Many people go about prospecting the wrong way. It’s an all-or-nothing endeavor. Pitch after pitch after pitch. That’s not how it works. I discuss strategies to profitably prospect the right way in this episode with my guest, Susan MacConnell.
Susan will say she is an introverted extrovert. Yet she is a natural born networker, it just took a little time to develop her networking skills. During networking meetings, she almost always comes up with ideas for a few people that the other person would benefit from meeting. Networking is her superpower, but it hasn’t always been that way.
Figuring Out the Right Prospecting Strategies
Susan used to attend too many networking events; it was a numbers game. She often met many people that didn’t fit her ideal client or referral source profiles. How did she remedy that? She started carefully choosing events and accepting meetings primarily with people that fit her ideal profiles. Sometimes you go to an event without any structure and you’re just meeting people randomly. Sometimes you go to an event where the structure allows everyone in the room to give their thirty second “elevator pitch”. In both circumstances it’s all about you. What can you do instead? Rather than waiting for the other person to ask you “What do you do?” you start by asking them what they do.
When it comes your time to speak, instead of immediately going into your elevator pitch ask them what kind of challenges they’re having in their business. Wait silently for their response. Then start asking them questions. Ask things like “If you could fix something in your business, what would it be?” Get them going in a different direction. And then they might say “Well you know, I don’t know how to network and need to learn better ways to go about it.” Your response could be “That’s what I teach” or “I know someone that could help you.”
It’s all About Them
Learn about them first because you don’t know if they’re a good fit until you find out what challenges they have that you might be able to help with, directly or indirectly. You can discover things about people by asking good questions about them and not making the conversation about you. Even though they want to learn about you, they learn more about you through the questions that you ask about them. When you meet someone and they don’t have any challenges you solve with your services, if possible, offer to connect them to someone that might be able to help them and move on to the next conversation.
In this episode we also dive into topics such as:
- Why you shouldn’t focus on sharing what you do, you should focus on sharing what problems you solve for your clients.
- When to share your service offering(s) during first time networking conversations.
- How to craft effective questions.
- When you meet a potential client how to follow up with them without being too “salesy”.
- What your primary goal should be going into any networking event.
- The quickest way to turn somebody off at a networking event and what to do instead.
- How to make networking fun by not worrying about what you’re going to say next.
…and more golden nuggets of advice!
You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”
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About the Guest
Susan helps consultants, trainers, and speakers who often find themselves stretched thin, juggling client work and speaking engagements with the constant demand to grow their business. With limited time to seek out new clients and speaking opportunities, they struggle to attract higher-paying engagements that align with their expertise.
These professionals need a part-time or full-time partner to develop processes and the correct tactics to follow up and close more speaking engagements to find potential clients so they can focus on projects that fit their core competencies and transform their business. Building a sustainable business development system is crucial for freeing up time and creating long-term growth.
With over 20 years of experience in Outsourced Sales & Business Development and delivering Marketing Tactics, she’s supported clients across 16 unique industries in improving lead generation and securing more speaking opportunities. Susan’s approach focuses on partnering with you to do the outreach and grow your speaking engagements and client acquisitions, ensuring you attract better clients while freeing time to focus on scaling your business.
Click here to connect with Susan on LinkedIn
