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18 | Kitchen & Bath Design News | May 2015 Successful Selling { Bryan Reiss, CMKBD } A s salespeople, we are always busy with our existing cli- ents, managing the leads and striving to develop new business opportunities. One way to develop new opportunities is through the use of an age-old practice called network - ing. Mastering the art of networking is one of the best ways to grow your business. If you can master the art of net - working and ultimately reap the benefts from a great referral, you will certainly be adding new busi- ness opportunities, which leads to increased sales and more dollars added to your company's bottom line. The networking process starts with some direct interaction with the prospect, then hopefully the refer- ral, and then the cross referral. This process must become cyclical, and is vital to the continued growth of the relationship. To sustain this ongoing relation- ship for a good length of time, it's crucial to keep that referral/cross re- ferral wheel turning. When it comes to networking, new opportunities present themselves at random times; other times you must seek them out. It could be someone you know that you run into at the grocery store, or it could be a business networking event that you have plans to attend. Regardless of the type of setting, though, networking opportunities have similarities in how the interac- tions should be handled. RANDOM NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES Sometimes you just don't know when a networking opportunity will pres- ent itself, but you should always be ready to seize the opportunity. For example, my wife and I were out for dinner recently and we were wait- ing in the front of the restaurant for our table to become available. In walked a couple who had a reservation after us, and they ended up waiting next to us. The restaurant was quite busy, so we began to talk with this couple. It turned out she was a real estate agent and her husband was a software ex- ecutive. Networking opportunity? Let's fnd out. In this type of situation, be it out and about for dinner or at a business networking event, I would handle it very similarly. I want to try to develop a quick relationship and not talk too much about what I do or products/ services I sell in the beginning of our conversation. I try to ask most of the questions and do a lot of listening. So I started our conversation with my usual frst question: Are you from here originally? In our town, it seems like very few people you encounter are from here originally anymore, with the very large infux of new peo- ple moving in from out of state to our area. This line of questioning helps me determine a few things, and will impact the questions I may ask next. First, it opens up the dialogue and helps develop the relationship I'm try- ing to build. Second, if they are new to town, I can ask if they just moved or if they are building a new house, buying an existing house that might need renovations, etc.? This opens up a wide array of questions that could lead to future business. If they are from our town and have lived here for some time, they should have put down some roots, made some good friends and most likely have other great resources for possible referrals or other future opportunities. My next question is, "What do you do?" I talked a bit about her real estate career and waited for her to ask what I do. I usually try to get the other person to ask me what it is I do, but if they don't, I will typically tell them and give a 10-second de- scription of what it is I actually do. People will usually ask me a ques- tion or two and I'm happy to respond, but I'm really looking to redirect the questioning back their way. My next question will usually be, "Are you working on anything exciting now?" I ask this question to everyone I'm networking with. I don't care if they are car salesmen, brokers, software developers, builders, etc. People want to talk about things that excite them, and talk even more about things they are proud of. Again, this line of questions opens up all other kinds of possible lines of questions that you can direct and use as possible busi- ness opportunities. Christine, the real estate agent, mentioned she'd just signed on with a developer who had 40 lots and was developing a new custom-home neighborhood; she and her partner were brokers in charge of the market- ing/sales for all of the properties. An opportunity has arisen! In this case, I always try to think if I have someone that I'm working with or know who might beneft from me connecting them to this new lead. If you can pro- vide a referral for them, they will be more interested in providing you a referral in return. I had a client who was interested in building a spec house in that price point and demographic, and said I would set up a meeting between them to see if the new development could be a ft for my client. Then I asked if they or the developer had settled on a cabinet supplier…and they had not. Bingo. Our table was then ready, just as it was getting good. We exchanged business cards and set up a meeting to get together with the developer for the following week. Regardless of where you are when you're networking, common sense (and some guidance from the childhood lessons learned from our parents) tells us to look the person in the eye as you are speaking to them. I'll also lean in a bit or tilt my head as though I am fully engaged in what the other person is saying. This will instill confdence in the person you're speaking with that they have your full attention, which will make them feel more comfortable talking to you and more apt to chat with you longer and in greater detail. I will also try to use their frst name mixed into our conversation two or three times. People tend to feel a little more im- portant when they hear their name used during a conversation – plus, I have a terrible time remembering people's names, so using their name in conversation helps me later with remembering them, what they do and how we met. DELIBERATE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES I'm a firm believer that to have continued referrals from your net- working sources, you have to supply them cross referrals as well. This is Boosting Referrals Through Networking Mastering the art of networking is one of the best ways to grow your business and gain referrals. Read past columns and features and send us your comments about this article and others by logging onto our Web site: ForResidentialPros.com "To have continued referrals from your networking sources, you have to supply them cross referrals as well."