Summer Networking...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Wed, May 23, 2012

     SUMMERRRRR...

Summer and SalesSuch a great marketing word which conjures up lots of emotions.   The right side of my brain screams out “relax”, “enjoy”, “warm & warmer”, “good times” and, of course, a few steps out the door, my new favorite word, “beach”.  While the voice in my head from my more practical left side of my brain reminds me that sales over the next few months will be tougher due to vacations, nothing going to happen this summer that will pop the economy, and my current fundraising campaign needs to be jacked up before all those venture guys retreat to the Vineyard and Nantucket come August.

Summer’s also the time for more networking meetings, more company golf outings and more opportunities to meet with existing customers (think “thank you” barbecues, city tours, CEO golf outings, customer forums), and new prospects and current referral sources (think summer networking meetings at the Chamber, Kiwanis and other business associations).   Of course, all of these activities kick up a couple of notches when September rolls around so what you want to do this summer is to hone your networking skills and sharpen your meeting management tactics whether it’s for you or your younger, less experienced associates.

Sales NetworkingMy own observation of most networking done by businesspeople and especially by service providers (lawyers and bankers are the absolute worse) is that there’s a lot to be desired.   At the same time, I can point to experts like Diane Darling of Effective Networking, who is in a class by herself, Larry Kahn of Kahn Litwin, Jim Bourdon of AMS, Brian Cuddy at Fenway,  any of the three Steves (Zam, Ingram & DiPietro) at Deloitte , Jeff & Larry at KNS, and Jack Gaziano and others at Silicon Valley.  These pros are a pleasure to watch at any event.  First, they are just great people; second, others want to be around them for their content and depth, and lastly they are the go-to resource connectors in the middle market in Boston.  You watch these experts work an event, of any kind, and you realize just how effective a networking event can be.

So that you make the most of this summer’s networking activities whether it’s at your local Chamber or your industry association or your working either a trade show or just at a golf outing, check out...Jack's 10 Tips for Better Networking.   Some of these tips might make that dreaded networking meeting not only more enjoyable, but much more productive. 

Have fun this Memorial Day weekend, and remember to work the “fun” part.

Good Selling!.

Jack
Head Coach
Linked In and Sales

Sales Management Boot Camp

DERBY Management-Associated Industries of Massachusetts
SemiAnnual Sales Management Boot Camp
"Save The Date": September 30th-October 2nd, 2012

Our always sold out Sales Management Boot Camp is just being launched with Early Bird Pricing ending August 15th.

Open only to 25 managers of sales, Presidents, CEOs and General Managers, this unique experience is focused on providing real-world experience that will enable you to increase your sales productivity by 20%-30% in one year. Click HERE for a quick overview and email me to set up time for a 10 minute call. Want more detail? Click HERE for full agenda and pricing.

Guest speakers signed up so far include Greg Flynn, SVP, Brainshark; Mike Volpe, CMO, Hubspot; Ed Mallen, CEO, TimeTrade and others to be announced.

“It was an outstanding program.” ; “A great mix of attendees.”; “Jack himself was very credible, very engaged in the business, and tied together real life, examples & stories.”; “I would rate it very highly and would recommend other senior sales leaders at MFS t go through the program.”; “It was time very, very well spent.”
Tom Jessee, Senior Vice President of Sales, MFS

Just a short note to say thank you so much giving me the opportunity to participate in your sales optimization boot camp earlier this week. This was by far the most high value two-day session I have experienced in many years. The energy, passion and experience you brought to the session was contagious and motivating and enables open minds that certainly helped me take away some very key learnings.
Jack Zimmerman, VP Sales & Marketing, Current Analysis

 

Tags: sales productivity, Sales Optimization, sales, sales management effectiveness, sales plan process, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales planning, sales tools, selling, improved sales management, sales management training, selling skills, closing sales, Sales quota, sales training, sales plans, meeting networking, networking