4 Tips to begin connecting with new potential customers today!
Did you know I’ve got this networking thing down to a science? I will take you into my networking world, what I do and why I love it! Learn how I interact with people to keep things friendly and get booked so you can do it too!
In this episode, I distill down 4 tips and actionable steps for you to take to help you grow your community of potential customers through having conversations with people every day.
I share 4 tips to help you to begin networking to grow your business and connect with like-minded people who may be potential customers.
In the last week, have you gone to the grocery store or somewhere to get your morning coffee, and you naturally engaged in a conversation with someone? If the answer is yes, then you were networking! what I’m going to say next will make a lot of sense.
Whether you know it or not, having a conversation with a like-minded person and feeling a sense of community with the other person is the first step to expanding your business.
Today, I’m going to help demystify the art of networking and give you some tips on how you can begin putting them into action daily starting now.
I want to share a story with you about my son working a summer job pumping gas at Wawa! Yes, you can’t pump your gas in New Jersey, so they have gas attendance, or as my son likes to say, fuel engineer!
My son Grant is a lot like me; he’s an extrovert who lives out loud and finds it very easy to talk with people and find shared values.
Grant’s goal with every shift is to connect with other people when he greets them and pumps their gas. Why you may ask? The more connections he makes with customers, the more tips he earns.
Before each shift, he sets a goal on the number of tips he wants to make for that shift. As each car pulls up to the pump, his mindset is how can I engage with this person, create a genuine connection add value to their experience so they have a positive experience, and tip me.
Well, it’s working for Grant; yesterday, one woman was so taken by his positive attitude and outgoing nature that she tipped him $20, that’s right, $20, even with gas prices hovering near five dollars a gallon.
To give a further example of this grant’s positive nature and willingness to engage with others, he has collected many business cards. Business owners comment on grants’ positive nature and hand him business cards for future opportunities.
Now let’s distill this example down to actionable steps for you to take to help you get similar results to help you grow your community of potential customers.
Here are 4 tips to help you to begin networking
Tip 1: Engagement
People are hungry for high-touch human interactions. We’ve all experienced what not having human interaction is like over the past few years of the pandemic.
Humans are meant to interact with other Humans. There are no substitutions for face-to-face interactions; they will never go away because they are critical to our happiness, growth, and connection with others!
That’s what makes Grant’s story relatable, he is engaging his customers by striking up a conversation and serving them with his positive attitude.
Tip 2: Add Value
Value is what attracts people. If you have no value to add, they won’t want to come back or do business with you.
How you add value to each engagement will determine if they will become a potential customer.
Grant’s positive engagement made the woman feel good and added value to her experience getting gas and the rest of her day. She will definitely come back to Wawa when she needs gas because of the value she received.
When the Value and Need come together you have made a connection.
Tip 3: Executed High-Level
Grant is doing his job at a high level. Why do we know this? Well, because the woman tipped him! Grant executed his job, at the highest level.
Think about when you receive a 5-star Goggle review | a client referral, or a customer testimonial. Your customer is saying “thank you for serving my needs at the highest level of customer service. I will refer you and do business with you again.
Tip 4: Rinse and Repeat
Remember that Grant set’s a goal at the beginning of each shift he works to engage with his customers, add value, and earn tips! Each car that pulls up is a new opportunity for Grant to practice these networking skills | and make connections with people!
So now that you’re getting the hang of it, you want to build momentum, so keep having conversations with people and continue to grow your community! It feels terrific when you engage with other people in real-time face to face.
If you have a business, you know you can serve others by helping them solve a problem or satisfy a need. That is incredibly valuable!
If you view connecting with others as a conversation about how you have something of value to share with others, it becomes a different mindset.
You’re not trying to get something from someone else; you want to share something of value that will enrich their lives and yours.
Set a goal to make connecting with others a daily habit.
Yes, you’ll have homework in the action steps below but setting a daily goal and making it a habit is simple. OK, so where is the first place you go in your day? Is it the gym? is it to get coffee? Waiting for the train? Is it dropping off your child at school? Is it the dry cleaners or grocery store?
Well, wherever it is, you go in the morning and strike up a conversation.
Action Steps
Step 1 Engagement
You are at the grocery store and see someone flipping through a magazine online. You might say:
- “I am an interior designer, and I have a business locally. I help young professionals with growing families design functional houses and work for their Busy lives.”BoomAdd
Step 2 Add Value
They just purchased a new home and need help designing the space.
Step 3 Execute at a High Level
Do a great job and ask for a referral. People like doing business with others they know, like, and trust. Your next client might be their friend or neighbor! You never know.
Step 4 Rinse and Repeat
- Talk to people every day and find out how you can serve them!
- Networking | growing your community, is simply having a conversation with another person to expand your sphere of influence and connect with other like-minded people.
Good luck, and let me know how these tips help you to grow your community!
Until next time, take one new action that lifts up your brand!
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