Spread thin? Pick quality over quantity in networking

Last week I had coffee with a family friend to discuss his new venture.  Recently he has taken over an insurance agency in town that has little name recognition and by all appearances higher rates than it’s competition.  On top of that this is his first career move where he needs, and right now lacks, a strong network.  Being young and new to town tends to have that affect.

The topic of our conversation was how we planned to overcome such weaknesses.  Currently he has been visiting with existing customers and cold calling prospects that he receives through a leads service.  All with very little success.  Neither of us was surprised.  Both activities are typical of the insurance world; however so are there results.  My solution? Network, Network, Network.

The difficult choice is what networking events.  Here comes my attorney answer – it depends.  Where does your target market hang out?  If they tend to be Chamber of Commerce participants then be there.  Maybe they are usually Rotarians.

The real key to success is to limit your activities to three or four networking events that involve your target market and get you the results you want.  Which by the way means you have to track your “stats”.

Of course I can recommend you make new contacts through a really cool website I know of.  <smiles>