Charlie Lawson, BNI National Director, says that networking can give you everything your plumbing business needs to succeed.
The 400 plumbers who area a part of BNI (Business Network International) earned over £3 million between them last year through networking, which should be reason enough for installers to take it seriously. People often get networking wrong because they go to networking events to sell their services. Instead, use them to try and build relationships first. Keep an open mind, listen to others and don’t just talk about your services.
Once at an event, keep plenty of business cards on you at all times and end conversations with a positive comment such as, “I really enjoyed meeting you, let’s have a drink together sometime, here’s my card”. People do more business with people they like.
Don’t write off new people you meet who don’t appear to need your services. Think about how you can help them. Networking is a two-way street. If you help someone, they will help you in return. You may recommend a good electrician to them and, although this isn’t a direct sale for you, when they need a plumber they will remember you. More and more plumbers are becoming social media savvy and it is easy to set up.
Clients who follow your Twitter account or Facebook page are ‘opt-in’ customers, meaning that they are happy to follow the information you put out. Social media should be fun and engaging for it to be effective. Teach people about best practice, seasonal problems, offer solutions but, most of all, have fun. Networking is a commitment. Join a local group that is close to your business, where you can attend regular meetings easily and build great relationships.
[author image=”https://www.installeronline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/charlielawson.jpg” ]Charlie Lawson is the national director of BNI (Business Network International) which is the one of UK’s largest business networking and referral organisation. As a widely recognised expert on the power of ‘word of mouth’ marketing Charlie is a public speaker, trainer and author on the subject. Word of mouth referrals accounted for £269 million worth of business passed between BNI members in 2011 – more than 80 per cent of which are B2B SMEs. Charlie’s goal is to help BNI members generate £1 billion of referral business per year by 2020.[/author]
