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The heart of any business is the connection it has with other businesses and individuals that you can turn to to help meet your needs. Networking, any activity designed to create, maintain, and use interpersonal connections, is an essential business skill. But not all entrepreneurs take the time to truly dominate. However, without a solid understanding of how to network effectively and efficiently, no business can make the vital connections it needs to survive and thrive in today’s super-connected economy. Here are some tips you can use to increase the success of your networks and your business.
Go with a goal. One of the first and most common mistakes people make when entering a networking situation (planned or not) is not having a firm goal in mind. Are you looking to acquire new prospects, meet with colleagues for potential collaborations, create a mutual referral partnership, create name recognition for yourself and your company, find funding, or just “shop around” to find interesting news and trends that you can use? If you haven’t taken the time to determine what your goals are for the upcoming encounters, you’ll have a hard time meeting them.
Of course, most companies have several different needs, but in many cases a given networking opportunity is unlikely to provide more than one or two types of results, depending on the situation at hand. For example, if you are attending an event comprised primarily of others in your industry or trade, you are unlikely to meet prospects as they will all be vendors like you, nor are you likely to find referral partners as almost all of them will. be a direct competitor. So if your main needs are clients and referrals, these events, while not a waste of time, may not be your best use. On the other hand, if you are desperately looking for a partner to expand or looking to discover the latest and greatest technology in the field to offer to your customer base, you are definitely in the right place.
Perfect your message. When someone asks you what you do, can you articulate not only your business, but also benefit it in a clear and concise way? How about your 15 second “elevator pitch” or intro? Is it sharp, direct and compelling, or do people’s eyes go glassy before reaching the end? This is not the time to give a dry and deadly boring job description. Save it for your resume. When someone asks about you and your business, you are giving them a golden, but brief, opportunity to blow them away and persuade them that you are the best thing that can happen to them since sliced bread. Make sure you do it.
Important: leave your sales pitch at home. Networking is networking and sales is sales. Confuse the two and you will lose both. Nobody wants to be sold, especially when they are clearly not in a sales environment. And remember that anyone trying to work at a networking event under the “three foot rule” (anyone within one meter is an opportunity to make a sale) will likely encounter others who are not willing to get within three feet of them. in a very short period. of time.
Check your equipment. Make sure you have everything you need to make a great impression. Are your business cards or other brochures up to date and look as professional as possible? If this is a planned event, do you know who will be attending and have you isolated a few people that you definitely want to make sure you meet, or are you going blind and resigned to improvising?
And don’t forget to check the time, date and place. Nothing is more irritating than showing up only to find it’s too early, too late, or that you can’t find a place to park less than a quarter mile away.
Educate your audience. Are you looking for a collaborating partner for a project? Then make sure everyone knows what the project is and what kind of partner you are looking for (and the general parameters of the partnership they will be investing their time in). If you are looking for referrals, do your potential referral sources know what makes a good referral for you? It is a waste of time and a waste of your sender’s goodwill and reputation if you reject or do a poor job for everyone who sends you because the references were inappropriate. Similarly, a well-educated referral source might end up sending you fewer referrals, but they are much more likely to be quality leads who have a high probability of becoming solid clients.
On the other hand, if you are looking for prospects directly, do your prospects know that you are the answer to their prayers and why? Remember that all prospects are tuned in to the WII-FM station – what’s in it for me? And unless you make sure they know why they should consider working with you, they won’t.
Go ahead. The most important part of networking happens after the initial contact. The best impression, the most agile laser marketing message, and the deepest desire to work together will be ruined if they don’t hear from you in a timely manner or worse, never hear from you. No matter who said what about calling whom, always follow up quickly and in a way designed to strengthen the relationship and add value to the other person.
A simple follow-up email may be fine for old contacts who are in touch, but for a new contact who can provide you with crucial funds or superior referrals, or a potential customer eager to clear your warehouse of the top-notch merchandise you need. have all the finesse, power and elegance of a figure skater’s best jump, and all the holding power of a solid landing.
There are three keys to effective follow-up:
- Reinforce the original intention of the contact. Refer back to your original conversation, reaffirming key points and reaffirming agreements that were made or hinted at. Keep the promises you made to turn over information, provide samples, start a meeting, make a request, whatever, before the follow-up call, unless time constraints or turnaround time make it impossible.
- It carries the scent of excitement without the stench of despair. Follow up as soon and as regularly or frequently as circumstances warrant, but don’t become a stalker or a pest. And if you can find a way to add value to the relationship through your skills, influence, position, or connections, then go ahead and do so, but don’t cross the line from generous partner to obsequious sycophantic. And if the other person makes it clear that they are not interested, move on. “Kicking and screaming” is not an acceptable level of participation in networking, and it is not “hit-and-run” either.
- Include the seeds for the next contact. Don’t get caught up in dead end tracking. Unless it is clear that an additional relationship is not warranted or desired, make sure there is some agreement on the next step or arrangement to continue the conversation. Make that phone call, and at the end, schedule a lunch date in a few weeks. At lunch, offer to submit an important report or offer the broker a desirable presentation for someone higher up the food chain, and so on. Make sure you never leave the table without an invitation to sit back at a later date.
Like a good golf swing or an impressive presentation, effective networking comes down to three essential stages of activity: preparation, delivery, and follow-up. And just like an electrical circuit with a short or interruption, a fault at any of these points stops the flow of connective energy that gives life, the healthy and continuously renewed cycle that your business requires to maintain strong and stable growth potential. . resilience and success.
Mastering the art of effective networking, like any other business activity, requires time, dedication, and attention. But in the end, the dividends it pays are well worth the time it took to cultivate. Take the time to master these five tips and you will be richly rewarded with the prodigious fruits of your networking.
