Be involved in your prospect’s community
Breathe the same air that your prospects breathe. Be involved in their community so that you can meet them.
When my children went to college, they were excited and frankly a little nervous. There was the prospect of freedom from daily parent supervision. The excitement of new friends. Maybe even the ability to break away from a group of high school cliques that had gone an unfavorable direction.
But the fear was there as well (although they didn’t readily admit it). They knew hundreds of kids in their high school, but could probably list on two hands the number of people they knew at their new college. This was exciting because they were going to make new friends, but it also had fears. What if they didn’t make new friends?
My advice to each was very simple and direct. Join three organizations in the next 30 days. I wanted them to join the community of college life. This advice worked for them. They immediately found others that shared the same interests as them. Those new friends also had friends to introduce them to. Before long, my kids were so busy that they almost forgot about their dear old parents.
As salespeople, we are always looking for new friends. We also want our existing friends to be better friends. Joining community organizations as salespeople is a great way to meet the types of people that can influence our revenue. The immediate person that you meet at the event may not be the best person to close your next deal, but it is likely that person can help to guide.
It is also possible that the group that you join will do good for humankind. If it is a community organization or a charity, then you are likely helping those that are less fortunate than you. If you haven’t found out that helping others will help you more than you give, then you should give it a try. As the Beatles sang:
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make
Here are some ideas of organizations that you should consider joining.
- charities
- church / synagogue
- school groups (booster, PTO, etc.)
- local political parties
- local issues group (e.g. “build the stadium”, “save the building”, “revitalize downtown”, etc.)
- Chamber of Commerce
- Lions, Kiwanis, Shriners, etc.
- Meetups
- country club
You need help to be a salesperson. You need friends that can point you to decision makers. You need advice from friends on how to eliminate your competition within your sales opportunities. In short, you can do a lot with the help of your friends. This makes me think of another Beatles song.
I get by with a little help from my friends