There are lots of ways to grow your sales but one that many on our sales team have found to be effective is the small network group. While there are many large networking groups out there that are great sources of new business, such as BNI, local chambers of commerce, Rotaries and more, our account managers have found that smaller, more intimate groups work well too. Finding the right mix of people and meeting regularly is the key. It’s not just about sharing leads. In a networking group you can learn tricks and helpful ideas from other seasoned sales reps.
At Unified, we have two meeting rooms, and we make those rooms available to our customers if they need a place to congregate outside of their offices. We are glad to offer this service free of charge to all of our customers.
Our small conference room is booked every Wednesday morning by Brian Goul’s B2B Networking Group. The success of this group is due in large part to the members and the industries they represent. Finding complimentary businesses to network with may not be easy, but once established, the leads can pour in. Brian’s group is comprised of companies that complement each other well. There is a marketing company, an IT company and a carrier consultant.
According to Angie Sullivan, Account Manager at Allegra Marketing Services:
“Working with trusted partners is essential in any business. When I can get a warm introduction to a prospective client, it can make the difference between getting a meeting, and getting the run around. Working with this group has given me the ability to call a prospect with confidence knowing that the groundwork has already been laid, and the chance of setting a meeting is greatly increased.”
“Brian runs a great B2B Networking meeting making efficient use of our time and also has done a great job of bringing in complementary members to the group.” –Coleman Groves, Systems Consultant, Information Systems Consulting of Kentucky
“I joined Brian Goul at Unified Technologies a few months ago. I find the meetings to be very valuable from both sharing customer relationships as well as how we market to our respective target markets. I have already acquired new ways in which to resource potential clients by extracting certain data bases that I was unaware of. The individuals in our group and the services and products they sell can benefit both my current and potential clients”. –Corky Webb, Vice President of Sales, SinglePoint Solutions, Inc
We formed our B2B Networking group about a year ago to help some of our partners and customers, namely Allegra, SinglePoint and ISC, expand their business. This has been extremely successful and a couple of things that stand out about our group are:
1) We have built trust within the group and we all have similar goals in how we build client relationships
2) This is a very tenured group of professionals, each with over 15 years of experience in their respective industries.
A warm introduction to a potential client from trusted partners is a win-win for everyone!
