Building Your Book

For those in sales, the phrase “building your book of business” is likely a familiar phrase. But even if you’re not in sales, you have a “book” too. Essentially, your book is that list of people you know and interact with; they might be prospects, customers, colleagues, acquaintances, industry experts you’ve met, mentors, and the list goes on and on. 

The important point here is that we all have a book, no matter what business we’re in, and regardless of our role or title. Additionally, in order to grow – our business and our career – we need to always be on the lookout for ways to expand our book.

With two of the biggest in-person events in the automotive industry having just taken place – Work Truck Week and NADA – now is a great time to visit this topic. Hopefully you took the opportunity to grow your book at one or both of these shows. What a terrific way to get educated on the latest news, hear about trends, examine data, meet automotive experts and hear their thoughts, and see innovations pushing our industry forward. And, since you’re reading this, it’s clear you’re interested in building that book since many of those who contribute articles to this publication are those same knowledgeable experts who were at these two shows.

While in-person industry events are one way we can all build our respective books, not everyone can attend these. Thankfully, there are many other ways as well. For those of you who are regular readers of our publication and our site, you’re likely familiar with several already. For example, Coach Ken frequently talks about local chapters of various organizations you should consider joining to help you grow your business. Similarly, many of those businesses you work with as a customer could indeed also be commercial customers of yours if you’d spend a few minutes getting to know more about them and their needs. Joining truck clubs to talk to other like-minded professionals and share best practices, ideas, and solutions to challenges is another great example. 

Ultimately, we have opportunities to connect with others on a daily basis. The key is to make sure we work to cultivate those connections, which ultimately builds our own individual book. Be on the lookout for people you want to interact with and seek out ways to connect the dots that are essential to your success in the commercial business. 

Don’t be afraid to look at less conventional avenues as well, such as “getting to know” additional experts in the commercial vehicle ecosystem through the video links from Work Truck Week in this particular edition of our publication. Be sure to check them out. 

And finally, if you’re looking for even more avenues to build not only your book, but also your knowledge base (and all of us should probably be doing so), register for the upcoming free virtual Spring Commercial Vehicle Business Summit presented by Work Truck Solutions, along with sponsors Escalent, Mitsubishi HC Capital America and Comvoy. The speaker lineup includes many heavy hitters in the commercial vehicle ecosystem, plus there are even several scheduled networking sessions. 

Don’t wait, start making those connections and building your book today!