Recently I was working with a client specifically on his time management which he felt was a major problem. It is an issue that all of us face at times and is only exacerbated by the increased need to be marketing and selling our businesses in a tough environment.
Working as a Business Coach on this topic I will always apply the 80/20 rule which you will be all familiar with. We started in this case on the priority 20% of tasks needed to be done weekly.
The overwhelming winner in terms of priorities was sales.
We then looked at the strategies for generating sales and this is where we hit gold in terms of potential huge time savings.
In this case my client was only using Networking as a marketing/sales strategy. He attended up to 3 networking events weekly. Conservatively we estimated that this was the equivalent of 9 hours in networking weekly. You need to allow time for travel and for the inevitable 1:1’s required to build relationships.
9 hours is effectively 25% of your working week!! ( by that I mean the selling working week, I know you all work much longer hours than that).
The point is it is a huge investment in time, and energy but is it paying off? What is the ROI on networking?
In this case it was not justifiable.
We again applied the 80/20 rule to the clients and looked at the Top 20 clients who were as normal contributing the vast majority of the sales. In this case nearly 90%. None of the Top 20 were secured through networking.
We looked at all business generated through networking and the actual revenues were just over 1% of total sales.
25% of his time was generating 1% of total sales.
The question wasn’t do I have enough time, it was am I spending my time wisely? In this case it prompted a complete rethink of the networking strategy.
Here’s the thing about networking. It is a very important and effective strategic tool. I don’t deny that at all. But as with all marketing strategies it has it’s limitations.
In Dublin there are a plethora of networking events, and a significant number of these are free. A lot of the Chambers of Commerce have free events. There are numerous others, too numerous to mention here. Free is great isn’t it? Well not necessarily.
Ask this question first, Who is my ideal client?
Describe them. Where they are located? What size business they are? What industry they are in? What number of employees they have? What markets they operate in?
Now ask yourself this question. Are they in the networking groups I attend?
If not then stop attending. Full stop.
This is exactly what my client did. He quickly realised that his ideal clients were larger businesses and the networking events he attended just weren’t attended by these types of businesses.
Now ask this next obvious question. Do my ideal clients network at all?
Well do they? I can honestly say that only 2 of my current clients actively network.
I must add a caveat here. They don’t attend networking events but they do attend trade events, symposiums, seminars and other types of events. So yes they are networking but not in the mainstream way.
This is the key with your networking. Networking is a strategy and as a targeted strategy you must just do that, target where your ideal clients go.
Dublin offers you and your business huge potential to network effectively. One of my clients only last week attended an EGovernment symposium, where a huge number of existing and potential prospects were gathered. That’s targeted networking at it’s best.
If you are targeting the apparel industry then there is for example the Futura show which is held annually.
Most industries have annual events to showcase their products and services. These can be great places to network. Also look at for the seminars and conferences where industry bodies and companies gather to discuss their challenges. Another source of great networking opportunities.
For me the adage is simple. Don’t just follow the crowd, follow your customers and prospects. Think strategically. Value your time. Place a high value on this activity. Set clear cut goals for each event you attend.
Actions,
Write out clearly who your ideal client is.
With clarity write out where these clients congregate and network themselves.
Set a goal to generate targeted leads from these events.
Test and measure every networking strategy you use. If it isn’t delivering ROI then stop.
If you are having issues like this or are looking to improve your business results talk to me. I’ll be happy to meet up for a hour and discuss solutions.
Best of luck.
Ronan
Ronan Kilroy Certified FocalPoint Business Coach
Profitability, Productivity, Possibility.
