Leveraging Peer Groups and Events
Did you know that utilizing networking events and peer groups can help your business? And the good news is they can do a lot more than that. Attending peer groups and events can build your reputation as a knowledgeable industry leader and establish meaningful connections with like-minded people.
Growing tech companies understand how peer groups can give additional insights into the industry. Peer groups can also build lasting relationships that can result in genuine leads and greater business opportunities. Let’s take a deeper look into these topics and how you can properly leverage peer groups to be one of the fastest growing tech companies in your market.
What’s the Purpose of Networking?
The purpose of networking is to cultivate and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with a mix of people with whom you can do business, share ideas or seek assistance. Building connections with the right people could be the key to taking your business to the next level.
Networking can be overwhelming for individuals who are not comfortable talking with people in a large group setting. So, why do people hate networking? Some might not be good at it naturally or perhaps they don’t go to enough events. The reality is that most people have never learned the best practices of how to network effectively. The funny thing is that connecting with people is part of human nature. Let us teach you how to use networking events to get more leads and build business relationships.
What are the Benefits of Networking?
Effective networking can be beneficial for your business, but let’s look at two important takeaways that your business can capitalize on after attending an event.
#1-Better Business Opportunities
Networking provides you with plenty of meaningful connections and can open doors to better business opportunities. Gathering leads is often an important takeaway from attending a networking event, but how do you ensure that they are genuine? Investing your time to truly listen to a prospect’s pain point and asking open-ended questions can make or break your efforts in collecting qualified leads. You never know, a good networking experience could lead to a happy hour or dinner with a prospect. Then you might have an opportunity to convert a quick lead into an appointment that night.
Here’s a few more best practices:
- Always make sure you follow up with any prospect that you meet within 24 hours.
- Send them a personalized email that includes specific details about your conversation.
- Close the message with a personal link to your site and calendar.
Showing an individual that you care about their pain points, having meaningful conversations and following up can turn a lead into a business opportunity.
#2-Building Meaningful, Lasting Relationships
Making new connections can be difficult, especially if socializing is not your strong point. However, we cannot stress enough the value of creating relationships and establishing connections at networking events. When you make a personal connection or relationship with a potential prospect, it could open the door to a meaningful business relationship down the road. Even if this individual might not benefit from the services that your business has to offer, they could know of a potential prospect that might have use for your services.
By enhancing your knowledge, gathering leads to open doors to better business opportunities and making meaningful, lasting relationships with prospects you can transform your business into something bigger by attending networking events.
Why Peer Groups are Important
Peer groups are a little different than networking groups. They are essentially groups of like-minded people—typically those with similar professional status. The premise behind peer groups is for fellow business owners and executives to come together and share advice and bring different perspectives on similar issues or topics. Peer groups are a unique opportunity to discuss everything from sales and recruiting to business strategy with people who speak your language.
Are There Benefits to Hosting Peer Groups?
Peer groups can be essential for creative problem solving and innovation. The right type of peer groups can spark:
- A community/circle of trust
- New relationships/partnerships
- Innovation
- Creative problem solving
Imagine being part of an environment where you are surrounded by like-minded people who share your same goals and philosophies—who also work in your industry. What do you think will happen when you communicate and gather with these people? You tend to build strong, lasting relationships, which will impact your business in the long run. Peer groups can motivate and inspire you to work towards common goals with business professionals in the same industry. They can also help you overcome challenges, develop new growth strategies and give you a competitive edge in your market.
Make the most of networking by attending events where you can find potential prospects and attend peer groups that are going to benefit your business and industry.
How Can You Capitalize on Peer Groups and Events
Networking and peer groups are essential tasks that can help you gain industry-leading knowledge, make lasting relationships and gain new business opportunities through genuine leads. If networking is your strong suit, or you don’t know how to find peer groups that would be beneficial for your business, let us help you.
Here at Marketopia we offer an exclusive community that can help you accomplish your dreams. Marketopia’s GROW community is dedicated to delivering training opportunities, actionable tools and peer-to-peer engagements to grow your technology business. Get all the tools you need to be successful at networking and connect with like-minded peers who can collaborate and share promising ideas with you.
Want to be one of the fastest growing tech companies in 2022? Reach out to us to schedule a free growth assessment so we can help you achieve your goals.
