By Gail Pelto, Realtor
An adage which still rings true today is, “Your Net worth is equal to your Network.” Your business grows faster when you form relationships with people you know, like and trust and who know, like and trust you. They will be more likely to send business to you and why market alone when you can have an army out there touting your attributes and working for you? You also create a circle of trusted professionals that you can feel comfortable recommending to your clients. As a business professional, you want to associate with the best people in their fields.
Last year, a group of local business professionals, mostly solopreneurs, and I formed Emerald Coast Networking. Like many other networking groups, we meet regularly, we have one seat in the chapter per industry, and we share referrals once we have gained the trust of our fellow members. Plus, this group has meeting agendas for creative thinking and sharing of best business practices including how to master the skill of networking effectively. If you want more information about this networking group and how we may help you in your business, please reach out to me.
Now, as a consumer, why is it important for you to hire a businessperson who strategically networks? Let’s take my profession, real estate agent. What is the value to you as a seller or buyer of real estate in hiring an agent, like me, who networks efficiently and effectively:
For sellers, a great networker has more skills to drive more traffic, more buyers to your property
For buyers, a great networker has more access to finding opportunities that are not readily available to non-networkers
A great networker is naturally better at marketing. They know how to find opportunities – they are trained to connect people with other people.
A great networker has more marketing channels through their networks – that army I mentioned above!
A great networker draws to them a network of the best people – some you may need are inspectors, repair specialists, HVAC people, landscapers, bankers, insurance writers, mortgage lenders, chiropractors, dentists –.a buyer or a seller! The list goes on!
40 percent of buyers come through a referral network or through the connections of the agent – and that percentage is much larger than any other buyer resource.
As a trained networker, first and foremost, I am not timid. It is easy for me to ask, “who do you know who….” Trained networkers know how to look for and ask for business (and therefore do not have skinny children). So, the next time you are ready to hire a real estate agent, or any business professional, ask, “how big is your network?” Because the bigger their network, the more knots in their net, the more fish they can catch, right? And if there are gaping holes in their net, well, not so much.
Gail Pelto is a full-time real estate professional with Keller Williams. She is also a Board Member with the Rotary Club of Destin as well as the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation and is currently co-chair of the Education Committee of Emerald Coast Networking. For information about real estate or If you are a local business professional and would like to learn more about networking, please call her at 850.374.0454 or email to gail.pelto@kw.com. On Facebook, Destin Agent Gail – Emerald Coast Realtor.
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