Successful by Association

By Georgia Trusio

No matter who you are in the business world...you need customers!  Whether you are in the "steady-paycheck" category or the "self-employed", every activity that you perform is in direct proportion to your income and that income is usually derived from customers buying your product or service.   

My sales training covers 25 different vehicles to get to "new" business. 

I've always loved "cold calling" and since I trained QPMA (Qualifying Prospects & Getting Appointments) at AT&T, I would have to say that I'm highly skilled in "dialing for dollars." Unfortunately, I was not skilled in the "vehicle" of networking probably because I didn't think it was a skill, but that story will have to come in my next blog. 

For now, I would highly recommend that you research the vehicle that is best for your city. In Atlanta, the best vehicle would be "joining business associations."  Atlanta has more than 1,000 business organizations to choose from and most business professionals belong to at least two if not more.  This is how we get to our prospective buyer!

But how do you know if you are successfully using the skill of networking? And remember, just like the Verizon commercial on TV, when you meet a stranger, you also meet their network.

 

One suggestion is to measure your performance. As trainers, we all know how to do that, but sometimes we forget to measure our own.  How many "new" people are you meeting at a networking event?  Are you prepared?  Do you do the same preparation as you would for a client meeting?

 

As I continue blogging, we will chat more about this powerful tool. 

Georgia Trusio is a business consultant, trainer and coach in Atlanta.  Her company, Georgia Mentors, offers business skills on how to be more successful marketing products--especially if that product is YOU.  She is the author of "Power Networking Skills," an e-learning program that can be accessed online at www.georgiamentors.com.

Comments

[Mark Hunter]

Cold-calling to sell training is never easy having my own training company I know the drill too well. Key I've found is in remembering people are not buying training they're buying confidence. They want to have the confidence and it's amazing how different people gain confidence in different ways when it comes to buying training. This is what makes being involved in associations so valuable as it allows people to get to know you and therefore become confident in you