One of the things I see VAs struggle with is how to start conversations with potential clients.
Whether it’s online or in person, a simple networking conversation is something that can stop a lot of VAs in their tracks.
But when I teach someone how to start a conversation, a light often goes on.
Why?
Because once they know what they should be talking about, things become so much easier.
Here’s an example: You are headed to a live networking event full of potential clients. You prepare your elevator speech and off you go. The first person you meet introduces themself and then asks you what you do. You launch into a one-minute rehearsed elevator speech that they have to follow, and you don’t give them a chance to talk for a full minute. Then you get to the end of it and they say ‘Neat!’. Sound familiar?
It’s happened to me, so I know what it’s like.
Through much trial and error, I realized that while there is a place for an elevator speech, it’s not in an introduction to someone who doesn’t know you.
Here’s what I do instead …
I meet someone and they say ‘What do you do?’ and I say, ‘I’m a Virtual Assistant, what do you do?’. The ball is immediately back in their court, and then I am ready to ask them questions.
They tell me what they do ‘I’m a financial advisor.’
And then I am set to seed my services in the conversation.
I might ask them if they have an assistant already.
I might ask them what they need help with in their business.
I might ask them if they are sending a newsletter or using social media, and what services they are using for these tasks.
I might ask them what they would love to have someone else do for them.
You get the idea. It becomes a conversation. And I’m in charge! I ask them questions and they answer. Simple.
I don’t need to tell them what I do because I can ask questions to get the real information I need from them.
Networking is nothing more than a conversation – and the more naturally you can converse with someone, the more comfortable you will both feel.
The best networkers are the ones who can talk to anyone.
I know many VAs who get nervous because they think they will say the wrong thing. But how can you say the wrong thing when you just ask someone questions?
Once I started doing this I felt so much better in every situation. I got far more information from my prospects. I learned about their business so much faster. And I got more clients easily.
And here’s the most important part to remember: if you want them to buy from you (or hire you, if you will) then you have to make the conversation about them.
New VAs instinctively want to educate people on how using a VA can save them time and money – and they often try to do this in an introductory conversation. And while it is true that you can save them time and money because they don’t have to hire full time help, it’s simply not the fastest way to get them to outsource their work to you.
Clients want to know two things:
1) What you can do for them (specifically), and
2) How much it will cost them
That’s all they want to know. They don’t actually care HOW you will do it.
So tell them!
For more tips on effective networking, read this blog post What’s The Point of Networking.