Invest in us and we invest in you – the NetworkIN way

27 Jan Invest in us and we invest in you – the NetworkIN way

Have you just started out in business, or are you looking to grow the brainchild that you’ve put so much effort into over the past few months or years?

Startup company owners and professionals in a new business development role become attached to the product, service or concept they are promoting. A huge amount of love, sweat and tears has been ploughed into getting the message into the limelight and, even though business coaches out there will tell you not to be, you are emotionally attached to your business entity and things can get personal. It is your creation and you are proud of it. Fist bump to you!

It’s a sacrificial investment

Setting up a business is a major investment in your time and money, and often includes some level of personal sacrifice. Your investment needs to be nurtured in order for it to successfully develop and that cultivation is relevant to your customers, staff members and business colleagues who also invest in what you stand for. 

Referral marketing is an excellent way to invest in your business and will drive progress. Once like-minded people can see how you and your business demonstrate reliability and capability, the power of word of mouth will bring uncapped tangible rewards.

Business is not for the faint-hearted

When was the last time you woke up in the morning and thought ‘today really needs to be a duvet day’? But then you remember you’re operating a company and that’ll be a ‘no’ to staying in bed! 

It’s hard running a business. You have a lot to answer for and crying off a day’s work isn’t one of them. Support from an experienced business owner, a mentor in the industry, or other people at the helm of a company facing similar challenges can be an antidote to the pressures you feel.

NetworkIN is a referral marketing organisation that will invest in you and your business through ongoing support and learning development. Starting out in business produces many questions and much uncertainty, but having a structure to market effectively and a set of goals to work towards will give you motivation. NetworkIN offers regular classroom training days, face-to-face 1-2-1 review sessions and in-meeting advice sections to help you become the very best you can be in business.

Be in the room not just working the room

There are countless networking organisations that will introduce you to heaps of people and help to grow your contact list. On the downside, many of these meetings lack structure and commitment from attendees. Smaller organisations do not have the resources to invest in you and your business and merely offer a room to gather and chat over coffee or breakfast. Whilst this may work for more established businesses who know exactly what they want and for people who get paid to be there in a sales capacity, these meetings usually attract the wrong type of people. You know the persona … the type of person who ‘works the room’, handing out business cards and collecting email addresses to bombard you with sales messages after the meeting. You may also find clicky groups that stand huddled together and body language that doesn’t invite you to say a sheepish ‘hi’. It might sound a little harsh but it happens and it’s not an environment where you’ll prosper.

When growing your business you need trust and commitment from an experienced organisation that is established and has your best interests at heart. 

Through the door support 

Having your best interests at heart, as well as their own, is an ethos grasped in both hands by those who ‘get’ the power of ‘word of mouth’. And these people tend to gather together for the good of everyone involved. At NetworkIN, our advocates invest in helping you to win new business with introductions, referrals and opportunities. This happens once you have educated them as to what would make a great referral for you and your business –it becomes easy to do.

Advocating others increases self-confidence and the ability to perform at optimal levels, which in turn, empowers everyone involved to be more, to have more and achieve more.

It’s like one big happy family or workplace environment without the office politics, backstabbing or carrying of low-performing individuals. This type of environment helps to strengthen and give more depth to individuals and … well it just works!

Concentration in the room

Ask yourself ‘what does success look like?’ By taking on board NetworkIN introductory guidance and goal setting training you will know how to introduce your fellow advocates to what you are looking for in order to grow your business in the next few weeks, three months and year. This is part of your marketing plan and your team meeting advocates will be more than happy to recommend you to their contacts because they know exactly what makes a good referral for you. Once you demonstrate confidence, competence and credibility and are specific in what you are looking for the process takes on a natural positive progression.

Don’t risk ambiguity with your return on investment

To summarise, there are many platforms offering networking opportunities and by all means sample them to quash your curiosity, but always ask the following questions: 

• Is there an introductory programme?
• Is there 1-2-1 support?
• Is there guidance for business growth?
• Are members/advocates long-term?
• Can the organisation prove the amount of business passed?
• Is there a structure to meetings?
• Is there a system to record opportunities and referrals?

If all the boxes are not ticked then there will be no long-term tangible results for one simple reason, they do not invest in you.

Be IN the know and IN the now with NetworkIN.

Discover the NetworkIN teams near you – click here.