You've probably heard the saying that people do business with people they know, like, trust, and value. One of the things we frequently ask our clients in Sandler is, "Are you doing enough to get in front of people so that they can get to know, like, trust, and value you?"
Now, the specific activities necessary to get in front of people in order to build that awareness are going to vary from one business to another. For some businesses, it's networking events. For others, it's cold calls and walk-in visits. Others rely heavily on referrals and personal introductions.
While all of those things may be part of your prospecting mix, chances are that some are more successful than others at getting you in front of people so they can begin to know, like, trust, and value you.
Here are a few activities that have proven to be successful prospecting activities for me at Sandler.
LinkedIn is huge for me. If you're not using LinkedIn, you should be. I know that if I do a good job of engaging with people on LinkedIn, it can accelerate the know, like, trust, and value speed tremendously.
Think about it. On LinkedIn, people can see your picture and a little of your professional background. They can see who you're connected to. If you're posting, commenting on other posts, sharing links to videos, or sharing other people's content, that also helps them get to know you and start to like you.
Going a step further, people can see where other people have recommended you on LinkedIn, which can help build trust and value. And if I'm using LinkedIn strategically, I can reach out to contacts and ask them to facilitate an introduction to someone they know. When that introduction happens, it generally creates some up front trust and value.
LinkedIn doesn't create the actual conversation, but it can help facilitate a prospect beginning to know, like, trust, and value me, which can then lead to a conversation.
Speaking engagements
I spend some of my prospecting time on a regular basis prospecting for speaking engagements. Why? Because speaking engagements are a great way for people to get to know you. They rarely lead to immediate business, but they do create opportunities for conversations with prospects.
I can't say I've ever had someone approach me after a speaking engagement with a credit card in hand ready to sign up for training, but I've had many follow-up conversations with people who attended a speaking engagement. And many of them have later become clients.
A speaking engagement can help someone like you and even begin to trust you. It's an opportunity to position yourself as an expert and as an approachable person through the way you present and answer questions.
Workshops
Another prospecting activity we use is offering specific workshops that we know will get people in the room and give them an avenue to know, like, trust, and value what we do in a powerful way. We have one particular workshop that leads to additional business every single time.
I call this approach eduselling, a combination of education and selling. That doesn't mean offering unpaid consulting, but rather educating people on what we do, who we are, and how we do it. Many workshop attendees tell us later on that they didn't realize the depth of what we do and how we can help individuals and organizations until attending that workshop.
Again, the successful prospecting activities for your business will probably look a little different. But the big question remains: are you doing enough to get in front of people so they can know, like, trust, and value you?
Crandall is the Principal of Sandler in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He works with business owners and motivated individuals to create and implement Professional Development Strategies to foster the growth of individuals, teams, and organizations.
