Domain Expert:
Who they are, what their background is:
Sam, from Graybar Electric Supply
https://www.graybar.com/store/en/gb (
How this person is a “domain expert”:
He is an account manager for the Gaineville branch of the
company Graybar Electric Supply, specialized in selling lighting and electrical
equipment. He has worked there for 2 years and amassed a lot of experience
dealing with the sale of lighting.
How I found and contacted this person:
It took a while to find them. I googled local businesses
that specialize in lighting and gave them phone calls. Eventually this one
answered and I talked to the secretary explaining what I was trying to do and
they passed me to another employee and then to Sam.
Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return
expectation:
I explained to him my idea napkin, that is my product ideas
and my value added proposition and how I would market the service. Then I asked
him various questions detailing this experience.
How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an
opportunity:
He told me about the added competition placed on them by the
market, but that they are able to continue attracting business by being efficient
wholesalers and adding value through their intricate knowledge and real world
examples. Lighting is a complicated industry and even though the information is
out there customers often don't have the right understanding they would need to
buy the most efficient product.
Market Expert:
Who they are, what their background is:
Sarah is a sales representative for Graybar Electric Supply.
How this person is a “market expert”:
It's a little bit cheating but I couldn't find other people
targeting the same market. She targets the more commercial side of sales but
they do residential sales as well.
How I found and contacted this person:
From the same call I made to Graybar Electric Supply they
passed me to her.
Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return
expectation:
I detailed to her what I was doing for my school assignment
and talked to her about my idea napkin then asked her about how she acquires
sales and I had her walk me through the sales process.
How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an
opportunity:
I started building relationships with multiple people in the
organization and had an experienced sale representative telling me about how
she acquires sales.
Industry Supplier:
Who they are, what their background is:
Xiu Xing is a sales representative.
How this person is a “industry supplier”:
She works as a sales presentative for a large indsutrial
chineses manufacture/supplier of led lights and manages large trancsactions
happening throught the company, amassing knowledge from working on that.
How I found and contacted this person:
I went on Alibaba and searched for LED light manufacturers
and began message them until a representative responded and we talked on
WeChat.
Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return
expectation:
I explained to them my situation and class and described
both my idea napkin and pitch. Then I told her about the specific lighting
items I would need and asked her questions about their manufacture price max
quantities suppliable and minimum order quantities, the shipping costs
involved, dealing with customs etc.
How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an
opportunity:
Before this exchange I hadn't really thought about the intricacies
of buying items in bulk and in the usual shipping options. I had a little bit
of knowledge from my accounting class of free on board shipping point and free
on board destination point and liability and how important that is. But this
encounter really made me think about the various ways I could keep my costs and
liability low when purchasing product.
Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a
little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you
participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from
your networking experiences in the past? How?
I think it opened my eyes a lot to how
so many industry experts are willing to communicate with you and even help and
share their information with you. It would definitely encourage me to approach
more people in future networking events. While the previous networking events I
have attended were already pre-established with connections to people, for this
one I had to find and communicate with my own experts and that presented its
own challenges, especially dealing with non responses or even a couple
rejections from business I contacted.
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