I recently attended an event in my local market that provided me access to public procurement officials with access to decision makers, procurement opportunities and business networking opportunities. The best part of the event was that it was FREE! I made new contacts, met potential customers and had the chance to meet entrepreneurs with energy and attitude that fired me up! All of us struggle with managing and protecting our time and more often than not we protect our selling time in lieu of local events such as these. I do it, we all do it! But these local events can be awesome business development and networking opportunities that uncover new and relevant contacts, opportunities and partnerships that will create new selling opportunities for your pipeline.
So how do you narrow the focus on these events and ensure your give yourself a better chance of attending productive and relevant events?
1. Know what's out there. Sign up on mailing lists which notify you of events. Organizations that offer this service include the SBA, SCORE, SBDC and your State, County and Local Government procurement or small business organizations.
2. Ask about the event. Call the organizer to ask a few questions to determine if the event is the right for for you. If the event is heavy IT focused and you sell brooms or staffing services you may want to pass. Tap your own network to get information on previous events, Bad events will be easily uncovered and should be avoided.
3. Attend! Sometimes you have to go and see for yourself. If you do your research and it looks like a fit....go! Reduce your risk by attending events close to your business to minimize travel and cost. Keep an open mind and use the event as a sales AND networking event.
The lesson here is that the most successful sales people, and businesses, use effective networking opportunities to grow their business. Networking is about finding new sales opportunities but also meeting people that could be future partners, employees, mentors and competitors. Showing up is just the start.....get out there and show what you've got!
Good luck and good selling!