Coffee, lunch and meetings – it just works!
It has been an ironic turn of thinking for me over the last decade in that when I was a Corporate; I used to really dislike meetings.
I found them unproductive, committees would annoy me and my subconscious brain did whatever it could to get off the hook of as many meetings as possible.
Then some years later when I started my business and was fending for myself I found that meetings are everything.
It’s an opportunity to get to know people, make new friends, give / get referrals and of course get direct clients. It’s a critical part of my own marketing strategy and interestingly; whenever I have had tons of Face to Face meetings I get lots of clients.
Whenever I would back off on meetings, my client generation would always slow down and I have been reminded continuously that they are critical. I love Facebook, LinkedIn, Webinars and Websites and sometimes people will purchase without meeting me or talking to me at all. However for most; they require at least a phone call.
Best way of course to get a new client is go and meet people face to face (especially in business to business like I am in).
You meet for coffee or lunch, go to their office or a nice restaurant an have a great time and talk business. I may get to know them, be able to refer them business and quite often if what I do matches what they are after; I wind up with a new client.
I have always found that you never know which meetings will give you clients, BUT if you have enough meetings YOU WILL get lots of clients. To this day I have always been roughly 1 out of 5 meetings will turn into a client which is just great (on the spot, but I often get referrals much later).
When you look at this from such a viewpoint it comes down too:
– How do I get more meetings?
That is a great question and it’s a result of our entire marketing ecosystem (and asking people when there is a connection).
My advice and thinking? Make sure you are getting at least 2 x meetings a week with new people. I find when that happens everything just works. We make new friends, expand our circle of influence, we can refer people and of course people refer / hire us.
Get out there, explore and be the first to ask for “Coffee or Lunch?” (and make sure you pay too).
Love your work, thanks for the read and stay awesome from Edward Zia.
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