Читать книгу Knockout Networking for Financial Advisors and Other Sales Producers - Michael Goldberg - Страница 9

The Wall Street Journal has stated that over 90 percent of all new business comes through networking. This shouldn't be a surprise. But what is a surprise to me is how many financial advisors (and other producers) don't take the time and make the investment to become better at networking. Think of how many more lives would be protected through life insurance, how many more working people could retire because of sound financial planning, and how many more seniors could rest easier knowing they have a good long‐term care policy in place.

That's just in financial services. If you're a sales producer in another industry, think about the problems you could help people solve and the value you can add to their lives.

Imagine how many more clients you could help if you could simply connect with more of the right people and discuss how you can add more value to their lives, not to mention yours.

Networking is the key!

What is networking? Networking is simply a proactive approach (although in some cases it could be reactive) to meeting people to learn and potentially help them. That's it – learning and helping.

The networking process involves face‐to‐face interaction but these days “connecting” is often started by a connection on LinkedIn or some other social media platform. But those online connections have to result in offline conversations: a Zoom or Skype meeting, phone call, or face‐to‐face meeting (in the same room) for real connections to happen and for trust to be established.

If networking is so important, why do so many sales professionals, business owners, and job searchers avoid it or not spend the time to get better at it? Well, networking requires work. Heck, the word “work” is right in the word “network.” Not everyone is willing to put in the work to develop their network.

Many sales producers, and especially financial advisors, simply don't know where to start:

What should I be saying? Who should I be meeting? Where should I be going? Why am I doing this? Where am I? How do I know I'm making progress?

Then there's the fear factor or what‐if factor:

What if I meet someone I don't like? What if they don't like me? What if I run out of things to talk about? What if I need to start a conversation with a total stranger? What if I forget the name of the person I've been speaking with for twenty minutes? What if I forget my own name? What if I say something stupid? What if I don't know the answer? What if I don't know the question? What if I need to end the conversation and they won't stop talking to me? What if they try to sell me their product or service?

Have no fear. I wrote this book for you!

I understand that networking can seem daunting to both the new sales producer as well as the grizzled veteran. I get it. I was there once. Alone. Not knowing what to say and why I was even at an event. I was more focused on watching the time slowly go by rather than figuring out how to talk to people, learn, help, and have some fun talking about our respective businesses.

But you don't have to be an extrovert to be successful at networking!

By dedicating myself to learn about networking and how to master “making the connection,” I have managed to become an educator and professional speaker on the subject. Since July of 2000, I've been running a sales and training firm and have been hired to speak, train, coach, and consult with top broker dealers, Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firms, asset management companies, banks, private equity firms, and hedge funds.

Also, companies in software, hardware, real estate, hospitality, and even universities have hired me to help their people develop their networking skills to achieve a goal.

Yes, achieving a goal – isn't that what the whole thing is about? Making the sale! Landing the job! Getting the girl (or boy)! Winning the fight! You can do all of this by making the connection.

In fact, I believe you can achieve almost anything by networking. As long as you're clear on what your goal is, you can almost always figure out where you should be going, what you should be saying, and with whom.

Here's the reality. Most people in sales take networking for granted. They don't realize what a powerful business tool it can be when done correctly. Networking is not about asking for business or pitching your product or service. It's about building, establishing, and maintaining positive (and fun!) relationships.

Then there are those who understand that networking is important but aren't sure how to do it properly. Or think they're doing it properly but aren't getting the results they're looking for, or are getting no results at all.

I have written this book for the people in both of those camps.

In addition to my speaking and consulting work, I've been teaching a public speaking class as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University for many years. I have shared many of my networking ideas and approaches with thousands of students to help them land internships and jobs. It brings tears to my eyes every time a student shares a success story with me based on their networking.

In fact, I've been teaching so long that many of my former students have gone on to have great careers. Some have tracked me down on LinkedIn and have had their companies hire me to speak and train their sales teams. How cool is that?

Yes, I live and breathe this stuff!