Chris Reed, founder of Cast a Bigger Net and 5 year Rainmaker, was interviewed on the Rainmakers Leadership Development Call this week.
Cast a Bigger Net has been growing rapidly and solely by word of mouth.
Here are some of the best practices we learned from Chris Reed:
- Networking takes time to pay off. Keep showing up to see the results
- 20% of those you meet networking are a strategic fit, while 80% could be. Focus on those that you can easily help (20%) and look for opportunities to serve the others (80%) and stay in touch with them
- A Power Circle is a smart leveraging opportunity, getting people who can best help each other together regularly!
- Leverage social media as a next step following a face to face meeting
- Tee yourself up for a great 1-1 meeting by researching the contact before the meeting. Use the meeting as an opportunity to ask clarifying questions and serve the person you are meeting with
- Focus your energy on giving. It will come back to you
- Leadership in networking is a bigger opportunity to serve and people know to come to you for help
- 1-1 meetings should be focused on getting results for each other and a best practice is making the connection in the meeting
- Rainmakers is a great way to increase your universe of contacts regularly and a great way to touch your connections routinely
- Follow up is greatly important. It is about discipline
Find something within this information and make a commitment to implement it into your word of mouth marketing strategy.
Cheers,
Nikki
