Networking 101
Leveraging your existing relationships is key in getting a jumpstart in your sales process, as well as building out your business network.
No professional experience, never worked in IT – do you know anyone who works at any company with a website? Then they have IT people!
Utilizing your network takes time, diligence and a willingness to call on favors from friends, family and acquaintances. What you need to remember is that this is constantly an ongoing process.
First – be sure that your LinkedIn in profile is fully updated – bio, picture, write-up, link to Optomi, etc.
Second – go through all of the people that you are currently connected to. Try to bucket everyone you are connected to into three list – High, medium and low.
• High being strong relationship and/or the potential to make introductions to companies you are targeting
• Medium being average relationship and/or limited exposure to companies you are targeting and/or not in the market you are targeting
• Low being limited relationship and/or no exposure to the companies you are targeting
Third – once you have your list of high contacts, reach out to each one via LinkedIn, email and/or phone to try and set up a time to meet or talk. Making contact live is key to explaining to them your agenda and where they can help you. The goal from each of these meetings will be for them to provide you 1-3 introductions. Keep in mind, that they may not be able to provide these names off the top of their head when you meet with them. Give them time to think about it and be sure to follow up ALSO come prepared. Go through their LinkedIn contacts and be willing to ask for specific introductions that make sense.
Fourth – there are a few scenarios after meeting:
(1) They provide names and contact information, and follow up with personal introductions to those individual. Once they provide the introduction, follow up with an email and phone call asking to meet.
(2) They provide the names and contact information, but the individuals do not respond. Give it 2-3 weeks and follow-up with your contact asking if they received a direct response and if it is okay for you to reach out to them again.
(3) They don’t provide names, follow up after 1-2 weeks and remind them to see if they have any recommendations. You can also provide names and specific examples of people you were hoping for introductions to and why. Typically the more specific you can be, the more wiling they are to follow-up with you.
Last – be sure to reciprocate, follow-up with your initial leads…check in, take them for coffee, write a thank you note and comment on their posts on LinkedIn. Every individual that helps with new leads is a crucial link in your network that you may need to go back to. Be sure to nurture that relationship and reciprocate where possible!
• Attend Networking events with the pretence of “closest to the money”. Spend your resources of time and money wisely.
• Volunteer/sign-up for committees
– Benefits
+ network with well-connected individuals
+ exclusive access to panelists and speakers
+ view guest lists
• Connect with non-competitive companies at events
– Benefits
+ they can reciprocate contacts, insight and referrals
• Follow-up
– same day or day after send a note via e-mail or hand-written in the mail
– connect with them via LinkedIn
– set up a meeting
VOLUNTEERING
• Estimated Average LinkedIn Results: 100 InMails 15 Responses 5 Meetings
• Estimated Average Cold Calls: 50 Calls 8 Live Conversations 1 Meeting
• Personal Volunteering Results: 50% of the clients I have brought in have been from volunteering 75% of my
• HC has been from these 50% accounts 100% of my day job becomes easier by volunteering
WHEN YOU VOLUNTEER…
You’re asking “How can I help?” Before asking “What is in it for me?”
You’ll be able to invite your hiring managers/prospects and show them that you’re interested in their interest!
You will be collaborating with high level technology executives
You’ll learn about companies that you didn’t realize existed
Get exclusive access to panelists or guest speakers at events
Ability to see RSVP lists for events in advance so you can do your homework and plan who you want to speak with
Gain insight from other sales people within the IT space
Have a stronger pulse check with what is going on in your local market
Less time filling out expense reports because volunteering is FREE!
From the Desk to Courtney Starling
HOW SHOULD YOU CHOOSE AN ORGANIZATION TO VOLUNTEER WITH?
Who are your target list of accounts?
What are they/the people you want to get in front of, passionate about?
What type of organizations or charities do your hiring managers spend time doing?
Where would you be passionate about spending time giving back to the community?
HOW SHOULD YOU CHOOSE AN ORGANIZATION TO VOLUNTEER WITH?
When you’re attending an event, ask the BoD “How can I get more involved?” or continue to mention “I’m more than happy to help however I can!”
Share with clients/prospects about OPTOMI’s Opt2Give Day
View the “volunteer” and “organization” sections of LI (CIO, CTO, VP) profiles for leaders within your target accounts
And ASK to learn more!! Use it as a conversation starter to set a meeting.
EXAMPLE
GETTING ORGANIZED
How many contacts do you think you can remember at any given moment? Can you remember the specific challenges that exist for each one? Getting and keeping your desk, or business, organized is imperative to the success of every Account Executive. Contact information, organizational charts, client blueprints, service agreements and marketing material all have their place and should be readily accessible. Organizing your business becomes a matter of personal preference. There are some Account Executives who still swear by territory binders and hand written notes, which is fine, but remember that documentation in Bullhorn is required. As you speak with your fellow Account Executives, make sure to take note of how they keep organized. Additionally, make sure to remember the environment as you’re getting organized!
Organizing your Outlook
In the recruiting industry, organization and efficiency are paramount. Because you can receive hundreds of emails on any given day, you must have an effective way to organize your correspondence so that it can be retrieved easily. Managing email should be done on a daily basis. Creating folders by accounts and for internal team members, external frequent contacts, corporate communications, staffing reports, etc. is very helpful.
ASSIGNMENT: Your assignment here is to meet with an Account Executive to develop a method of organizing your desk and email folders. The Account Executive should show you how to set up rules for when a message is delivered or Distribution List to reach large groups of candidates at a time.
MAKE COMMUNICATION EASY
Attaching Contact Cards
When sending introductory emails, cold emails or even follow up emails, always ensure that you include your signature as well as attached your contact card.
First – build your own contact in outlook, just like you would any other contact. Be sure to include as much information – title, phone, company, address, office, cell, etc.
AND BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR PICTURE. Once it is built – save it to your contacts.
Second – you can simply click on your contact in the “arrange by column” and drag your contact card to your desktop.
Last, once this is completed, you can simply drag and drop your contact card to any email in the attachment section. This allows your contacts to double click on the attachment and automatically save your contact card without having to build it themselves.