Business Networking in Washington D.C. – What Questions to Ask for Better Leads

There’s no question about it – when it comes to your industry you offer the best service in the Washington D.C. market (maybe even regionally) but even still you may eventually run out of prospects. To keep the fires blazing in your business it helps to have a stream of quality business leads fueling your bottom line. If you found yourself asking “who do I talk to next before my leads run out” then try to avoid discouragement and discover the best way to develop profitable relationships easily.

When you’re faced with someone new that could potentially bring you great business, you don’t want to focus the conversation on you or asking for favors. You want to start by asking the right questions. The right questions tend to lead toward feel-good emotions and responses. They take the emphasis off of you and put them on the subject in order to develop greater trust and comfort. This is the foundation for a strong relationship and it’s necessary to build good relationships in Washington D.C. for better business leads.

So what kind of questions are we talking about? Non-intrusive, non-invasive questions that are far and beyond away from anything a sales person might ask. The right questions make your new referral source and business lead prospect feel comfortable and confident in themselves as well as you. This is vital because all things being equal, people tend to do business with (and refer business to) people they know, like and trust.

The first question to ask would be something like “How did you get into this business?”. This is a great opener because everyone loves to tell their story regardless of how many times it’s been told in the past. Most of us know that people don’t care to hear the long and short of how we got started so when someone genuinely asks – and is interested – it inspires trust and most folks will jump at the chance.

Positive Questions #2: “What do you enjoy most about what you do?” You’re essentially giving them a chance to feel special. By reflecting on what they love they’ll start to feel more important. This produces positive feelings while they’re exposed to you, which associates you with a positive experience.

These types of questions put the emphasis on your contact while you’re working on building better business networking relationships. Once you establish that rapport and trust, it’s time to take it to the next level with the kicker question: “So (name), How can I know if someone I’m speaking with would be a good prospect for you?”

With these questions, you’ve suddenly made yourself wholly unique from everyone else typically networking for themselves. Most business owners want to generate business leads immediately so they’re aiming for the hard sell. You make it obvious that you’re in it for the connection. You can expect most business owners to happily share and nothing will build trust and rapport faster than actually providing leads and referrals to another business owner.

For any type of event or gathering in Washington D.C. designed to foster business networking and lead building, keep these questions in mind. When you start working them into your networking, you’ll find the responses are often favorable and you’ll start to quickly build a solid referral system to keep your business going strong.

Referral Vault provides Washington DC Business Networking solutions to help small business networking group members build sustainable business leads. Discover how you can improve your brand reach and visibility with targeted Washington DC Business Leads.