Previously, we discussed the opportunities which suddenly appear
to us and are not a result of our own marketing efforts. These opportunities do
not result from our planning, our prospecting, or our marketing in general.
They may include chances to discover prospects which appear out of nowhere but
who may make us more successful than we believed possible.
As a result of the previous blog discussion on these
“surprise” opportunities, I had several conversations with various readers
regarding how to recognize and respond to these types of chances for business. I
must say that to my amazement, some business people with whom I spoke are just
not as astute as I would hope all of us to be. Some people would not recognize
a business opportunity if it walked up to them and slapped them in the face.
We all are very busy people, making plans, going to
appointments, marketing to each and every person whom we meet. However, we
really do not market to everyone in an alert manner. Actually we miss many
chances to discuss what we do and inform other people of what our business
actually does. The fact that we do not see these people as prospects does not
mean that they may not know someone else who is a great opportunity for us.
They may even be great prospects for our business.
I had the occasion recently to attend some meetings of
groups with which I have never networked and nor do I belong to any of these
types of group. I was stunned that some of the attendees were “distant” to
newcomers almost to the point of rudeness. They did not introduce themselves
voluntarily, refrained from engaging in any level of conversation, and never
offered any effort to even say hello in many cases. It was not just me with
whom they did not network, but other new attendees to their groups.
These types of networkers are just the people who need to
practice some Gratitude
Marketing. They are literally practicing negative marketing and
driving away any possibility of developing any relationships which might bring
them referrals or new business of any sort. Not only would I never recommend
any of them to anyone, I would also never recommend their meetings for anyone
to attend.
Not recommending them to anyone else is easy since I never
received any information from them. However, someone might attend their
meetings with the aim of developing relationships with other newcomers who are
also being ignored by the regular members. This would be like starting a
subgroup of disenchanted people within the main group. Maybe that idea has some
merit.
We all must be more aware of these opportunities which will
appear “out of the blue” and take advantage of them. We would not want to
appear rude and asleep when they present themselves to us. If nothing else, we
should treat these chances to build our businesses like “found money” and know
that they are a return on our karma.
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