Creating a solid networking strategy can play a large role in increasing the sales of your business. But not all prospects are created equally. Some are more likely than others to use your service, depending on how they “match up” with your area of expertise.

If you specialize in first-time homebuyers, then meeting an older married couple is probably going to do less for your business than networking with someone right out of school. The older couple might have kids you could talk to, but you’d probably be better off going straight for the younger set.

So today I’m going to give you three easy questions to help increase your sales by meeting the “right” people.

Who do you want to meet?

If I asked you to describe your ideal client, what would you say? Would that client be a male or a female? Single or married? Younger or older?

Without a networking strategy, most people would just jump in their car and start “working the room” at the closest event they could find – with predictable results. They meet seven or eight people, hand out their cards to a couple more, and then on the drive home wonder why they didn’t get any prospects.

However when you’re networking like a pro, you take those questions into account before you sign up for the event, and pass on those functions who don’t have a high likelihood of putting you in front of your ideal prospect.

Where are your ideal prospects most likely to be?

Let’s say you specialize in selling to first-time homebuyers. Your ideal prospect would probably be a white collar professional, between the ages of 24-30, and possibly even recently married. Those individuals are most likely to be at young professionals organizations (DC Society of Young Professionals for those of you in Washington, and the Young Bucks for those of you in Atlanta).

Now if first-time homebuyers isn’t your thing, you’re looking for an older, more established prospect. Then I’d recommend becoming involved with your local area service clubs. The Kiwanis Clubs I’ve found to have a little more “older” (read: retired) crowd than the Rotary Clubs, but that’s completely up to you…depending on who you want to meet.

If you’re focusing in a specific geographic area, say the suburbs VS. downtown, then networking at events that are physically in that area would be a great first step towards meeting your ideal prospect.

You see, it doesn’t make a different who your ideal prospect is, just as long as your spending a majority of your networking time in places where you’re most likely to meet them.

How can you get to events where your ideal prospects are most likely to be?

Well, we’re already talked about a few spots where you can start depending on who you’re trying to meet. If those don’t fit your fancy, then I’d recommend taking a look at a referral group.

Commonly referred to as “leads” groups, these meetings usually meet once a week with the sole objective of passing out potential prospects to it’s members. If Jim is an IT consultant who runs into someone looking to buy a home, then he would get that person’s information and pass it along to you during the weekly meeting, and of course you would do the same for him.

This is a great way to get the word out through several members of your referral team, and can be a highly effective way for increasing your business. Personally I like the folks over at BNI here in Atlanta, but there’s plenty of groups from which to choose.

Another option would be to attend conferences or association meetings of your target audience. This would be particularly good if you’re focusing on the commercial side or investment customer.

Any way you cut it, developing a rock-solid networking strategy can have you meeting the right people and increase your sales success!

Published: May 21, 2004

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As a popular speaker and author of the resource How to Get More Business in Today's Tough Market, Brian specializes in helping busy agents get more leads and close more deals - even in a market as "challenging" as this. For a free report on 2 Easy Ways to Get More Business in Today's Tough Market, just email my office and we'll send it right over.