I utilize
many of these electronic communication methods myself to contact, train,
research, and even socialize. I also know that very seldom does anything
substantial happen until there is a face to face meeting and communication. Most
times everything else leads up to that meeting and the finalization that occurs
during it.
Connecting
on a personal or face to face basis is the foundation of much of the success of
the top business leaders of all times. This personal connection is the concrete
footing for relationships, and relationships are the basis for successful
business. Doing business with someone whom you have never actually met is like
forming a relationship online to get married and discovering the love of your
life is a speed freak in the desert.
When you network and attempt to form business relationships,
you are constructing partnerships for mutual success. The relationships might
bring you the immediate customer, one whom you must nurture in this
relationship with you. You should develop that customer into a client who will
continue to purchase from you, have a vested interest in your continued
success, and refer customers to you.
Some relationships that you form may fail to bring you
immediate customers, but may bring you partners who believe in your integrity
and offerings so much that they will refer others customers to you. The way
that you treat these referred customers may, or may not, result in the original
partner becoming a customer, but it will assuredly result in more referrals
from that same partner, as well as from the referral.
Businesses which fail to make these face to face meetings
have lost the personal touch, relying on the “spray and pray” method of
marketing for their success. The personal meeting, where you can look into the
other person’s eyes, hear the inflections in their voice, and watch their other
mannerisms allows you to tailor your marketing discussion as the conversation
takes place. This allows you to listen and hear the other party.
Marketing is not only about presenting what you have to
offer. It is about being a consultant, listening to what others need and want,
and then finding a way for them to obtain their objective. That may be what we
have to offer, or it may be someone else who has the solution to their hunt,
but we can be the person who helps them get it. We have to listen, and
electronic communication does not let us do so.
Do not stop communicating electronically with others. Incorporate
face to face contact within your marketing efforts and pepper these face to
face meeting with your best listening skills. Then, stop being a sales person and
become a marketing consultant, helping them locate what they need or want, or
someone else who can help them in their search. You will be rewarded for your
approach and your efforts.
Please leave me your comments, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691. Network with appreciation for others and meet with
others face to face. You will be surprised at how much success that brings to
everyone.
Trust me, there are PLENTY of people who "spray and pray" in person. Random networking is the same as "spray and pray". You go to some meeting where networking will happen. 80% of the people have focus and intention. But there are always those 20% who say "I represent xxx. Let's have coffee." They have no focus for who they want to meet, and if you actually do try to connect, you generally find that they mistakenly believe that EVERYBODY needs to be a customer of whatever xxx is. They are generally not useful for making connections to other people.
ReplyDeleteMy personal experience is that you find these people most often at focus-less networking events (as opposed to, for instance, networking events specifically for financial professionals or techs who use a specific software platform), or "networking" events for job-seekers.
It's actually more annoying to encounter "spray and pray" in person than online. I read much faster than most people talk. As soon as I can tell it's spray and pray I click delete. In person, you have to suffer the spiel, then if you've been accosted directly, you still need to be polite in your responses.
IMO, the BEST way to show appreciation for others is to use Steve Covey's habit #5 of his 7 habits: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Be thorough and comprehensive about learning about the other person and his/her goals FIRST, before you present your own message. If what you offer is professional photographic services and you find out that the other person manages programs for the blind, then probably don't actually have anything to offer, yourself, but might be a conduit to services they need like banking.
Spray and Pray is in how the person approaches networking. It has nothing to do whether it's in person or electronic.