He tried to set up a meeting. I agreed to meet entrepreneur to entrepreneur, but that I had no interest in joining the team. He agreed. I am planning on taking the opportunity to learn more about him and offer him some of my freelance services that I feel could benefit his endeavors.
Would you take advantage of this opportunity to meet another business person or am I wasting his and my own time?
As the saying goes..."Your network determines your net worth."
Even if there is not a business relationship to be had from this meeting, you both will have a greater awareness of one another's businesses. This provides opportunities for referrals and the possibility of later joint ventures.
Aside from that, you are likely to benefit from the unique insights and experiences that are shared by this individual.
If the purpose of the meeting is clear to both of you, then have the meeting and build the relationship.
If there are false pretenses on either end, it will be a waste of time for both.
If he has the expectation that you are interested in a sales job and you blind side him with a pitch for freelance services, it will be a waste of time for both of you.
I would simply communicate ahead of time and make sure that he is open to learning about your services and knows that you have little or no interest in his sales position.
Hope that helps. Need more coaching on this? Set up a free get-acquainted call. Check my profile for a promo code.
Regards,
Kevin McCarthy
If you go in trying to sell him on your freelance services, and he's trying to sell you on joining his sales team, then it will be a waste of time for each of you.
If you both go into the meeting to learn more about the other person and see how you can help each other (maybe by making introductions to other people you know) then it could be very valuable.
If you haven't done a lot of one-on-ones (i.e. sitting down for coffee with non-prospects) then I highly recommend this quick video that covers who's worth meeting for a one-on-one, where and when to set it up, and exactly what to say and ask while you're there. You can watch the video here: http://improvandy.com/elevator-pitch/effective-1-on-1s/
If you want to discuss further ways to expand your referral network, feel free to set up a call with me.
Recruitment of Sales personnel by any company requires following steps to be taken, even you can do it. Let us have a look:
1. Showcase Your Company as an Employer of Choice--Top performing salespeople are picky when it comes to choosing who they work for.
2. Use Cash to Attract Top Candidates--Salespeople that demonstrate the skills, attitudes, and behaviours that make them a great fit for your company will likely know other people with a similar profile. This is especially true in sales, where networking and relationship building are so critical for success.
3. Build a Strong Employer Brand--In the same way that consumers evaluate a brand before they purchase, potential employees assess the brand of a company before applying for or accepting a job. Ensure they are wowed while they are researching your company online. To attract top performing salespeople, there are several things you can do. When it comes to your online employer brand, be sure to position your company as a market leader. This is important because top salespeople are always interested in working for industry leaders or high-growth companies that are poised to dominate their sector. When you personalize your company values and brand in a way that makes potential candidates feel like they know you, you take a crucial first step to creating a connection with your target candidate pool.
4. Introduce Science--One way to introduce science into your sales hiring process is by using psychometric testing to assess candidates. This testing is a learning tool for you to objectively assess candidates’ communication and behavioural style. Using the data from each candidate’s results, you can identify how someone will fit into your team culture and how they will be received by your customers. It’s an objective tool that can be an invaluable part of hiring the right people for your specific selling environment.
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6. Start Conducting Exit Interviews--They provide invaluable information about your sales leadership's effectiveness. This helps you lower turnover rates, understand where there are leadership gaps, and reduce the cost of sales turnover. Employees regularly leave company reviews on sites like Glassdoor.com after their tenure at a company. When you have past employees leave positive reviews of your company, you end up with a channel of organic, favourable online content about your company.
7. Get HR the Tools They Need--But for HR to do their job effectively, it’s up to the VP of Sales to communicate what type of seller they need , what selling experience is necessary for the role, and the cultural fit required for success in your selling environment.
8. Make Retention Efforts Proactive--World-class sales organizations don’t think of retention efforts in “one size fits all” terms. Instead, they make retention strategies personal. It’s as simple as asking, “what motivates you?” to your sales reps. While it’s a given that your reps are motivated by money, understanding how to motivate them in ways other than cash can be a huge differentiator in your employee value proposition.
9. Building a Top Performing Sales Team Starts with Your Sales Hiring Strategy--While your sales hiring strategy is the key to building a better sales team, excellent strategy that is met with poor implementation results in failure. The battle for sales talent is not ending anytime soon. With the right sales hiring strategies, you have all the tools you need to build a top performing sales force at your fingertips. Visit the Peak Sales Blog for everything you want to know about building a top performing sales team, from How to Close Your Top Sales Candidate, to conducting Faster, Better, Sales Onboarding.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
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