What’s your Objective?
To move people forward to the next step!
In some cases, the next step may be for them to attend the Hub when they believe they are able (there’s nothing better on TV!) – that’s OK – you are looking to partner with those who want more.
The main thing you want to ensure is that they understand the value of building a network on the one hand and the commitment required to do so on the other.
You will often only have 15 minutes available for this conversation as you will need to sit with another person immediately after this 15-minute session has finished.
Which means, it’s important to keep the conversation on track.
Ultimately you are looking for someone who is prepared to consistently put ‘fingers to keyboard’
Good questions to ask upfront:
- Have you had a chance to view Video-1?
- If they haven’t viewed Video-1, it may be because they have already made up their mind to go to the next step
- In which case, if they are ready to go to the next step, send them Video-2 and explain why it is also important that they do view Video-1 – because
- They will need to send it out to the people they bring to the Hub (it’s an important part of the system that needs to be duplicated)
- If they have viewed video-1, ask: What did you get from the video?
- In which case, if they are ready to go to the next step, send them Video-2 and explain why it is also important that they do view Video-1 – because
- Have you had a chance to look at the website?
Then: Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?
Often the response to this will be something like:
So far I like what I’ve seen and I’m keen to know about how it works
In which case say something like:
Terrific, obviously network building is important for you!
Is there any particular reason you see network building as being so important?
If on the other hand, they start to lead the conversation off track
or they start asking very detailed questions that can only be answered by taking a trial say:
That’s a really great question, before answering, I wonder if you could answer something for me….. OR
That’s a really great question and I think the best way for me to answer it is by painting a bit of a picture about how the process works
How Important would you say it is for you to build your network?
You may have already asked this question at the end of the Hub.
However, one way or another it is important to cover this question again early in your 1-on-1 catch-up.
At the Hub, you were saying it is important for you to build your network.
I’d love to know why you see that as being so important?
Remember, the more important the person you are sitting with realises it is to build their network, the more willing they are to overcome any obstacles they may perceive.
Cast vision as you give a brief overview of our unique process
As you briefly describe our network building process, cast the vision of the inevitable results that flow from network building.
Remember, people follow people with passion!
The more clearly you can express the following, the more easily people will get excited about what is possible for them.
Your conversation may be something like:
- In most networking environments people only invite people they have already met
- We also invite people we have conversed with on LinkedIn but have not yet met in person
- Our goal is to help these people meet others who may be great contacts for them and
- To see if they are interested in building relationships before focusing on transactions
- Before arriving, our guests know we have nothing to sell them
- We are there to help them meet others and show how we uniquely build networks
- We are doing them a favour because just amassing more digital connections usually does not result in Know, Like & Trust relationships
- We have a systemised process which makes it easy to bring 2 new people along to the Hub every week
- In the early days when we did things manually, it would take more than 2 hours of ‘fingers to keyboard’ per day to have 2 people attend the Hub each week.
- Thanks to our NBS (Network Building System), the time has been reduced to around half an hour a day.
- If appropriate (if they are eager to learn) and time permits, give them a brief overview of the power of using a systemised approach as follows
- We help you align your profile to be consistent with Network Building.
- We also teach you how to do Boolean searches on Linkedin to identify the best quality people to invite
- Then we help you develop personalised messages to send
- Then we have a way for you to easily track your activity vs results so we know if you are on track
- Every week you will have a brief session with a coach who will progressively show you what to do and will help you work out who are the best people to introduce your new attendees to at the Hub.
- At the Hub, we focus on connecting with our new guests rather than repeat attendees
- However, our main goal is actually to build long-term Know Like and Trust relationships with those who are committed to building their networks and advocating for others
- One of the main ways we do this is at a weekly Workshop we hold for committed builders
- These Workshops are a brilliant way to build relationships with those who are committed to
- Contributing to the network by bringing people to the Hub
- Advocating for others they Know Like & Trust
- One of the most exciting parts of the Workshops is hearing and especially participating in the good news stories
- However, our main goal is actually to build long-term Know Like and Trust relationships with those who are committed to building their networks and advocating for others
- Because we can invite people we meet on LinkedIn to meet us in person at the Hub (so we can introduce them to others), we have the ability to create very fast growth
- In fact, it is exponential growth because the proposition we put to others is that they also learn how to put their “fingers to keyboard” in a systematic way and also invite people
- When you think about it, we have an incredible opportunity, don’t we?
- Everyone has been told that social media is vitally important for both business and careers
- However, that is only one half of the story, isn’t it?……..
- Some of the many people being invited every week will be great contacts for you just as some of the people you bring will be great contacts for others
- As you become Known, Liked and Trusted, many many others will start advocating for you
- And surely that has to be the best business development strategy you could possibly have?
- What could possibly generate more opportunities for you?
- And I guess the significance of this only really dawns on you when you attend the Workshop and see all the good news stories
- I could give you some great examples, however, I think it’s best for you to see it first hand at the Workshop
Examples of the successes that have come from the room are very powerful – give examples of what advocacy has done for others. Learn to repeat good news stories that illustrate how well network building works.
However, Don’t Oversell
They may already be convinced and keen to get to the Workshop to find out more.
If you keep talking in detail, you run the risk of raising doubts and questions which will be answered as they move through the process.
Have confidence that attending the Workshop and taking a trial of the NBS will do the heavy lifting for you.
There is a balance……
You simply need to paint the above picture of why what we (uniquely) do has the ability to produce such large results for them and others.
That’s certainly something you can be enthusiastic about!
Briefly handle any questions or Concerns
Does that make sense so far?
Do you have any questions about what we do?
They may well ask you:
What’s the next step? or
How do I get to a Workshop?
Book the next Step (BAT)
If the person you are sitting with asks a question like:
How do I get to the Workshop?
All the people who attend the Workshop are building their networks using the NBS (Network building System)
We are running a bit short on time at the moment, however, would you like me to send you a video about the NBS and we can book another time to catch up next week?
If they are super keen (for example they want to make the next workshop), you could cover taking a trial of the NBS and book a 45-minute get start.
However, in most cases it pays for people to get a bit more exposure by coming to another Hub.
This also gives them a chance to become more excited about what could be possible and to raise any questions they may have.
Handling Questions
People may have questions or even concerns that they are not verbalising
For example, it is quite common to be thinking about how they can fit network building into their already busy lives – especially balancing it with family time.
Often their body language indicates if they have a concern.
At this point they have said building a network is important to them.
In which case most of their concerns can be addressed – where there is a will there is a way!
For example, they could attend every second Monday and still put fingers to keyboard.
Often there are no concerns and people are keen to go to the next step.
If there are concerns you don’t have a lot of time to address them right now.
The main thing is to reassure them that we are very solutions-focused and can usually find ways to overcome most problems.
Also, they will benefit from another Hub, watching video-2 and considering how important they consider building a network to be.
Over time, it may be good to note down the type of questions you get and prepare answers (and more questions – it really helps to learn the art of answering a question with a question) which help people to see new paradigms.
You don’t have to work with everyone
If you feel someone will be high maintenance or that you are really not going to enjoy working with them, don’t feel obliged to persist with them.
You will be bringing many more people to the Hub and in the end, you are only looking for a small number of great people each year.
Ideally, you want to help people they are great to work with and develop a long-term relationship with.
Equally, don’t judge too soon – some people are an “acquired taste” and worth persevering with!
If they are desperate to achieve an immediate result (get a new job, gain more business), they may not be able to focus on using the room for the right reasons – to build a very large network over the next 3-4 years.
When you have a lot of people to talk with every week, you tend to work with those who get it rather than those who are resistant or have a negative attitude or are totally focused on transactions (rather than building relationships) or can only see the urgent at the total expense of the important.
Time permitting, ask relationship building questions such as:
- What are you doing at the moment?
- What have you done in the past?
- What would you like for your future?
Realise the value of what you are offering!
For most people you are sitting with, it is a huge and fast paradigm shift!
A couple of weeks ago they were thinking they should do some networking – everything they read told them they should network – everyone they spoke with suggested networking. They may even have attended a couple of networking events before the Hub.
Now the possible results that could come from building an exponentially growing network vs networking with a transactional focus are beginning to excite them.
They may be starting to think about SCALE – what could that sized network be applied to and what would that do for me (more time, money, security)?
This is usually well beyond the original reason they decided to ‘go networking’.