NETWORKING CHALLENGE-JUST DO IT!

The way of the world is meeting people through other people.— Robert Kerrigan. Thought this little quote was a great reminder to make sure you do a one-on-one meeting with another lady from WIN before our next meeting on August 20th! Can't stress how important these meetings are to growing your referral network and business relationships. So, if you have not scheduled a one-on-one meeting since the last WIN meeting, here's your motivational blog post to do so! Then, remember to to take a pic and share your meeting with us on the WIN Facebook page! 
The truth is it's hard to refer others in a group, and hard for them to refer you until you get to know one another! One-on-one meetings help facilitate real relationships, confidence and one’s interest and willingness to be a proactive referral partner.   It’s amazing how often I meet with someone and after talking with them realize there are people we can introduce one another to that may need their services, but I simply had not been pressed to think and make that connection for them.  Being top of mind, doesn’t happen without personal one-on-one meetings.  To really see the benefits of networking, you should want to give and get referrals.   Make it a HABIT to do a one-on-one at least once a month with someone from WIN.  If you can do more than one well then that's even better!
 How to Get the Most from Your One-on-One’s.
1. After every regular WIN luncheon make it a HABIT to get the card of at least one person you feel might be an ideal referral partner for you and within 24 hours of the WIN meeting contact them to set up a one-on-one for coffee or lunch.
2. When you meet really look to learn about the person, the services they offer and what makes them  unique! Attack the meeting by really trying to listen and learn about the other person.  Have a genuine desire to HELP them, and as you do, you will start to think of people you know that might be great customers for them.
3. Try to generate a referral at the meeting.  The goal should be for you to generate a referral for the person you are meeting with. As you listen to your referral partner, think about who you know that might need their services or that would be a great contact for them. During your meeting, I'm confident you will uncover opportunities to help each other.
4.  Don't forget to discuss what the two of you do to market your business. This is a subject that is often overlooked, yet can be a really great connection.  If you are complimentary referral partners (those with similar target markets), discuss what the two of you do from a marketing standpoint. There are often co-op marketing opportunities where you can get greater exposure and reduce your marketing costs. For example, perhaps you both have an email newsletter you send out, why not promote each other in it, or maybe you are doing a seminar or local flyer, why not team up and increase your marketing synergy and exposure while reducing your cost.
5. Don't forget to discuss how you might proactively introduce one another to clients. For example, if you are a graphic designer you might look for others that specialize in working with start up businesses like accountants, lawyers, printers, etc.  You might talk about a strategy to hand out each others business cards to clients, or you might want to create co-op marketing piece you can both distribute and share the costs of. Look for ways to proactively introduce your ideal referral partners to your clients. Remember the best referral partners compliment what you do, so when you pass their information to your clients, you are helping your clients with something complimentary to what you do and it becomes a natural and easy thing to do!  Not everyone that comes to a WIN meeting will be a complimentary referral partner, but we suggest trying to find one at each monthly meeting.  We think you will be amazed with the results if you do this!  So, we are ending this post with a challenge to all you WONDERFUL WIN ladies...do a one-on-one and then tell us how it worked for you when you followed some of the ideas above!
Happy Networking!
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