Could Cutomers be Connections and Connections be Customers?
Not everyone is your customer, and not everyone is network connections material. But they are all PEOPLE. In this post I would like to continue my last post about business networking and focus on network connections, and their part in your network of customers and business network.
This business has a great product, with a slight problem with customer support…
A lot of businessman are self-employed, which usually offer some kind of service. Unlike owning a store, usually customers wont bump into your business and buy something, Usually you would have an office somewhere or even be working from home.
If you are a lawyer, independent consultant, SEO expert or own a website, people need to know about your services, and they probably won’t hear about them at the city square. The things you could do except for advertising (which isn’t always a cost effective option) is rely on your social networking, online and offline. We will write about online social networking later on in this blog.
Now, I would like to focus on off-line connections. One of the simplest things to do is to export your address book from your phone, mail, PDA and any other devices you have to a spread-sheet, and make a list of the services all these connections need.
Now, try to match two of your address book connections for a business collaboration or have one give a service to another. For example, recommend a lawyer you know to friend. Exchange phone numbers between a friend with a website and a colleague giving online storage services. By making these connections you will be categorized by your connections as reliable and worthy person to do business with, and eventually gather new clients.
If you keep doing it long enough your connections will produce customers and your customers will produce new connections.
