Working harder to get business in
An inevitable consequence of the economic downturn is that we are all going to have to work a lot harder to win new business. That's not just Accountants. Those who called themselves Salespeople but were really just order takers in the boom are now going to have to learn about sales and customer service.
To be honest, I am sort of looking forward to it. I relish the thought of having somebody in a car showroom actually appear interested in my requirements and it will be novel that they know more about the car than I do.
For years my company has trained people in sales, presentation and networking skills. They are now back in sharp focus. When we all come to terms with the sudden stop in economic activity and when we have gone through the inevitable cost cutting in our accountancy practices, we are going to have to drum up new business if we wish to survive and prosper again.
The main means of drumming up business for a small to medium sized accountancy firm is not audit tenders, or making presentations. It is all about networking and that is something we could all learn to do a lot better.
How often do we go to some business function intent on generating new leads for our business and end up stuck in a corner talking to a friend from a competitor firm cursing these events as a total waste of time?
The Dos & Don'ts of working a room
It is difficult to work a room but once you know the dos and don'ts it is not nearly as daunting as it seems. At first it will appear contrived, but remember learning to drive and consciously making gear changes? That too appeared contrived but it came naturally with practice. It is the same for striking up conversations with strangers. Until you become practised in the techniques it will be uncomfortable but soon you will ease into it and it will become second nature.
Where to start?
The aim is to get into conversations with people, get to know them and establish if they are a potential client. How you start is critical. The best opening question is along the lines of, "Was it a hassle for you to make here this evening?" This question, more than any other, makes strangers open up to you and they inevitably reveal they are either very busy, under pressure at work or actually just came along out of curiosity. After this it is so much easier to lead the conversation onto their business.
Another tip: Don't hover - always crash. By that, I mean don't stand at the edge of a group waiting for a gap to say hello. You are much better walking up to that group and saying a confident "hello my name is X". After the introductions if you ask, "Are you all colleagues?" you'll find people very quickly tell you if they are and then tell you about what they do in their firm. I know it sounds daunting but once you have done it a few times it will be no problem for you.
One of the main reasons why people are not good at working a room is not because they can't start conversations, it is that they don't know how to end them and move on to someone else. We have all suffered it. There you are stuck with someone in a corner who is even shyer and more monosyllabic than you are and it becomes excruciating.
One man told me he went to the toilet 14 times
What do we do? We usually escape on the pretence of going to the loo, again and again. At seminars I run on this topic, people often confess they have been in and out of a loo as much as fourteen times at these functions. Here's what you do instead. We all know the name of at least one other person attending such an event. Let's say his name is Frank Murphy. Well then always ask the stranger you are saying hello to, "Do you know Frank Murphy?" If they say yes, you have a mutual friend to discuss. If they say no, you just explain you are looking to hook up with Frank. Now the moment you want to end that conversation you can say, "Oh there's Frank now, I must go over in a minute to say hello" and then finish your conversation and move on. Yes it is that simple.
Don't dole out business cards - this is not America
Please don't go giving out business cards. This is Ireland not America. Yes try to get people's cards but it is much better to be able to bring the conversation around subtly to business. I find if you ask people about their business, be genuinely interested in it and say something like, "that could be useful to us, do you have a card?" People will give you a card and ask for yours and now you are really networking.
How to remember people's names
I don't like cards because they are yet another excuse for people to forget names. If you are going to be good at networking you have to remember people's names. So many people say, "Oh I am awful at remembering people's names", but the truth is they don't remember the name because they did not hear, register and immediately use the name. So when you are shaking hands with a stranger make sure you hear their name. If you don't hear it clearly, say "sorry" and ask them to repeat it and then use it back to them in the next sentence. If you do that, you will always remember the name.
At first it may appear like a chore but I guarantee these events you have dreaded will become so much more enjoyable. You'll get to meet interesting people, learn how to slip away from bores, drum up some business and spend a lot less time holding up walls or going to the toilet.
Good Luck with your Networking.
For more than 25 years, Gavin Duffy has been training spokespersons who have to face the media and is the acknowledged expert in media coaching. Gavin presented RTE's first ever business
programme, Marketplace, in the 80's and was a regular on the then fledgling Morning Ireland
radio programme. He left RTE to become CEO of local radio station, LMFM.
In 1992 Gavin set up a media and management consultancy business which owns mediatraining.ie.
He is currently back on TV as one of the dragons in RTE's Dragons' Den and is a columnist with the Sunday Independent on economics.
Gavin will address the ICAI Annual Conference on the topic "Making Haylage in the rain" (sic)