Not long ago I engaged a fellow professional networker in conversation---someone I'd never met before.  The conversation instantly fell apart, and the "why" should be of concern to everyone who interacts with a prospective customer.

My opening gambit was to ask for a business card and the statement that I was interested in the pertinent service on behalf of someone else I knew.  And I stated a specific reason for the interest.

I expected follow-up questions from the service provider so that more insight in my interest could be gained.  To my utter surprise, the person refuted my reason and began a lecture -- with statistics -- to buttress the refutation. 

A better way to have handled this was for the person to validate me and understand my perspective, and to reinforce that with additional ways to use the service.  After all, I was a hot lead.  Who cares why I might want to buy unless I was absolutely a poor fit.  Which I wasn't. 

As one would expect, I disengaged from this unproductive discussion and scratched this provider from my hot list.  I'm not going to do business with someone who fundamentally disrespected me.

Bottom Line:  When a prospect reaches out, every effort should be made to welcome and validate that prospect.  After that, take time to better understand the prospect's needs and share ideas for making the prospect's experience the best it can be. 

LinkedIn Can Help, If Used Well

I periodically hear talk in "solopreneur" circles about LinkedIn as a marketing tool.   This particular tool seems to have equal shares of advocates and detractors.  The latter crowd often seem to be populated with those who have had exposure to LinkedIn and didn't get the results they wanted.

LinkedIn is a great tool.  But it is a specialized tool.  Many detractors think it is a venue for sales, and that is exactly what it is not!  Nor is it an especially good way to generate B2C activity (i.e. Business-to-Consumers).

What LinkedIn does pretty well is idea-sharing.  And that comes from the theory that a good way to feed a network is to share ideas, concerns, and solutions.  I have regulars who post multiple items every day.  That may be a bit on the high side, but it is not off the mark by much.  By posting these easily digestible nuggets a solopreneur, or any other businessperson, can establish expertise, authority and most importantly that reminder that you are there, helping people with their challenges.

My principal concern for those posters I see most often is that they over-do "sharing": If articles or other writings are shared, at least do so with a context.  And for heaven's sake, limit those shared Internet memes!

Bottom line: Are you ready to put LinkedIn to work for your business?  Build that network, make appropriate connections, and regularly share valuable content.  You can plant seeds that grow in wonderful ways!

Chambers of Commerce: Not All The Same

I haven't talked very much about networking as a marketing tactic, but after this week I may need to reconsider!  For this week I was engaged in a networking conversation with a new business owner and a more experienced one and the subject of Chambers of Commerce arose.  Both the longer term business person and I had some experience with these entities, and our thoughts were amazingly parallel:

First, Chambers of Commerce have very different personalities.  One, in a given municipality may be relatively friendly to small business.  Another may be relatively unfriendly.

Second, Not every Chamber offers equally effective programs for small business networking.  One we have in these parts offers monthly get-togethers but I found them to be all about food and drink and entirely absent "shop talk".  Contrariwise, not all offer expos or B2B exposure events.

Third, Chambers price themselves in very different ways, and as a result many are incredibly expensive for very small businesses.  Be wary!  an entire ROI evaluation is needed to establish whether even "inexpensive" ones offer a good return.

Bottom line: use Chambers of Commerce with care, and take advantage of visitor or guest opportunities to size up friendliness, program strength and quality, and return on investment.  Talk about them with peers who may be able to share all of the pros and cons.  CofC is not for every small business, but there may be the right one for the right small business.