Networking Goat

Welcome back to my blog about getting more from your networking.  This is my third and final article about having a new website.  In this one I am going to focus on the content of your site. Note that I am not a website designer / copywriter etc – these are just my thoughts.

It may seem obvious but good content is fundamental if it is going to help you win you business. Your site is part of your brand – a poorly designed site reflects badly on you and potential customers will look elsewhere.

Photos / Imagery  Good quality and crisp imagery makes a site more appealing. Think about how you (and your staff) appear in the photos.  A friendly relaxing smile adds “warmth”  to the overall appeal of the site.  Think about the background of the photos:-

• If you are in professional services (e.g marketing, accountancy) then you might consider having some photos of you in your  offices (which have been cleaned first !!!!)
• For trades people why not show some photos of projects in progress – before, during the project and afterwards. Make sure that the background is reasonably tidy and that staff are wearing appropriate attire (or company uniforms)
• For my www.fingertips-intelligence.co.uk site I often include screen shots  of my projects which give readers more of an idea of what is possible with Filemaker

Logo How much thought have you put into your logo ? Does the logo colour tie in with that used elsewhere on the site ? Is the logo consistent with that on your business card ?

Text Pay a lot thought about the language you use to write the content for your site. A lot of people try to “trick” search engines by over-optimising key words. The result is that although the site may be found by search engines, it is unreadable !!!

Instead :-

• Have short, clear crisp sentences.
• Don’t overload the page with one big paragraph
• Think about the user – what would make him think about engaging with you – can you relate to their pain points ? For example I try and find companies that are overrun with spreadsheets
• Continually look for spelling mistakes and grammar
• Ensure that text “aligns” correctly on the page

Home Page Most people will “land” on the home page – and hence this has to look good for it to be effective:-

• Resist the temptation to overload it with flash animation. Apart from anything, it will take longer to load and this can put people off
• Perhaps you could include a testimonial from a key client. My www.simplyspreadsheets.co.uk has a great testimonial from KPMG. It proved very attractive to a couple of key corporate clients and they wanted to know more about me because of it.
• Another option is to include a short video clip – this could be a client testimonial or you giving an overview of your services. Incidentally, it is believed that Google likes video content and pushes these sites higher up the ranking
• Think about the navigation away from the home page – where will people go on your site after reading it. Some examples are below:-
  • About Page
  • Services
  • Case Studies
  • Testimonials

About Page – This is the second most visited page on your website after the home page. It is a great chance to summarise you and your company’s capability. Note that it should be a “summary” rather than “war and peace” about you.

Contact Details Your contact details should be on every page of your site. People should be able to read about you and then want to get straight in touch with you. Remember to include a phone number and an e-mail address.

Alternatively you may wish to have an enquiry form.  If people need to send you something (e.g I am often asked to fix spreadsheets) then make sure you the enquiry form allows attachments.

Testimonials  As I have said in earlier blogs, testimonials are a great way of selling your services indirectly. Your website is a great place to promote them. However:-

• Some companies may refuse to give a testimonial as it against their policy to do so. See if you can obtain an anonymous one instead
• If you can accompany the testimonial with a photograph of the client then this will make your it more professional
• Don’t have too many – change them regularly – it is an easy way of keeping your site updated
• Consider having  video testimonials as well as written ones

Case Studies  Closely related to testimonials, are case studies which give an in depth description of some work you have done.  A good case study should include:-

• Some background on the client – their location, number of staff, sector
• A short description of the client’s problem
• A section on how you fixed the clients issue
• Benefits of your solution – how your client has benefitted from your solution
• Some screenshots / images of the solution that you implemented

Ensure that you get your clients permission for the case study before you go live. Send them the URL so that they can see how it will look. Larger companies are very conscious of their brand and hence will be committed on protecting it.

Services Ensure that you devote a sufficiently large section of your site to telling customers about the services that you offer. If you have key sectors that you operate in – then split you services section accordingly

Going Live Before going live make sure that your site is thoroughly tested:-

• Have you spell checked  every page ?
• Do all the links work correctly ?
• If you are selling things on line then ensure that the buying process is logical
• Try the site in different browsers

Note ultimately no site is ever perfect when it goes live. You have to be realistic and “just do it”. One thing you can do is announce the new site as your status on facebook. Note that I do not mean having a Facebook for business. – just your own personal status. The reason is that your friends will spot the things that you didn’t !!

Post go Live Actually this is one of the important points. Once you have launched your site, ensure that you regularly update it. An up to date site, with relevant content will be much more effective than an out of date one. It will also be found by google a lot more. Ways of keeping a site live include:-

• Adding new case studies
• Describing more services
• Including new testimonials

This article is a continuation of my previous one (http://networkinggoat.com/2012/04/12/so-you-are-thinking-about-getting-a-new-website/). It contains some more ideas to consider when you are planning on getting a new website built. Remember, although I work in IT I am not a website developer. This article just represents some thoughts based on my experience.

Choosing a website developer

Actually this is one of the hardest aspects – because there are so many web developers out there. Some tips:-

• Take a look at the web developers own site.  See how up to date the site is – and also if you like the site design. If it is out of date or poorly designed (or does not appeal to you) then the chances are that you won’t like anything they produce.
• Look again at their website and try to find case studies – which include screen shots of finished projects. Are the projects in a sector similar to yours? If so it means that the developer will understand your business
• Do a search on google for companies in the same market place and see how their site look. However be careful:-
  • Find companies that targeting the same market as you. So for example if you are an accountant targeting smaller companies look for websites that target exactly this sector. This means don’t focus on websites by accountants that are working in the corporate sector
  • Look at your business ambitions and how you plan to grow it in the next couple of years. Your website needs to reflect that
  • Some people think about building their own site either from scratch or using Internet based tools. My advice – don’t – it is usually substantially harder than it looks. Instead spend this time trying to build up your business.
  • You will get what you pay for – and this can have disastrous consequences. A low cost website may be just built on a standard template that neither or your web developer can update easily. A site that can’t be updated easily is about as useful as a chocolate teapot !!! (see my previous blog)
  • By paying more for your site you should get the following from your developer:-
    • A site that you can update easily
    • Some considerations about strategy of your website and how it ties with your business
    • Something that can be re-used easily
    • Extensive testing e.g test on different browsers and all the links function correctly
    • Remember above all else – your website is part of your brand. If it is unattractive then that is how you will be perceived by your potential customers.

Getting your website found

It does not matter how people find your website – as long as they do.  I know that it is possible to spend a substantial amount of money on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) there but no guarantee of successful result. Indeed I have heard of companies spending several hundreds on such strategies and not generated any income.

These are some of the ways that I have earned £ 30,000 from my www.simplyspreadsheets.co.uk site:-

1)      I attended networking events regularly and exchanged cards with fellow attendees. My card contained my website address. People would return to their office and then look at my website.  Indeed a number of people commented that my professionally designed site was one of the compelling reasons they chose me.

2)      Helping other people – By helping other businesses find opportunities, people would find me work in return. These people regularly handed out my card to their contacts and promoted my website and services.

Of course, I identified certain people that I would always find work for. These people had three compelling qualities:-

i.      They worked in related professions – e.g a PC repair person, an accountant and Mobile Finance Directors

ii.      They were reliable – if I gave them a referral then they followed up

iii.      They did a good job – and if things went wrong they fixed it

3)      I regularly updated my site – as Google prefers active websites:-

i.      Regularly update the testimonials section of your website

ii.      Add case studies to your website

iii.      If you attend networking events regularly then post details of those events on your site

iv.      Refresh the photos / imagery on the website

v.      Add new pages to your website

4)      Ditch the “hotmail” /”Yahoo” email addresses. Many people use e-mail addresses such as Andrew_0304@yahoo.com – which just promotes “Yahoo”. Instead use an address such as Andrew.James@plumbing-masters.co.uk – this promotes your own domain name “plumbing-masters.co.uk”

5)      Include your site name  www.plumbing-masters.co.uk in your email signature

6)       If you can get some small video testimonials on your site then you will be loved by Google. Video is a channel that is heavily underused by many businesses.

7)      If you are active on twitter then include your website URL in your profile – Most people when they follow somebody on twitter will look at their profile and often click through to the website.

8)      Tweet about a particular page on your site, and use hash tags where appropriate. For example I often send tweets referencing a page on my site :-

If you work in #property then here is how a #Filemaker database can help your business:-

http://www.fingertips-intelligence.co.uk/content.php/Property_Solutions

Or if I wanted to highlight a case study:-

Here’s an example of how a City Recruitment firm benefitted from  my services http://www.fingertips-intelligence.co.uk/case-study.php/City_Recruitment_Firm

However the key thing with is to spend time building up an active number of followers – and getting them to Retweet your tweets. The easiest way of doing is to Retweet their tweets !!!

Welcome back to my blog – about how businesses can get better results from networking.  Although I work in Information Technology I am not a website designer.  In addition, even though I understand the need to get onto the front page of Google, I am very sceptical about paying somebody to do this.

So this blog shares some of my thoughts that I wish that I had known before I engaged a web developer. Note that this isn’t a criticism of web developers (I am very pleased with my new site www.fingertips-intelligence.co.uk). It is just that I wish I had known more about websites etc  when I first started my business.

How easy is it to update your website

This point is probably the most mis-understood when it comes to website design. I used to think that once you had your site built then that was it. There are lot of reasons why your site needs to be easy to update:-

• Firstly if you are interested in getting your website listed by Google, then it is worth remembering that Google prefers active sites. These are sites that are regularly updated. Hence if you cannot update your site, or need to rely on a 3^rd party to update your site then you will miss this opportunity.
• If you are selling things online e.g cars then you need to be able to tell potential visitors about your products.  This means you need to be able to upload photos and write some commentary about them. Likewise when those products are sold you need to be update your site with this information.
• As your business grows, you are likely to offer new services – and you will want to add new pages on your site to advertise these. Hence if you can’t add/remove pages then you won’t be able to do this.
• People are more likely to buy from people / brands that they know. One way of achieving this is by including testimonials on your site.    Again, if you can’t post them easily, then you  miss this valuable marketing opportunity.

Holding Page

Many people whilst they are waiting for their business to start up and whilst getting their site built have a one page holding site. I did this for over a year and it was probably my biggest mistake in business to date. I just had a copy of my logo as my site. I did this for a number of reasons:-

• I was waiting until I had enough Filemaker case studies to show case on my site
• I was unsure about my overall business website /strategy
• Financial considerations played a part

I wish now that I had gone for a low cost wordpress site with a couple of pages that I could have updated myself. There is no doubt that as I am an avid twitter user, that I lost out on credibility due to having just a holding page.  Twitter allows you to have a profile to tell potential followers some information about yourself. So people were clicking on my profile and being directed to my holding page.  If I had invested in a word press site with a couple of blog, a summary of my services and contact details then this would have been adequate.

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation

One of the most common misconceptions is that once you have built a website then you have done everything that you need. However, building a website is only the first step. In fact, the hardest aspect is to ‘promote’ or market your website.  Indeed, there is a whole industry that is devoted to getting your website onto the front page of Google – or even in the top three results.

Studies have shown that if you can’t get onto to the front page of Google then you won’t make money on line. The accepted logic is that by paying an SEO expert they can “optimise” your website and get you onto the front page of the Google. The problem is that the cost of employing somebody to regularly keep you at the top of the Google rankings can easily exceed any income generated by these leads.

So in my next blog I am going to give some thoughts about to get your website found without investing hundreds if not thousands of pounds on SEO.  I would like to state a couple of facts that relate to my own business :-

1)      I have never paid anybody to optimise my website – and currently I have no plans to do so.

2)      My website www.simplyspreadsheets.co.uk made me in excess of £ 30,000 in one year of operation.

3)      Of this about £ 100 came via people typing something similar to “spreadsheet expert London” into the Google search engine box.  The remaining 99.9% came from  networking.

This blog is about something that happened to me last summer. As many of you know, my core businesses are building excel spreadsheets (www.simplyspreadsheet.co.uk) and Filemaker databases (www.fingertips-intelligence.co.uk).  I have built up my business by networking and “word of mouth”.

One evening last July, an unusual event occurred. At a networking event in Weybridge, I ran into another spreadsheet specialist. Following a few minutes of general chit chat, we decided to move on – as we never going to refer work to each other. After all, we were in competition with each other !!

A few weeks later I was introduced to a corporate client. In fact they were a dream client – with a real need for some sophisticated Excel modelling. However there was a catch – I already had a reasonably large workload and could not manage this new client full time.  I was in a real quandary – perfect piece of work but insufficient bandwidth to deliver it.

Then I had a brainwave –  why not get in touch with the person who I met in Weybridge and see if he would work in an alliance with me rather than in competition.  This meant that I could still deliver the work and also honour my existing client commitments.

I went my back to the new client and asked them to consider my approach. I gave clear boundaries on how the work would be divided between us, and also information exchange. The client and my new contact were all happy to be working in such a collaborative fashion.

So I had met somebody who I regarded as competition, and turned it to my advantage with the ability to take on more work. Further, it would mean that my work capacity was now higher than just a one man band.

Hence, when networking, it is worth engaging with your competition and seeing if you can develop a relationship.  I know a number of people who have started to develop their business in thus way. There are lots of potential advantages:-

• Working with others can give you a powerful boost – and keep the pressure on so that you don’t slack
• There can be profitable exchange of ideas between both parties
• You can share each others contacts
• You can allocate tasks to the person who is more suited. For example I know a married couple who ran a shop for several years. One of them had an excellent sales mentality but was not so hot on buying stock. The other was the opposite. The business flourished because the sales person concentrated on selling stock – and the buyer developed long term relationships with their suppliers

Another example would be two people who are experts in social media. One person could be excellent at twitter whilst the other is better at linkedin.  So you offer each of your pooled clients the relevant experts.

However don’t “jump into bed” with the other person straight away. Take time to get to know each other first – your respective style of working and personalities. Fundamentally – do they deliver on their promises  ? Lots of people claim that they can or will do stuff – but actually very few do !!! One thing is for certain is that if your personalities do not “gel” then fairly soon your partnership will run into problems.

I am now getting approached by a number of people who would like to form strategic partnerships with me. I turn all of them down until they actually have seen me work for them.  After all, networking is never about the money – its about the long term relationships.

In the last few years, one of the most common things that I have heard is how important you follow every opportunity up. For example:-

• If somebody gives you a referral then make sure you follow up as soon as possible
• If youare introduced to somebody then make sure you have an initial conversation
• If somebody offers you some help then make sure that you at least explore what is on offer

These points might seem to be common sense, but you would be surprised how often I hear that people have failed to follow up. I know a number of individuals who complain that they don’t get enough return on their investment from networking and they are invariably the ones who fail to follow up.

By failing to follow up, you actually lose on potentially four separate accounts:-

• You will fail to earn any money from the immediate referral
• The person who gave you the referral will probably not give you any more chances
• The person who you would have done the work for may have other people that he can refer you to – and so if you don’t do the initial job then you won’t get the follow on work
• Your reputation of not following up will spread – and other people will not give you work

The Long term effects of Bad / Good Follow Up

I know two marketing people – they are offering the same range of services – within 5 miles of each other.  One is making serious money and has an enviable reputation in his field. The other is probably brighter and presents himself exceptionally well – but his business is struggling. The reason is that the second person has an extremely bad reputation in that he never followed up any opportunity that he was given. Indeed most people don’t even think about him when looking for referrals. Quite simply in the field of networking, reputation spreads – and bad reputation spreads like wildfire.

It can often pay to have a database (even an excel spreadsheet will suffice) to help you with your follow up.  This ensures that you won’t forget.

Following Up on Referrals

When given an opportunity, then you have to be realistic about following up. If the opportunity is to fix a burst pipe then you need to follow up straight away.  However if it is for a new website for somebody then a day or so will be sufficient.   Note that people judge you on your following up skills – especially if they are looking for alternative suppliers. If you are slow to follow up, then they believe you won’t want the business.

Following Up on Introductions

Likewise if you are being introduced to somebody follow up within a couple of days. This week I had a perfect reminder as to why this is absolutely necessary. An old client of mine introduced me to an neighbour of his called Mark – who was also in IT. Looking at his website, he seemed like that I would be the competition and hence he would never refer to me.

Out of politeness to my client, I dropped him a line – stating that I was a Filemaker developer and was he up for a coffee ? He replied stating that he was exceptionally busy and to contact him later in the year. I must admit his response did not exactly please me.

However a few days later, he sent through another e-mail – which did rather surprise me. However he had been asked by one of his contacts if he knew any Filemaker developers. Luckily my e-mail was fresh in his mind and he passed on my details. Just imagine if I hasn’t followed up the introduction then I could have missed a perfectly good opportunity.

 Following Up on Ideas

Actually this is probably the hardest one to follow up on. You can spend your whole day talking to people and coming up with ideas. It is very easy to come up with ideas – but the more time you spend discussing them, the less time you have to implement them.

Also when somebody gives you an idea, are they doing it for themselves rather than to benefit you ? Over the years I had a number of people who have said that I should get into particular technologies – often it was because it suited them.  I felt (and generally I think I am right) it is better to focus on one avenue rather than having several projects on the go.

Sometimes the idea might be great but the timing not perfect. A number of people suggested to me that I should move from spreadsheets into Filemaker solutions. However, I was focused on growing my first venture www.simplyspreadsheets.co.uk. It took me a couple of years to see how by switching to databases and Filemaker that I could grow my business even further.

One of the greatest marketing tools is a good testimonial from a client – stating that you have a good job. However I have noticed how people have not fully exploited the power of a testimonial. So in this excerpt, I am going to be sharing some thoughts.

Testimonials are a great way of establishing credibility and getting people to notice you. This is important if you have recently joined a networking group – and people are either unsure of you or your service.  I remember when I first joined my BNI (Business Networking International) Chapter and told them about my spreadsheet business (www.simplyspreadsheets.co.uk). A lot of people were very sceptical about what I claimed – that I could save them hours in processing their administration – especially invoicing.

However, the Regional Director ran a Courier firm and never looked forward to his fortnightly invoicing run as it took him 6 hours to achieve.  On hearing of my services, he summoned me to his office and explained his problem. Needless to say when the process was reduced to just 5 minutes, he was over the moon.

He then gave me a glowing testimonial that highlighted the time I saved him and also how I had eliminated a lot of stress from his life.  Of course when 30 people heard this, they immediately understood what I did and set out finding more referrals.

A good testimonial should state :-

• What you did for your client
• The  benefits that you bought about
• Any personal touches that you delivered e.g always returned phone calls etc.

I heard about a bathroom fitter who once got a job because he was the only person to remove his boots upon entering the premises – it was mentioned in the testimonial. He was not the cheapest quote but got the job on the basis of this personal touch.

Ever thought of putting them on your business card ?

I often used to have problems telling people how businesses would benefit from my services.  They simply did not understand what I offered.  All that changed when I started putting testimonials on my business card. A local graphic designer produced an expanding card with 4 sections – each containing a testimonial from a key client. This helped further when I went networking as people recognised my clients and immediately looked more favourably on me.

And you can put them on your website

It might seem rather obvious to put testimonials on your website – but here a few thoughts. Firstly are you absolutely sure that you want to have more of the same type of business ?  People will respond to whatever you advertise.  If you don’t want more of the same type of business – don’t put those testimonials on your website.

It is everybody’s dream to appear on the first page of Google and these days it is becoming more challenging to achieve this. However Google promotes websites that are active. Hence instead of posting all your testimonials in one go, spend time every other week updating the testimonials on your website. As you are updating your site regularly, the Google spider will acknowledge this and push your site up the rankings.

However think about your website – the chances are that is more than one page. Hence think where people “land” onto your site and place testimonials on these pages. One of the best testimonials I ever received was from a chap called Peter Thanni who worked for KPMG in their auditors department. As it was so good, I put it on my home page – so that it catches the eye of anybody visiting my site.

LinkedIn

The business networking site www.linkedin.com is a great place to collect testimonials. I often request a testimonial for this and then use it elsewhere such as on my website.  Sometimes, although people agree to giving testimonials they often fail to deliver as they are busy. One way around this is to write the testimonial yourself and then email it over to the person given the testimonial.  All they need to do is to copy and paste your excerpt into linkedin.

However remember  :-

• When giving testimonials, refrain from “back-slapping” – i.e if you give somebody a testimonial don’t ask for one back straight away.
• Remember that linkedin is a professional networking site – hence seek testimonials from people who you have actually worked for rather than because they were your best friend in primary school

Twitter

With a bit of thought you can summarise testimonials into a few words and use them on twitter. I remember I put a tweet out stating that I once saved an Australian 4 days a month by automating his reporting and it earned him beer time – which was retweeted several times.

However you could go a step further and include a link back to your website which contains the full case study relating to the testimonial. The case study will of course include the original testimonial. This is one way of using twitter to drive traffic back to site.

If I was to ask most networkers the most challenging part of networking, I think the answer would be doing their first ever 60 seconds. In many networking groups everybody is given 60 seconds to stand up and talk about their business.

The idea of presenting to strangers terrifies people. Even people who used to work in corporate backgrounds (who would have been used to engaging with very senior stakeholders) have found the idea of presenting to complete strangers nerve racking.

Now one thing that you should bear in mind is that I have a cleft palatte and hair lip. This has resulted in a slight speech impediment  – meaning that presenting to strangers is also uncomfortable for me.

However having done it for a few years now, I’d like to share a few thoughts. Firstly I know some people fear the idea of talking to a room full of strangers so much that they simply don’t do it – they just sit out. But I think that they are not seeing the whole picture:-

• I agree it can be very intimidating walking into a room where everybody is so confident with their presentation. However, I suspect the reason why they are so confident is that they have done it regularly for so long.  Also although they appear confident, I wonder if many people are still very nervous underneath
• People can only find you referrals if they know what you are looking for. Hence if you don’t do a 60 second pitch then people won’t be able to find you referrals
• You might think that going around the room and talking to people is easier – perhaps but it is also less efficient. If you have 30 people that is 30 minutes you need to talk for instead of just of one minute.
• By doing your 60 seconds on a regular basis, you will gradually become more confident at it and this will help you in other ways. For example handling that awkward customer who never pays on time !!

In many networking groups there is a competition for the person giving the best 60 seconds.  There is often a winners’ cup that you keep for a week. Because of my speech impediment I used to resign myself never winning this. However, my competitive side soon came to the fore and I decided to focus on trying to win the cup.  Although it took a few months, I did go through a phase where I won the cup on a regular basis.  The things that helped me win were:-

• Contemplate – I used to put a lot of thought during the week between events about what I could talk about the following week.  In other words – don’t “wing it !”
• Practise – It may be a cliché but practising made it perfect. I used to practise in the car during the week between meetings. Of course I used to practise in the car on the way to the meeting.
• Being specific – By mentioning “Filemaker” and Excel rather than just a generic  “databases” I received  better referrals.
•  Having a prop – this gives you a great example to showcase your work e.g if you are a wedding photographer you can show pictures.  In my case I once brought along an abacus – saying that it was the world’s oldest database. I threw it on the floor to demonstrate that it was very robust – and say that my solutions were equally robust

Most people I know go networking for one ultimate reason – to get referrals for their business. Note that a referral is not a guaranteed sale – it is an introduction to somebody who may have need of your services. So in order to achieve your sales, you need to maximise the number of referrals you  receive initially. So here are some tips that will help you get better referrals:-

• Network in the right places – Not all networking groups are the same. If you are trying to connect with corporates in the City then  a business group focusing on the local high street would not be relevant

• Finding related professions – If you can find related professions then they should provide you with a steady stream of referrals. For example if you are a plumber then associated professions could be a gas safety engineer, a builder, an electrican etc. As I know that my best referrals come from accountants, business coaches and IT support companies, I am always looking for them.

• What do you actually do This might seem obvious e.g a cleaner just “cleans” – but if you focus on what benefits you deliver than your service you could get better referrals. In the case of the cleaner, this could be “clean using standards that have been proven to eliminate MRSA from hospitals” (assuming that this is true).

Similarly my business is building spreadsheets and databases. However, I actually help companies by saving them reducing processing time from days to minutes – and when companies see the benefits I get the referrals

• What do other people think you do It is actually quite surprising what people perceive you do. Most people I know aren’t aware of the benefits of the systems that I offer. Hence, I spend a lot of time getting feedback from people on my services. Likewise ask people what they believe you do and what benefits they believe you deliver.

•  Showcase your work – Although people know what you do, it is actually when they seen examples of your work that they get more of an understanding.  So if you are a photographer  you should show people examples of your photographs e.g on your website, or carry around a small portfolio of your work. This also applies to trade professions as well e.g if you a builder take regular photos of your projects as they progress – especially if they show that you are clean and tidy in your work.

•  Offer related services Is there a related service that you can offer clients that offers additional benefits ? For example if you run a computer repair business, can you offer remote back up services that automatically back up clients data ? Since I added databases to my portfolio, I have opened up a whole new offering to clients who were previously confined to using spreadsheets.

Last week I met up with Steve Lawrence who runs a specialist cleaning business called “Dry and Clean” based in Hampton, Middlesex.  www.dryandclean.co.uk I have known Steve for a couple of years through  BNI (Business Networking International).  I knew that Steve made a substantial amount of his business through networking. However I was keen to learn more on how he turned “networking” into money. In under an hour, several key things became apparent:-

Take networking seriously.

Steve mentioned on more than one occasion that he regarded networking a core aspect of his business. He attended events regularly and has got to know the people in his network. This has helped him understand other people’s business and which helped him find referrals for others. It also meant that they understood his business and they found him referrals.

Collect Testimonials

Steve understood that testimonials were a powerful marketing tool and he ensured that he collected and published them.  Examples of where he made use of testimonials included :-

• On his website
• On other 3^rd party websites where he advertised his services
• On leaflets advertising his services

Knowing where to advertise

Steve knows that he needs to target local businesses and consumers (both B2B and B2C). He realises that he needs to reach them effectively without incurring excessive cost. Hence he has signed up for “BestOfRichmond” that helps him reach these people. The site also allows him to post his testimonials – which further boosts his credibility.

Learn the art of collaboration

He  said that one of the best ongoing jobs came through another cleaning firm in the area. They understood that he provided services that they did not – in the area of upholstery. Steve was more than willing to wear their “uniform” and provide his services under their banner.

Letting it grow

Steve has been networking for three years with his business.  Many of his customers start out with small jobs then as trust develops, ask him back for larger jobs and also refer to other people. The overall effect is that his turnover from networking as increased dramatically by word of mouth in the last few years.

I have been networking over 3 years and in that time I have met a large number of businesses – many of whom I have referred to potential new customers. However if you were to ask me which person in my network I could refer   with confidence above all else that would be easy. It is Tony and Claire O’Connell of Richmond Energy and Telecoms http://www.richmondenergyandtelecoms.co.uk.

Tony and Claire’s company provides an energy supply review for businesses. In simplest terms, they look at how much your company is spending on energy (gas, electric and telecoms) and see if they can find you an alternative but cheaper supplier. The service is free and business owners are no obligation to take up the recommendation.

I met Tony a few years ago through the networking group BNI (Business Networking International). He came across as a down to earth guy – very approachable with a great sense of humour. I introduced him  to my local Italian restaurant and he helped them save over £ 1,000 in the first year alone on their gas bill.

Following this, I gave Tony a steady stream of referrals to a number of restaurants in Kingston -and South West London area. So why is Tony is so easy to refer ?

• I understand his service  – It is very easy to explain to businesses the benefits of Tony and Claire’s service. Likewise with my own business I have made sure that people understand my service – I help companies with the spreadsheets and databases. Are you sure that potential customers know what services you are offering ?
• It is free – Tony and Claire are lucky that their service is free to potential customers (they earn their money from the energy providers). Of course we can’t all do this – but is there a way that potential customers can receive part of your service as a taster ? For example my website www.simplyspreadsheets.co.uk contains a free management tool download – which gives them an  example of my spreadsheet and database skills
• I know where to find him potential customers Having found him one restaurant, it was not rocket science to find him several other restaurants !!! Do you know who your customers are and have you told people this
• Reliability – Really this ought to be first – I know that if I give Tony or Claire a referral that they will follow up without fail. I have met a number of other businesses that offer similar services to them and NONE of them are remotely as reliable as them. If I have gone out of my way to find you a referral then the least you can do is to contact the person I have referred you to
• Excellent Communication Skills – When contacting people that I have introduced them to, they are very considerate in their timings (they don’t phone during times that are likely to busy e.g lunch or evening). I have heard of people make calls at ridiculous times such as 9.30 p.m   - When contacting people what consideration do you give to how busy they might be ?
• Systematic Follow Up  Tony and Claire don’t always manage to contact people first time and often potential customers  are locked in with other suppliers initially. Hence, they make a note of when they have contacted people and have an alert system to contact them in future. What systems do you have in place to follow up with people ?

So if you want me or anybody else to refer you – it is always worth looking at the points above and seeing if you can improve on these areas