Slow,Down,Remember,that,song,F marketing Slow Down
Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t
Remember that song, Feelin Groovy? Well, I maybe showing my age but my grandmother used to make us sing it to her in the car.One of the lines is:Slow down, youre moving too fast. You gotta makethe moment last.This is great advice for business people when theyare networking. So many people think that networking puts them on the fasttrack to new business. While you may get an opportunity out of one meeting, theodds are against that.Why?Because networking is about relationship building.Its about trust and trust is developed over time. I think you set yourself upfor disappointment if you think you are going to walk away with a bunch ofreferrals from an initial meeting. Not only that, but its a bad habit to getinto. You can give people the wrong impression of you and actually create asituation where they refrain from thinking of you for referrals.When someone asks to meet with me to get to know mybusiness and give me the chance to get to know them, I consider it the firststep. Its the beginning of the relationship building process. I cant at thatmeeting feel comfortable referring them and I cant expect them to be ready torefer me. We havent gotten to know each other well enough yet.Now, you can say that first impressions matter andthat may be true. I may be able to discern that you are reputable,professional, and knowledgeable. But I dont know enough to trust you with mytreasured relationships. And dont kid yourself your relationships aretreasures! If you want to keep them you need to protect them and value them.I am fortunate to know a lot of people and havemany relationships. Because I value them and want to keep them, I am verydiscriminating about who I refer to them and how. I respect their time andinterests and try to keep from bothering them. So, I put more value on thoseestablished relationships than I do on the new ones I am building.You should do the same!You can have a desire to help people; thats a goodthing. However, that desire shouldnt override your commitment to yourrelationships. Slow down. Give the new relationship a chance to bloom andsolidify. Let the natural currents of relationships and referrals develop overtime. Youll know when there is a good fit and it makes sense to refer someone.And if you are the person on the asking side, dontask someone for referrals at your first meeting. You dont know them wellenough to ask and they dont know you well enough to give. In addition, you runthe risk of making them uncomfortable and therefore, avoiding futurerelationship building with you. If you respect that the other person valuestheir contacts youll understand how they need time to get to know you beforethey can feel comfortable referring you.So, slow down and take the time to build thosebusiness relationships. And while you are doing that, find other ways to marketand prospect your product/service. You cant rely solely on networking and youcant accelerate the referral process that grows out of networking.
Slow,Down,Remember,that,song,F