Finding new buyers for whatever we sell is crucial. We can maintain our business by continuing to work with the customers we already know but without new buyers, we can’t grow.
Finding new potential buyers is the holy grail for us all.
We all dream of new leads regularly dropping in and in the next few weeks I will share a few ideas and methods I use to generate leads.
But ahead of then, I wanted to share this morning a really simple way to use your own network in 2024 to find new potential connections who could in time become buyers.
We often have connections from our past and people we have met who we ‘connect with’ but then who we forget about.
I looked last week and thought to myself, I have over 2,000 connections on Linked In (by the way if we are not connected then let’s change that) but how many of these people have I engaged with over the last 12 months?
I estimated maybe 100 at best.
And yet I have this large network of people with whom I haven’t engaged with 95% of them recently.
I then looked and asked myself ‘How many of these people have I done business with in the last 2 years?’
The answer was even higher than 95%!
What is the point of having a network if I don’t do anything with them?
So I decided to change that and I took inspiration from Jesse Itzler, an American investor and business owner on how to do this.
I bookmarked 30 minutes in my diary (diary blocking is always a good thing to do) and proceeded to go through my network to start engaging with those I have a connection with.
Not to sell directly. That would be crude and quite frankly be self-defeating. We all hate it when someone comes to us just to try and get access or get something from us. It makes us feel used and turns us against the other person.
But just to try and rebuild a connection and start a conversation.
Compliment Them
Congratulate Them
Console Them
Itzler says that for those who are not sure what to send, there are three types of messages he uses that work well:
- Send a message to compliment
- Send a message to congratulate
- Send a message to console
The intention behind this is not to find a lead or new buyer but to start having conversations again.
Through messages, discussions happen and from discussions, opportunities arise.
You can see from the example images below, the different types of messages I used in the messages I sent last week.
Doing this for 1 or 2 30-minute sessions per week can allow you to engage with those you know or have met and is a simple way to ‘shake the tree’ and see what falls out.
It’s also a simple way to use your own network to find out more about what is going on with the connections you have and often just by engaging, it reminds them about you.
They may then reference you in conversations they have with others or they may know people who might need your help.
Or they may have no need right then for you and that’s cool as well. If you have approached it in a friendly, humble way then nothing may have come of it but it’s not going to have hurt you or your brand.
Doing this for 1 or 2 30-minute sessions per week can allow you to engage with those you know or have met and is a simple way to ‘shake the tree’ and see what falls out.
It’s also a simple way to use your own network to find out more about what is going on with the connections you have and often just by engaging, it reminds them about you.
They may then reference you in conversations they have with others or they may know people who might need your help.
Or they may have no need right then for you and that’s cool as well. If you have approached it in a friendly, humble way then nothing may have come of it but it’s not going to have hurt you or your brand.
Make Time to Engage Your Network
So if you want to start doing the simple sales work now that can find you new buyers for the future then use your network.
If you don’t have much of a network then start now to build it.
As the old saying in business goes, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know and if you have a connection with someone then make use of it.
Engage and develop your network day by day and within a few months you may be surprised of what comes from these simple 3C messages!
