Introduction
Getting Started
Types of Home-Based Answering Services
How to Obtain Clients
Your Home Office
10 Easy Steps to Organizing Your Business
The Art of Networking
Marketing Your Business
Additional Tips for Success
Start-up Costs and How to Fund Them
Getting Help from the SBA
Financial and Legal Considerations
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The
Art of Networking
To be successful in your business you
must develop a network of contacts. These are people you know who can provide
you with a favorable introduction to potential clients. The more people in your
network, the better the prospects for success. With an increasing number of
contacts come numerous opportunities to offer your services to people who may
well be interested in contracting for them.
Network constantly until it becomes a
routine part of your business. Every person you come across with has the
potential to be helpful to your business in some way. Most people are
complimented by your faith in them as a contact person since it emphasizes the
influence they can provide. Networking is a reciprocal process. If you are
seeking someone’s help to obtain a lead, you must also be prepared to assist
your contact in the same way.
Use your business card to introduce
yourself where possible, perhaps at a social setting or at local meetings.
Appear as a volunteer booth attendant with your company T-shirt or hat. Another
inexpensive advertising gimmick is to donate a prize of, say a month's free
answering service for the community charity auction or drawing. Join
organizations! Kiwanis and Rotary meet every week, with new members (and
prospects) coming in all the time. Chamber of Commerce meetings also hold some
potential to meet other business owners in the area. These are the people you
want to meet since an answering service business may be important to them.
Do not be afraid to talk about what
you do. When meeting someone new, the conversation inevitably turns to the type
of business you are in, so describe it with the enthusiasm you have for it. You
do not need a resume. Your card and your voice are more valuable in
networking.
Your immediate and extended family is
the best initial source of networking you can have. Get in touch with your local
relatives, explain what you are doing and see if they can provide leads for you.
Past business associates, college friends, church members and other individuals
in organizations to which you already belong can be great sources for
prospective clients.
If you play golf or tennis, talk to
your partners. Consider the people you see regularly— post office, hair
salon, cleaners, gas station— all of the normal daily activities
encompass some form of business that could use your service.
Once you have made a network of
contacts, stay in touch with them. A birthday card, a newspaper article of
interest, and a note about a promotion–all of these are ways to communicate
with your network people when you are not asking for names. You are creating the
opportunity, however, for future business.
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