How To Hub: Everybody knows somebody or how talking to people gets you sales meetings


Blues Brother – the best movie of all times - had to serve as an inspiration for this month’s post. The smash box office hit about a band of musical misfits, led by unequal brothers Jake and Elwood, on a “mission from god” to save a catholic orphanage from closing. Unlike musical fairy tales from Hollywood (or Chicago in this case) things are slightly more real at the Impact Hub.

 

At the end of the day an entrepreneurial venture is about satisfying customers. But before you can make a customer happy you actually need to get one first. For most B2B ventures this means getting to a sales meeting, where you can pitch your service or product. Most decision makers haven’t necessarily been waiting around for you to call or email, so you’ll have to find another way to secure yourself meetings.

 

What works great is getting an introduction through someone who knows your potential client. And guess what – at Impact Hub Zurich there are 850+ members which know someone somewhere. All you need to tap into this potential is: strike up a conversation with a stranger.

 

I’ve met a chap which was sitting alone at a desk at Colab one Saturday and I started to talk to him. He was developing an idea in the ad-space and was looking for a few people from the industry which could challenge his approach. I happened to know someone and gladly made the introduction. In return – and without me asking explicitly – he introduced me to someone at a Fortune 500 company. It worked! I got a sales meeting and was able to pitch a proof-of-concept with our technology at this firm.

 

Now before you randomly approach people you should be willing to listen with real interest. Otherwise chances are high you’ll be perceived like one of those LinkedIn trolls, which randomly send out invites to everybody and their dog.

 

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