Secrets of Successful Marketers

The Secrets of Successful Networkers
How to be at the top of your game.
By Christel Wintels, Executive Director – BNI Golden Horseshoe Region, Canada

* Stand up for yourself. Be willing to stand up for your goals and beliefs. If you don’t, no one will. Good networkers, like strong leaders, have the courage of their convictions. They know what they value and consistently express those values. Let your contacts know you value them and the opportunities they represent for both of you, and they will be willing to follow your lead.

* Inspire others. We can’t force people to help us. We can’t order people to be part of our network or demand referrals from them. However, we can inspire them to achieve greater goals by working together to achieve them. Great networkers get a true sense of satisfaction from helping others be successful. If your network contacts think of you as a person who inspires them, they will look forward to working with you as often as possible. And, by convincing others they have the ability to achieve greater things, they will help you do the same.

* Take risks. Successful people are generally those who take risks to achieve their goals. Getting out of our comfort zones and meeting new people is risky. They may not like us, and no one likes rejection. But, if we don’t make new contacts and don’t develop those contacts, our businesses certainly won’t thrive as they could. They might even fail. At the least, when we’re willing to try new, uncomfortable methods to achieve greater success we are just as likely to succeed as fail.

* Be innovative. It goes hand in hand with taking risks. We need to be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things if we want to see a change in our success. Nothing stays the same - you can always count on things changing. Because it feels like our competition is increasing daily, we have to be willing to try different approaches to attract new business. The more people talk positively about your business, the more new customers and colleagues you’ll attract. Positive word-of-mouth impacts your bottom line directly. Make sure you’re creating it all the time, through all the people you know.

* Do it now. A sense of urgency separates superior networkers from average networkers. Waiting until tomorrow to make that call or follow up with one of your contacts leaves the door open for your competitor. A sense of urgency doesn’t mean that everything is an emergency. It means that you make the effort required to service your network contacts – now. If they get that level of attention from you, they will do the same for you.