You will get no business if people don’t:
- Hear what you do
- Like you
- Remember you
Maybe these are obvious points, but I’ve recently noticed a number of business owners that seem to not know them (or perhaps don’t want any business).
The sequence is important too. It’s no good having lots of people remember you, if they don’t like you and don’t hear what you do. This is true in networking as well as advertising (I can still remember TV adverts with strange pictures and stories, but don’t know what they’re for).
In business there are many contexts in which these points work, from advertising through social media to face to face networking. The technology or delivery mechanism isn’t important, being heard, liked and remembered are.
“Hear what you do”
If you’re meeting people, look up when you’re presenting your company name and be proud of your company and what you do. At a meeting recently I met a couple of people who looked down whilst introducing themselves, it doesn’t give a good impression! What really didn’t help is that when talking to them they didn’t seem proud of what they do. Being able to give a clear statement of what you do and being proud (not arrogant) is important if you want people to give you business or pass referrals to you.
“Like you”
There are many obvious points that apply here; one that turns most people off somebody is “on transmit only”, they continually talk and tell people about themselves and have no interest in others. This can often happen in networking meetings. I’ve also seen a lot of it on Twitter recently; one example being when I followed somebody to get an automated direct message straight back which was selling their services and telling me their website. I unfollowed immediately (I had checked their website before following and don’t want to be hounded into buying things by people I don’t really know.
People are more likely to like you if they engage with you; give them a chance to, rather than bombarding them.
“Remember you”
This doesn’t mean that you always have to be cracking jokes and making people laugh; there are many things that you can do to be remembered. Asking questions about their business, showing an interest and helping others are all good tactics; these can apply in face to face or electronic networking.
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Having a clear message when networking is important, don’t tell them everything you do, not at first (is this like going on a first date?). Telling somebody too much at once will confuse them, not help them remember.
Another tactic that can work well here in face to face networking is to tell a short story; perhaps about some work you’ve done recently, a contract you’ve won or another business success you’ve had. Telling a story demonstrates abilities far more than just saying what you could do; stories also seem to get listened to and remembered more.
Underneath all the technology, or structured groups like BNI we are all people; nothing (hopefully) will ever change that and as people these three simple truths still stand out.
It’s really hard to get business if people don’t:
- Hear what you do
- Like you
- Remember you
Have fun and go tell a story 
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