When you meet people and ask them what they do, be prepared to ask a few follow-up questions, such as:
- Who is your ideal client?
- What needs are you currently looking to fill in your business?
- Who is your ideal contact, or who is already working with the kind of people who are your ideal clients?
Not only are these questions going to better position you to find qualified referrals for the people you’re connecting with, but your sincerity and genuine interest in serving them will open the door to a reciprocal relationship.
It is also important to learn the right questions to ask your friends and family members to see where you can help fill their needs with your extensive network. One of the things we do in our meetings pretty early on—and the reason we do it is to help everyone in the group to understand the value every single member brings—is an exercise in which you leave the meeting, not with a sale, but with three qualifying questions from every member and business in the group that you can ask your friends. If you know the questions to ask, then the answers will help you dictate who to refer to. In addition, you are able to better meet the needs of your friends and families by leading them to the people who can help them with their relevant and timely needs.
Qualifying questions may include:
- “Who are you currently using for your pest control?”
- “When was the last time you checked to see if you are getting the most affordable car insurance?”
- “Have you had your HVAC serviced lately? It’s important to do that before the change in seasons.”
- “What’s one habit you feel is keeping you from allowing you to be as successful as possible?”
- “Do you feel like your team members are working as efficiently as possible and are committed to your company’s objectives?”
As you can see, these questions are aimed at revealing the real needs of the people who are already in your life. When you are able to connect the two parties, you have served everyone. These questions are powerful tools in creating more value in all of your relationships and are on each one of our members' profiles on our website. This is also true for you. When you share your own qualifying questions on your profile, the other members are able to become spokespeople for you as well.
One of the reasons we can do this is because, again, our technology provides us with time in the meetings to network.
Master the One-to-One
It is equally important to ensure that you are creating value during your one-to-ones. We encourage our members to get to know each other outside of the networking meetings in a more personal atmosphere. I can honestly say that I have never been to a one-to-one meeting with a member where I did not walk away from that time having learned something valuable about that person or that person’s business. Most often, besides the time spent bonding and cementing the relationship, I will come away with some new piece of information about that person’s business that I was previously unaware of. Rarely do these short get-togethers not pay an immediate dividend, and they always get me closer to that individual, which creates a stronger desire to help that person and the person’s business.