Monthly Archives: June 2018

Will You Marry Me?

Kevin Willett reminds you not to skip the initial phases of building your business relationships.

If a stranger walked up to you and asked you to marry them, I am guessing that you would say no, simply because you do not know anything about them, they are a stranger. Most people would not walk up to a stranger and ask them to get married.

However, many of us do this in business all the time. We connect with someone on social media and then immediately ask them to do business with us, skipping the whole building a relationship part and the getting them to know, like and trust us.

Last week I had a person connect with me on social media. I asked them if they would like to attend networking events and they said they were not interested. I asked them why they chose to connect with me and they laughed and said ‘you know it’s a numbers game, you need to connect with everyone hoping that they will need your goods or services’. I emailed them back and asked how this approach was working for them and of course they said badly. Please remember for the most part you cannot skip the whole know like and trust part of the relationship. This is extremely important!

Social media has been awesome for me. It has allowed me to grow the attendance at my networking events and make great connections. I have noticed that my relationships grow stronger after I have met people a few times and worked on building a rapport with them.

So please remember that it takes time to build relationships. Try to do your best to strengthen your online relationships by actually meeting the person in real life. Let them get to know, like and trust you and you might be surprised by how it changes your business.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events.

Asking For Referrals (2)

Kevin Willett says not to be shy about asking for referrals, but to be respectful when you do.

Asking for referrals is something that I am horrible with. I rarely ever ask anyone to refer me. Often people will attend events and tell me how much they enjoyed the event and the format. Now, I know I should say thank you and ask them to tell their friends about me, but I usually just smile and say thank you for the kind words. I am just too cautious and I do not want to make people feel uncomfortable.

If you simply say ‘if you like the service I provided, can you please tell your friends?’ this is keeping things super casual and most people will tell you that of course they will spread the word.

I have offered to start a referral program with some people and I have received a referral from time to time. However, I have had people get upset with me if I offered them money for their referrals. They said they want to refer me because they like me and do not want my money. So please be careful with this idea. Paying for referrals can have its own set of problems.

Lastly, I am not a big fan of putting pressure on people and asking them to give you the names of five people you can call. With this technique, someone gets a call saying “your friend Kevin bought my product and he said you might want to buy it too?” No one wants this call. No one likes high pressure sales. So please do not put people in that awkward position by asking for lists of people.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events.

How To Say No

Kevin Willett says that saying no, does not have to be unkind.

The simple answer is to say it nicely.

Let me give you two examples. A few years ago I sent an email to a person asking him to attend one of my networking events. He responded by saying he does not want to attend my stupid events and to never email him again. Wow, what a jerk! There was no need for his hostility.

Fast forward a few months, I received another response that said ‘wow thank you for asking me to attend, I really appreciate it, however I just do not have time right now. It is nice that you thought enough about me to invite me.’ Wow, now that is the nicest rejection I have ever seen.

Both of the answers are no, but the second person was smart enough to do it nicely to keep our relationship open. If the second person called and asked for a favor, I would do my best to help him.

In my business I have to reach out to people I do not know and invite them to attend networking events. That is the only way I can host twenty events a month. So please do not be offended when someone reaches out to you with an unsolicited offer. They are simply trying to make a living. Simply and nicely respond that you do not have a need for what they are offering.

You never know when the person you are responding to might turn into a future client simply because you showed them respect.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events.

Do You Still Need Business Cards?

Kevin Willett says that business cards are not out of style in today’s online universe

Do you still need business cards? The short answer is yes, you do.

I am seeing many people request that you just connect with them on social media rather than exchanging business cards. The challenge with this idea is many people are simply not active on social media, so connecting with them will not help you build a relationship with them.

I am also seeing people use fancy business card apps to download people’s information into their phone. This is a cool idea; however, not everyone uses these types of apps. Even if you do use these apps, you still need to have business cards for them to take a picture of and then download.

I think that it is important to remember that some people still want your business card and you have to respect that. Be sure to carry some cards with you at all times, to make sure you are not missing out on potential business opportunities.

Watch my YouTube Channel  for more on this and other Business Networking Tips

Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events.