Growing your
Social Capital
1) Domain Expert
John B. Apple Store Manager
John fills this spot,
because he is in the same type of business (technology) that I would like to be
in. I found him by just walking into an Apple store. My exchange involved his
time to answer some of my questions. In return, I bought headphones, and signed
up to receive information from Apple. I also ended up receiving his business card
to contact him for further advice or questions. Including him in my network
will enhance my knowledge about the industry I would like to go in. I could
also end up connecting with more people in this same type of network for
further opportunities involving my product or knowledge in general.
3) Market Expert
Kyle C. Best Buy Sales Representative
Kyle fills this spot, because he is a product
expert for the same category of products. I found him by just walking into a
Best Buy store. I talked to Kyle about some of the new products that were out,
and asked him questions related to my product. In return for taking up his
time, I bought a cover for my phone and filled out a survey with great feedback
for him. Including him in my network will give me knowledge about customers and
what they are looking for in new gadgets. He is the one that comes in contact
with them every day, and listens to their feedback on products.
2) Supplier
Sara H. AT&T Sales Manager
Sarah fits this spot, because AT&T
supplies businesses with broadband bundles. AT&T also supplies people with
Digital Life. AT&T is getting involved with the cloud and Digital Life has
similar functions to my business. I found Sara by walking into an AT&T
store. In return for listening to me about my product and giving me feedback, I
upgraded my plan which gave her the credit. Adding Sara to my network will enhance my knowledge about services,
and the supply chain. AT&T could possibly sell and supply my product in the
future.
Reflection:
This was a lot of fun. I
also learned a lot more about my industry, and who my target audience is. This
was a great opportunity to gain insight. For future networking events, I’m
going to be more personal with my connections, and stay in touch. This
experience taught me to just go out there and start asking questions. In my
past experiences, I lost touch with some of my network. This time I asked for
business cards to stay in touch, as well as connect on LinkedIn.
Hi Britt,
ReplyDeleteYou did great by approaching these people that are relevant to your business idea in person. I took a different approach of trying to reach out to them by e-mail and it didn't always work since such a media of contact is very impersonal and sometimes people are not inclined to respond. I hope that these first contacts you made with people of sales floor will help connect to higher management within their companies. Best of luck.
Hey Britt, great job on this assignment! I commend you on going to these stores in person and just tackling the task at hand. It seems like you gained a lot of good insight and have a solid action plan for keeping in contact with the resources you met. I think you found the right people you needed to for your product and gained very valuable information! Great job! You can check out my blog here: http://buschuf.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteBritt that was a good idea to connect with your contacts on LinkedIn. I didn't think to do that. Did you find that you learned a lot about pitfalls in your industry? You definitely learned a lot from your industry insiders, and the pitfalls that they can teach you can be invaluable to giving you a head start with your venture.
ReplyDeleteHave a look at my similar blog post here when you get a chance.