Posts filed under ‘Marketing’
Networking Works!
By Abby Donnelly
Attending a networking event? WHY??
That may seem like a strange question, but time is one of our most limited resources! Taking a few minutes to evaluate why you should attend THIS particular networking event may save you hours of unproductive time and energy. Often, sales professionals tell me that they make their decision to attend an event based on the location of the event and their calendar availability. Instead, base your decision to attend an event based on:
1. Will your ideal target market likely be there? If not,
2. Will people who know your ideal target market be there?
If the answer is no to both of these questions, attending the event probably isn’t a good use of your time. You may meet some great people, you may have some interesting conversations, but you will probably not build the kind of business relationships that will deliver an ongoing stream of qualified referrals. Instead, find a networking event that is a better fit, or invest that time 1-1, building important relationships with key prospects, or with people who know your key prospects.
If you can’t bear to skip the event, at least go into the event with a specific goal. Maybe you set a goal to meet 3 new people. Maybe you set a goal to reconnect with 5 people you already know. Maybe you set a goal to connect 2 people who need to know each other. If you are going to spend your time attending an event, make it count! The additional benefit of setting a goal in advance is that once you achieve it, you are free to leave—you have already had a successful event!
Abby Donnelly is a partner and Executive Coach with Training and Development services, a Sandler Training franchise.
Illustration by Rob Green
Today’s the Day! A-Level’s are out.
Today’s the Day. The 18th August is ringed in red in many calendars, in many homes across England. A-Level Results are out and the long talked about scramble for university places starts now. But after today how will universities change their process to sell to the brightest candidates.
At the last count, there were 669, 956 applicants going for only 470,000 places. Those students who miss out this year will experience largely increased fees next year. If they reapply they could face paying £17,000 more. This frantic race to escape such a financial increase has resulted in Universities being able to put entry requirements and pick the cream of the crop. A university admissions office has only had to take orders this year as supply outstrips demand.
Yet 2012 may bring a dramatic change to these institutions. The sales process will change from a student wondering, “will they accept me?” to “why should I choose you?” The Universities need to equip their staff with the skills required to react to this shift. And not just their admissions staff – all members of the University’s staff who interact with prospective students needs to have a “sales awareness. “ A skill they did not even need to consider before today.
There are 2 main things that will need to be focused upon:
- Communication Skills – and not just on the surface “small talk” skills. A student considering their university needs to feel they are making the right decision. Good communication skills will mean potential students think ‘they really understand me, I could see myself studying here.’
- The Emotional Reason to Buy. Deciding on a university is already on of the first important decisions a young person will make. A university will need its staff to be able to discover “Why does this person really want to engage with higher education” and “What are there (the student’s) personal and emotional reasons?” Then they need to be able to fit their offering to meet these.
Now universities are charging more and students are demanding more before they buy – a “sales awareness” has to be a priority. If not, despite all the exemplary academia on display and the cutting edge research, students will not be attracted.
By Anneli Thomson. Anneli runs the Sandler Training Centre in Oxford. She is passionate about helping business leaders grow and about champagne.
(No) Queues Ahead
Who likes queuing? No, me neither. I think it shows. I think the guy sitting next to me can tell, now I’m finally onboard the flight – after queuing through customs, queuing to buy a bottle of Evian, standing in line to buy some Duty-Free.
Still, I’m here now – and all that waiting did give me plenty of time to think.
Like, how come when we’re standing with a basket of shopping, waiting to buy, we get shepherded into those little queuing-pens, and obediently wait to be called?
And then – when it’s our turn to do the selling – every sales training course shows you the same stuff, the same techniques, so you end up stood in another orderly queue, behind every other seller.
That’s the thing about training courses. They’re great for Compliance. You learn a bunch of things, leave with a thick ring-binder manual, and you get on with the compliance. Fine for Health & Safety. Fine for Employment Law. For maintaining standards.
When we’re growing our business, though, we’re not trying to maintain the status quo. We’re not in Compliance-mode. Queuing obediently. We’re in Freedom-mode. Free to adapt to the uncertainties of the terrain. You’re not going to buy a roadmap, because you’re not going by road.
At Sandler, we don’t sell roadmaps. We guide. We support business leaders with our knowledge and experience.
Because, if you’re ambitious, if you’re serious about growing the business, then you know the journey is going to adventurous. So we work alongside you, proving the route we’re both taking, showing you the steps and the handholds.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on throwing away the roadmap - or even just the best idea you had while standing in a queue.
