When I ask business owners where their clients come from, I often get a pause, followed by one word:
“Networking.”
My next question is: “When you go networking, what do you actually do?”
They might tell me they introduce themselves, explain their services, hand out business cards and look for people who need what they sell.
My inside voice shouts…THAT IS NOT NETWORKING…
Those activities can create opportunities. But are they building a network, or are they selling to the people in the room?
At Asentiv, we use a sporting analogy to explore the difference.
Are you playing golf, or are you playing soccer?
The golfer: Finding clients through your own efforts.
Picture a golfer standing on the course. They choose their club, line up their shot and take the swing. Their progress depends on their own efforts.
Many businesses approach finding clients in much the same way. They put themselves out there, get their message in front of potential customers and work to turn that attention into business.
That might include:
Running Facebook or Google ads.
Building a website to attract enquiries.
Handing out business cards.
Pitching their products or services.
Giving talks about what they offer.
Driving a vehicle with their logo on it.
Wearing branded clothing.
Some of these are sales activities and others are marketing activities. In our analogy, what puts them on the golf course is that the business is relying on its own efforts to attract the next client.
There is nothing wrong with playing golf. These activities have a place in growing a business.
The question is: is that the only game you’re playing?
The soccer player: Creating opportunities together.
Now picture a soccer team.
A player doesn’t expect to take the ball from one end of the field to the other and score every goal alone.
Players pass, communicate, create space and support one another. A goal may be scored by one person, but several teammates helped make it happen.
Relationship marketing works in a similar way.
You build relationships with people who understand your business, recognise the clients you can help and trust you enough to introduce you. You develop that same understanding of their businesses, too.
You talk about each other when opportunities arise. You make relevant introductions. You help one another build the confidence and connections that can move a conversation towards a sale.
You still need to deliver a great service and handle your sales conversations well. But you have people helping you get into a position to score.
Walking into a networking event doesn’t make you a team player.
This is where many business owners get caught out.
They attend an event labelled “networking” and assume they’re playing soccer. But their approach sounds something like this:
Who here might buy from me?
How many people can I tell about my business?
Can I get a meeting with a potential customer?
They may be surrounded by people, but they are still playing golf.
The activity’s label doesn’t determine which game you’re playing. Your intent, and what you do next, does.
If you go to an event focused entirely on selling to the people in the room, you’re prospecting. Calling it networking doesn’t change the approach.
A relationship marketing approach starts with a different set of questions:
Who can I get to know?
What matters to them?
Who are they trying to meet?
How could we help each other over time?
You’re looking beyond an immediate transaction and exploring whether there is a relationship worth developing.
What does playing soccer look like in practice?
Imagine meeting an accountant at a business event.
With a sales approach, you might explain your service, highlight its benefits and ask whether they need it. If they don’t, you move on.
With a relationship approach…
You take time to understand their business.
What types of clients do they work best with?
What problems do those clients face?
What would make someone a good introduction for them?
You might discover that you serve similar clients in different ways. There could be opportunities to help each other, but you need more than a five-minute conversation to find out.
So…
You follow up.
You learn more about each other’s work.
You do what you say you will do.
Where it makes sense, you offer help or make an introduction.
Over time, you give each other reasons to trust.
That is how a team begins to form.
A team takes more than exchanging business cards.
A pile of business cards isn’t a referral team. Neither is a long list of connections on social media.
Your team develops through the attention you give those relationships after the first meeting.
Do you understand what a good client looks like for the other person?
Can you explain the value they provide?
Have you built enough confidence in their work to recommend them?
And have you helped them understand those same things about you?
This also means being useful without keeping a tally of favours.
A referral relationship isn’t an agreement that every introduction must be repaid immediately. It grows through a mutual willingness to help when the right opportunity comes along.
Which game does your business need?
Sales and relationship marketing can work together. You can promote your business, run advertising and have direct sales conversations while also developing a strong referral team.
But it helps to be honest about where your effort is going.
If every new opportunity depends on you getting your message in front of the next person, you’re spending a lot of time on the golf course.
If you want more teamwork in your business development, start by changing how you approach your next networking conversation.
Get curious about the person in front of you.
Understand their business.
Look for a reason to continue the relationship.
At your next networking event, ask yourself:
Am I here to find someone to sell to, or to build a relationship with someone I could work alongside?
Your answer will tell you which game you’re playing.
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