Tomorrow’s New Business

Good morning!

Full disclosure: I’ve been staring at a blinking cursor for 10 minutes and searching previous sales tips and blogs to see if I have shared the following thought in the past. You see, I get in the habit of writing ideas for content as they come up then going back later to expand. The problem is, I don’t always remember if that idea became a tip or a blog or a column or it is still in need of development.

All of that is to say, stop me if you’ve heard this one before …

Walking into a crowded restaurant with friends and bearing no reservation, you are discouraged to find out the wait time for a table is 90 minutes. You’re about to turn and head back outside when you hear someone inexplicably say, “Your table is ready.”

Someone in your party knew the owner. But how?

Your kid is trying to get into college. Relating that information to other parents, someone says, “The president is an old friend of mine. I’d be happy to make a phone call for you.”

Wait. What just happened?

Your brother shows you a picture he took recently on a beach in Jamaica. The guy standing beside him looks a lot like Sean Paul. It should. It’s him. Turns out our cousin is his manager.

And you thought she was just a makeup artist.

All of life’s “somebodies”— restaurant owners, college presidents, musicians, marketing managers, buyers, entrepreneurs, etc.— were once junior players. They were waiters, college students, struggling musicians, and dreamers.

You come across them every day.

Get to know everyone. Always. Everywhere. Use people’s names. Remember them. Connect with them. Show interest in them. Stay in touch with them.

Over time, they will grow into new roles, take on bigger challenges, find greater success. Simply by building and maintaining your network, you will be the one recognized by the restaurant owner, able to call in a favor, land a couple of sweet front row tickets, gain access to decision-makers, and make sales calls at the very top of the food chain.

Here’s a place to start: Never leave an existing account without having met one new person. Swap business cards. Add them to your CRM. Learn their birthday. Build the relationship. They just might be your way in to a busy restaurant, a college, or…

Want more? Check out Bill’s Sales Vault at SalesVaultInsider.com. Hit the Events tab and contact Bill if you’d like to try out a workshop for free. Find Bill at bill@aspirefor.com or call 781-934-7036.