Try This Twist On Connecting To New Clients


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Try This Twist On Connecting To New Clients
By: Tina Berres Filipski, Editor & Publisher/Associate VP For Business Media
Issue: 2009jul

While it’s easy to grouse and grumble right now about poor sales, not everybody out there is complaining.

Those who have chosen to keep on truckin’ (a phrase coined in the ’70s when times were also less than optimum) are still finding new customers, writing orders and connecting the dots to turn a company’s needs into a profitable piece of new business. And they are largely doing it through another old-fashioned but proven technique: networking.

Recently I visited with distributor Susan Sanders of Don Sanders Marketing in Grapevine, Texas, who has rediscovered the power of networking within one of her local chambers of commerce. And for Susan, it’s become a lucrative source for new clients.

Susan was instrumental in forming the first networking group within the nearby Colleyville, Texas, Chamber of Commerce two years ago; now there are seven groups, called Business Builders, each comprised of 10 to 12 small-business owners. Since it was the first, Susan’s group consists of 25 people. The concept is simple: the groups meet weekly for breakfast or lunch to talk about business, share tips and learn from each other. The groups are also category exclusive, meaning only one person from a particular industry or profession is allowed in each group so there’s no competition within the group.

“I’ve sold something to about 50 percent of those in my group so far,” says Sanders. “And I’ve bought things from others—for example, I bought insurance from the insurance agent in my group.”

As a savvy promotional consultant, she recognizes that all businesses are potential users of promotional products. But, the 25 business owners in her group have also connected Susan to other people they know and do business with so the pass-along potential of a networking group is practically unlimited.

“Not only do I see these 25 people every week, but I see them at other chamber events and it strengthens our relationship,” she says. “They know I’m not a fly-by-nighter.”

While almost everybody knows about networking, the chamber group concept encourages true relationship building which, of course, is a prerequisite to making any kind of sale. It’s one thing to meet someone at a conference and exchange business cards. It’s quite another to get to know the real person behind the handshake.

So you think your business could benefit from involvement in a networking group? If so, you’ll probably need to take matters into your own hands. Susan advises other distributors to look to their local chamber and see if it offers networking groups. If not, go to the chamber leadership and explain the concept is being done effectively in other cities, then get the okay to start a group. While the chamber will need to be the catalyst, each group should have a coordinator to organize and keep the group moving. At the Colleyville Chamber, Susan oversees all the networking groups and collaborates with a chamber staff member to identify what’s working and what isn’t for all groups.

Of course, networking is second nature to some people and Susan is one of them. You may have read in a late April edition of PPB Newslink about her getting a spokesmodel gig for a Turkish-inspired jewelry line that has since aired on Home Shopping Network. Susan snagged the job while standing in line at a concession stand at an industry show earlier this year. While some people come away from a tradeshow concession stand with a $6 hotdog, Susan used her instincts to pick up a hot lead. Her sideline modeling hasn’t yet landed a promotional products order, but it’s only a matter of time, I’m sure, before HSN is using cool logoed products to promote their network to viewers and sponsors.

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