding – Women’s Snow board cross – As a young girl Maëlle Ricker had two dreams: to compete competitively in snowboarding and to compete in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, despite the fact that Snowboarding was not an Olympic sport at the time. Ricker was forced to skip the 2002 Olympics because of an injury. At the 2006 Olympics she placed 4th in her event. In 2010 Ricker won the gold medal just minutes from her childhood home in North Vancouver and described the Olympic victory “like a crazy dream”. The gold was redemption for her fall and concussion during the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin. She said that “Turin was such a motivator for me. It just made me work that much harder and just go for it today.”

Alpine Skiing – Women’s Downhill – American Ski sensation Lindsey Vonn strives for dominance and consistency in every race. She does it under pressure, in good conditions and bad conditions, tough courses and easy courses; it’s a real testament to what an amazing athlete and ski racer she is. As an analytical perfectionist with great strength she skis with longer men’s skis which are more forgiving and allow her to smooth out the conditions on the course. This tactical advantage increased her times and allowed her to reach her goal and win an Olympic gold medal.

Skeleton – Men’s Skeleton – Jon Montgomery watched the Olympic competition as a young man and decided that he needed to find a way to experience the Olympic spirit. In 2002 he visited the track in Calgary and a love affair began with Men’s Skelton. In an interview with CTV, he stated that he has a tattoo of a maple leaf over his heart and also said that he hopes his gold medal performance inspires more people to enter amateur sports. When not skeleton racing, Montgomery works as a sales consultant and automobile auctioneer in Calgary.

Ice Hockey – As a young child Sydney Crosby envisioned winning the Stanley Cup and playing for Canada in the Olympics. Many sportscasters mentioned that, Sid the kid, was not having the type of Olympic Game they had envisioned for him. But when needed Sydney Crosby scored the goal that won the gold medal for Ice Hockey and set a new Olympic record for Canada of 14 Gold medals.

These Olympic athletes identified their areas of strength and weakness, created visions for themselves and determined areas to focus on in order to get the biggest payoff. They set personals goals reviewing weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.

They also set achievable and believable challenges to move forward with their lives, and held themselves accountable by working with personal coaches and trainers.

March has arrived and the first quarter of the year is upon us. What can you take from these Olympic Games to help Build Your Business and propel yourself forward for this year and into 2011?

Donald Robichaud is the President of the FloodLight Consulting team and can be reached at 250-768-9415

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

Would you like fries with your Order?

In this economy it’s important to add additional sales to your order without coming across as pushy. Every day sales teams are leaving out sales that customers would have willingly purchased with you.
In most organizations the salesman is so happy to make the initial sale that they actually forget or refuse to offer accessories items that will compliment the original purchase.

I learned a long time ago never assume that the person I was selling to was in the same monetary position as me. Sometimes we assume that because we are tight for money others are too, or we read about a recession and expect that everyone has tightened their purse strings. Not so!!

Every Product sold has an accessory item that will enhance the purchase. When buying a suit I am always offered or shown the appropriate shirt, ties, belts and socks that match the original sale. In the shoe business it’s the purse that matches the shoes or the polish that will help with the upkeep. In selling websites the up sell is the hosting package or the yearly SEO package that comes with the site or the newsletter attachment to market the products on the site.

When was the last time you bought just a hamburger? ” Would you like fries with your order? “, has become the staple of the fast-food industry.

Why up selling is so profitable?
The best part of up selling is that it’s practically effortless. Since it’s done after the customer has decided to go ahead with a major purchase, the hard part of the sales conversation has already been done. You’ve already established rapport, identified the customer’s needs, summarized, presented benefits, asked for the order and handled objections. Up selling is just presenting the information in a “by-the-way” fashion.

One of the most effective up selling techniques is getting the customer to use the product in your location. A hairdresser for example, might put hair gel in the customer’s hand and show them how to apply it themselves. By showing the client how to get the salon look at home, they create a value-added up sell.

At the retail level, it’s a good idea to group related and similar products then offer the add on at a package price. If someone is getting a haircut and you talk to them about shampoo and conditioners, it only makes sense to show them a package deal that groups hair products at a package price.

What to Offer?

Think about your business. What else can you offer customers or clients while they’re making their first transaction with you?

Can you offer:
• A discount on a related product or service?
• A volume discount if they buy more now?
• A special priced combination package including the initial product or service?
• Extended warranties or support packages
• Additional cables, batteries, cleaning products, etc……..
Your offer should include preferential special pricing. Most customers will accept the up selling offer when it’s a good value and the customer feels they are saving money.

The profit from the up selling portion often exceeds the profit on the initial product or service, because there are no additional expenses involved. The customer is already in the store and you have a captured audience.

Offer an incentive program to your sales team for up selling a specific line of accessories.

The Challenge

This week choose an accessory item in your business and offer it to every customer for the next month. You will add additional sales to your bottom line and increase your profit. Not everyone will buy, but if you don’t ask you’ll never make the sale.

If every day you service 10 clients and 3 buy a $25.00 dollar up sell accessory item, you will have an additional $75 dollars in the till. Now multiply $75 x 30 days in the month and you have now increased your totals sales for the month by $2250.00

Would you like fries with that order?

If you’re not making up selling offers to every new customer or client, start doing it now. It’s an easy way to boost your profits and Build Your Business.

Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business – 250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

I was recently approached by a company to assist them with their sales process. In the interview I uncovered that they were struggling with sales because they did not have a sales process defined.

This company had one of the three owners dedicated to sales. The owner had sales experience, but was way over his head with this specific product and service.

Every company needs to have a developed sales process and apply the sales process to every sale. In thirty years of sales and marketing I have only run into a handful of people who are natural sales people. These gods of sales have a sales system in place.

Even the Sham Wow guy on TV has a system and recently he used the same system to sell the Slap Chop!!!

Sales people are more productive when following a specific sales process that details the steps along the way. This will allow them to process the prospect into a lead and then a sale.

As a company you should define your company’s sales process based on best practices within your team, your industry and your target market. Below you will find a sales process that can be applied to most products and services.

The Sales Process – The process for converting prospects into leads and leads into customers is much like playing a hockey game. You need a plan and set plays to move the puck up the ice. Not practicing and staying within a game plan can result in a waste of time and effort.

Engage. – This is the first milestone in the sales process and usually happens when a potential client makes an inquiry into your product, or service and this will allow you to introduce yourselves, your company, your offering and uncover their general need. This is your lead.

Qualify. – Once you’ve engaged the potential client and determined they fit your overall target profile, you need to qualify the lead further to make sure it’s a “fit” with your company and what you offer.

Assess. – Once you have qualified the lead you must assess the opportunity before expending the resources to develop a quote or proposal. Ask yourself: What are the specifics of their needs? What is the main decision-making factor? What is their budget? Do they understand your value proposition? Are they looking at the competition?

Proposal. – You’ve assessed the opportunity to the level required during the assess stage, and now it’s time to move into the proposal stage. Make sure your proposal process is appropriate for the buying cycle. Include validation of your services, testimonials, all terms, as well as credit, inside the proposal to avoid slowing down the sales process.

Close. – At this phase of the sales process, you must close and overcome any possible objections, negotiate terms, and close the deal.

SALE! – Hopefully at this point, you’ve done such a good job of managing your sales process that you have moved your lead to a sale. If at any time the sale fails you must analyze and refine for the next time.

This is an overview of the typical sales process and it is imperative that no short cuts are taken. Failure to follow your sales plan will lead to lost sales.

Having a company sales process will allow you to process sales more effectively and help you to ‘Build Your Business’.

Donald Robichaud is the President of the FloodLight Consulting team and can be reached at:

FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Today’s fast-paced climate demands that you develop a marketing strategy which allows you to deliver a solid message to your customers and helps you close sales.

Statistics show that 82% of people who inquire about a product or service will purchase a similar product or service from someone within the next 12 months. Will it be you or your competition? What will set you apart and allow you to make that first class impression in your customer’s mind?

Here are three examples of how you can leverage your sales and marketing message, and work smarter:

Position yourself in the Market: All things being equal, would you rather buy from a specialist or a generalist? The more important the purchase you make, the greater the need to purchase from a specialist. It costs you nothing more to introduce yourself as a specialist in your field and a leader in the industry for your product or service. If you’re a leader in your field and your services are unique and competitively priced, you will set yourself apart from your competition.

Testimonial Endorsements: What’s more powerful to you? A company that says something great about themselves or what someone else is saying about them? 10 to 1 the testimonial carries more weight and is more believable! 78% of consumers today trust peer recommendations – only 14 % trust advertisements! So where are you spending your marketing dollars? Total cost to add testimonials to your marketing message = zero dollars!

Unique Selling Proposition (USP): A USP is a clearly articulated statement about who you are, what you do, and most importantly, and answers why anyone should choose to buy from you vs. your competition. Your USP answers the questions, “why should I buy from you?” and “what’s in it for me?” Adding your USP to every piece of advertising or marketing material costs you nothing extra yet this it an incredibly profound impact on your bottom line.

Now take the same three principles and introduce it into your internet marketing strategy and you will be delivering hundreds or thousands of positive interactions with your potential clients without ever leaving your office.

This marketing strategy allows you to identify and harvest the lowest hanging fruit first, which leverages your time because you’re always working with people who are ready to buy now!

By following these three simple examples you can leverage your marketing and start advertising with a more powerful sales message, and you will successfully “Build Your Business”.

Donald Robichaud is the President of the FloodLight Consulting team and can be reached at http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/  or at 250-768-9415

In this tough economic climate it is very important to continue to market your products and services, and to raise your so-called ‘celebrity’ status for yourself and your business.

As a business owner it’s important to understand what we can do to become ‘celebrities’ in our own right.

Why?

Because as consumers; we view some people as “worthier” or “more expert” than others, just because they’re better known.

In fact, these people may not be any more talented than anyone else, but we assume that they are more skilled or talented just because they are more famous.

And because they’re famous, their names become currency in themselves. For example, think of how many movie stars make commercials for hair products, when they don’t even do their own hair!

It’s important for us to do what we can to add some sparkle of celebrity to our own names. Simply put; the better known we become, the more customers and clients we’ll be able to draw in, and the higher the fees we’ll be able to command.

One of the easiest ways to raise your celebrity status is to create your own ‘Special Event’ – one that will draw attention to your company and its core products and services. The benefit of raising your celebrity status with an event is that the event speaks directly to your target market and establishes credibility for you as a leader in your industry and makes you and your business better known.

Becoming better known is a stepping stone to achieving other goals like attracting new clients, participating in speaking gigs (especially paid speaking gigs), making connections with marketing partners, attracting talented employees, and other activities that generate more business.

I recently worked with a client and helped him create a ‘Special Event’ designed to draw attention and create awareness for a custom service he provided to his clients. It was a fun event, capped by a contest that allowed him to tap into radio, TV, and newspapers with traditional marketing strategies, and incorporate Internet Marketing Strategies, utilizing newsletters, a Blog, Twitter, and Face book. The event and contest were both successful and the client was subsequently featured on both Global and CHBC news.

Events like this take a little time to assess the opportunities, assemble the right marketing information, and apply the right marketing strategies.

If done correctly, it’s a great way to raise your celebrity status and Build Your Business.

Donald Robichaud is the President of the FloodLight Consulting team and can be reached at http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/  or at 250-768-9415

The question to be asked is, what kind of signals are we sending?

For example, I was recently shopping for paint products for my classic car. I needed professional help to match a colour for the interior of my car, since the colour is not one that can be easily matched. Two outlets were referred to me at a recent car event held locally. I decided to visit the two stores and see what I might find.

Customer Experience Number #1
As I entered the first store I noticed that the clerk was busy assisting a lady. I was not acknowledged by the clerk and I also noticed that the store was not well laid out there were unpacked boxes all over the store. I decided to walk around and check out the inventory, and after five minutes I went back to the main counter. The lady had left but the clerk was nowhere to be found! I heard a noise coming from the next aisle and walked over to see the clerk working away.

I asked for some assistance and explained what I was looking for. The clerk explained that they were short staffed and had lots of stock to unpack. He also told me they could match the paint but that it was really tricky to match perfectly. The clerk was helpful but I could not help feeling that he was distracted and really not overly interested in my business. I obviously wasn’t a priority for him. He showed no real interest in my request and just gave me a price sheet with a breakdown of the services they offered. I left without making a purchase!

Customer Experience Number #2
When I entered the second store I noticed the clerk was busy, but this time I was acknowledged. The young lady smiled and mentioned that she would be with me in just a few minutes. I walked around the store and noticed how tidy it was. The shelves were well laid out and the store looked like it was ready for business. Within a few minutes I was greeted with another smile as the clerk said, “How can I assist you?”

I explained my situation and the issue of matching the paint. She asked me a few questions about my specific needs and mentioned that they specialized in paint matching and that she had personally helped many car enthusiasts match their paint colours in the past.

She also mentioned that she had access to paint swatches of vintage cars but she needed a sample so that she could better match the colour. We agreed to a time frame and a price, and we struck a deal. I left with a great feeling of having received extraordinary customer service. Suffice it to say that I will be back to do more business with this second store!

Perhaps it’s time to reflect on the kind of customer service your company is providing for its customers. What processes do you have in place to ensure all customers receive an extraordinary experience? What kind of ‘culture’ have you fostered in your company?

To help you with this, here are a few key areas of Customer Service to think about:

1. Friendliness – This is the foundation for great customer service, and is usually characterized by the customer being acknowledged and greeted graciously, with warmth. A customer shouldn’t feel like they are an intrusion on the service provider’s work day!

2. Understanding and empathy – Customers need to feel the service person understands and appreciates their circumstances and that they understand what it is the customer came in for in the first place. Our ability to meet our customers’ needs comes from asking questions and then delivering products and services that match the client’s needs.

3. Options – Customers need to feel they are dealing with a person who understands the products and services available, so they in turn can be presented with applicable options in order to make proper decisions.

4. Information -“Tell me, and show me”. Customers need to be educated and accurately informed about the products and services they are seeking. And this information needs to be clearly and simply laid out for the customer to understand.

5. Appreciation – Customers don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy. Let them know that you appreciate their business and that you hope to see them again. Make them feel special!

So ask yourself, what processes do you have in place to ensure your customers are provided with extraordinary customer service so that they’ll want to come back again and again?

Improve your customer service and you will continue to “Build Your Business”.

Written in conjunction with Richard Tremblay, Kelowna BC

While there are a number of ways to “work a room” that offer varying degrees of success, here are some good, fundamental strategies to keep in mind. By applying these techniques, you’ll give yourself the best chance of establishing sustained relationships that lead to more sales!

•Start with the end in mind – You want to create a positive first impression. Dress appropriately. Take plenty of business cards this makes it easier for others to contact you. Decide that you want to make the most of the event. Be open, upbeat and enthusiastic. Choose an event that is closely matched with your target market. Wear your own personalized name badge or wear a badge with your personal tag line.

•Arrive early and scout the room – Look over the room and pick three to four key areas where traffic will flow but also allow you to acknowledge people. At a recent event I chose two areas where people had to go by and get their refreshments. It allowed me to meet seven new business contacts and I renewed six old acquaintances in my target market. Out of this event three prospects have recently become clients.

•Set a goal for the number of new people (Prospects) you want to meet who are in your target market – Consider how many people you would like to talk to and how many cards you would like to take away. Ideally at a two hour event a minimum of 5 to 10 new people in your target market should be your goal. Make sure your goal is a stretch, yet achievable, and don’t leave until you’ve met your goal. This can give you the impetus to move on in the conversation.

•Act like a host, not a guest – If you adopt the mindset of a host you are more likely to be proactive in greeting people, introducing yourself and asking people if they would like to meet others. You can create as strong an impression by being a conduit for people. Be open in posture and do not square your shoulders to your prospect, boxing people in. Keep an open stance which will allow others to join in your conversation and give more opportunities to meet people.

•Breaking into groups – Avoid approaching two people who seem to be talking intensely. Instead approach groups of three or more. Stand close by and acknowledge what’s being said through your body language and facial expressions. Seize the right moment to make eye contact and say ‘hello’ or add something to the conversation. Even better, look for an acquaintance or business associate and stop by to speak with them when they are speaking with someone you do not know.

•Make your introduction interesting (Elevator Pitch) – An effective introduction is brief and memorable it needs to have sufficient impact to get the interest of the group. That’s why you need an Elevator Pitch – a short description of your business that enables prospective buyers to know who you work with and what value you bring to the relationship. An Elevator Pitch conveys your marketing message in a manner that literally attracts the right customer to you.

•Listen and aim to give value – Listening is crucial when networking and it’s only too evident when someone is not paying attention to you. Find out about the person/people in the group, uncover ways you can be a useful resource to them. Show a genuine interest in the person – you’re more likely to find common ground as they open up. People want to spend time with people they like and trust.

•Change your focus from ‘what’s in it for me?’ to ‘what can I offer you?’ – People quickly work out if someone is aiming to sell to them or is only interested in taking what they can get. Networking is about developing relationships with others, so meeting people at events is about starting the process, not ending it. If you give value by helping them in some way – by introducing them to a referral or offering some information – they’re more likely to spend time with you and respond to your follow-ups.

•Breaking away professionally – You may feel uncomfortable or rude breaking away from a conversation, even though such events or cocktail parties are designed for people to circulate. If you’re enjoying the company, suggest that you both join another group. If you want to get away completely, or the conversation has run its course, say something like ‘it’s been great to meet you, I hope you enjoy the rest of the event’ or ‘let’s keep in touch’. Don’t over-complicate your exit, just make your voice tone sound final, and then move away. As you leave mention that you will follow up with them later in the week.

•Follow up afterwards – Ask each person you meet for two cards – one to pass on and one to keep. It’s a powerful way of demonstrating you’d like to refer them to someone, or vice versa. Make a note on their business card of what you’ve promised to do for them, so you don’t forget. If they were open to your “Elevator Pitch” suggest that you will send them some further information. Once you have stepped away, note down a memorable feature of their image, or the conversation, to remind you of who they are. If you’re meeting lots of people, it’s easy to lose track. As soon as possible afterwards, drop them a line or give them a call and do what you said you would do. They’ll be delighted that you remembered them.

Agree how you’ll keep in touch going forward so that you can “Build Your Business”

Donald Robichaud is the President of FloodLight Consulting and can be reached at 250- 768-9415

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