“I took a full time job and am not involved with networking anymore.”
I was so struck by this comment, that I couldn’t stop thinking about it!
Here’s what I was wondering about:
What does this person understands “networking” to be?
Why does having a full time job make “networking” unimportant or unnecessary for this person?
I’d love to hear your comments about this.
In the meantime, here are my thoughts on the topic.
For most people, the activity known as “business networking” is really an opportunity to go out “prospecting”. In other words, these people attend business mixers and other networking events to look for prospects (people to whom they can sell).
That’s prospecting. Prospecting is very useful — it’s just that it’s not the same as networking.
For other people, “business networking” is a way to meet people who can help them find prospects. In other words, the focus is on building a “leads/referral engine” to get new prospects.
That would explain the attitude “no longer doing direct sales, so no longer interested in networking”.
So is this the only use for business networking?
Not for me!
I have used business networking to find jobs in the past.
Networking has helped me discover publicity opportunities for my business. (I used these to generate well qualified leads.)
I have made good friends through this process as well. (Many of these people later recommended me to others, told me about opportunities, and given me valuable advice.)
And this is just a short list…
My impression is that most people limit themselves to just getting leads and referrals, when it comes to business networking.
I recently had an intriguing conversation with Antony Vila, founder of Contact25.
This is a company that is focused on helping people automate and simplify the networking process. Their philosophy:
Why spend time going to long winded networking events when you can meet 15 new contacts in an hour and a half?
I wanted to share the highlights of our conversation, because I think there’s something here for everyone (which is unusual):
Sri: Why did you create this product — what’s the story behind it? And how does it help event organizers?
Antony: We have created an online software solution to help events organisers to run and promote speed networking events.
Originally it was created to help us run streamlined speed networking events ourselves but it was always designed with a view to helping others.
The speed networking concept has been around for a while now, but many organisers who attempt it come across the same problems:
- How do we manage the logistics of the event?
- How do we promote it?
- And once it’s finished, how do we measure its effectiveness?
We have created a solution which lets the events organiser get on with promoting the event while we have automated all the tedious administration elements.
This includes an online CRM to help manage prospects and customers, with batch html emailing to both groups.
We have an e-commerce facility to take payments for all the events upfront so there’s no chasing cheque after the event.
For the event itself, we have a dynamic table planning solution which maximises the number of ‘new’ meetings at every event. This means that on average over 90% of the time our contacts are matched up with people they have not met at the events before.
This is a real selling point for regular networkers who are frustrated with meeting the same contacts time and time again.
Sri: You mentioned that this product could be used within large companies to improve internal communications. Can you say more about this? How might this work?
Antony: One of the major pitfalls of growth is the inevitable reduction in quality communications.
Time an again when employees of large organisations are asked what could be improved they come back with the answer ‘communication’.
Speed networking is a very fair way of levelling out natural imbalances in large organisations.
By having regular speed networking sessions with a rotational system, (over time) everybody meets with everybody else for 5 minutes.
This means that all employees can feel that their needs and concerns are given a fair amount of time with the boss (and perhaps their boss’s boss).
It also gives employees a holistic view of the organisations so they can understand their place within it and how their actions affect the success of the business.
There are many ways in which organisations attempt to improve communications but there aren’t many that could be so easily integrated into the working day.
We’re pushing for organisations to hold speed networking sessions one a week / once a fortnight for just 1 hour to improve the way they communicate.
We believe that this will help every employee to have a finger on the pulse of the company so they can drive it forward in a cohesive direction.
Sri: Since satisfied clients are great referral sources, business owners are obviously interested in encouraging this. I wonder if your product could be used to encourage client referrals? What do you think?
Antony: Definitely!
We’ve got a product called DIY speed networking which is aimed at any group who just want to get started with speed networking.
Companies could use it to invite their contacts together and create synergies and new business opportunities for their clients.
Sri: Is there anything else you want to add?
Antony: If there are any readers who are interested in finding out more about speed networking or running their own events (either in conjunction with their own business or stand alone) please get in touch by visiting www.contact25.com or emailing avila@contact25.com.
My sister-in-law in India is starting a business. Last week she asked me if I could help her find some books with some technical information.
I replied saying that I had a client (based in the US) who is an expert consultant on the topic. Would she be interested in talking with him instead?
Well, here’s the email reply I got:
“Thanks Didi….YOU ROCK!!
I’ve written to Tom, asking him how much he would charge for a consultation on this project. Am now waiting for him to get back to me.
Hopefully I can get this ball rolling soon. Am very excited. Hope he can help!”
And you know, this email made my day! (I know, simple things make me happy.)
So why am I sharing this story with YOU?
To make two points:
First, this is an example of business networking in real life — outside business mixers and networking groups.
You have no control over when such opportunities will show you. But when they show up, and you can act on it, it really makes a difference to all the people involved.
My sister-in-law is clearly excited, my client Tom will be happy to get new business I’m sure, and as I already mentioned, it made my day to connect these 2 people.
Also, even though I didn’t gain anything tangible in this interaction, I gained something very important (besides personal satisfaction): goodwill — with 2 people.
Second, I was able to refer my sister-in-law to Tom because I have a good understanding of exactly what he does.
I know it sounds obvious — but think of how many times someone has told you what they do, and you have no idea what it means.
For instance, many years ago at a business mixer, a gentleman told me that he runs a “full service print shop”. When I heard this I wondered, what does “full” include, and does that mean there “partial” service places? And why would a business offer partial services?
My impression is that most people in such situations don’t ask for clarification (although if you did, that would be an great way to start a worthwhile networking conversation).
My point is, if you’re not clear about what a person really does, how can you recognize an opportunity to refer business to him or her?
So I’m curious to know: what has been your experience in this area?
[My biggest networking challenge is] to continuously reach professionals working in central London as well as maintaining occasional contact with existing contacts
At first glance, it seems like the issue may be not having enough time to do both.
But perhaps it’s lack of time, in combination with trying to find and reach the right people.
Either way, here are two important points to keep in mind:
What are you networking?
In other words, why do you want to build or maintain your network? For what purpose?
Do you want your network to help you generate new business, give you advice and information, provide guidance and encouragement, or all of the above?
Once you know this, you’ll have a clear sense of what kinds of people to meet, whom to keep in touch with — and why.
“Networking” is not the same as “keeping in touch”.
Don’t confuse the two!
You keep in touch with people you know for a variety of reasons. And networking may be one such reason.
For instance, you may keep in touch with a business associate from a project you worked on together, just because you like his or her company. And one day, he or she may be able to help with a networking goal you have.
On the other hand, if your only reason to keep in touch with someone is for “networking” purposes, it can get tedious. This is why networking often fails.
You can avoid this problem (and the confusion) by first clarifying why you want to meet or reconnect with someone (i.e. to talk about what?).
Keeping these two points in mind will help make the whole networking process more manageable for you.
“[My biggest networking challenge is] starting! I think not having a good ice breaker outside of “Hello, my name is…” gets pretty boring and routine. Also how do I make an impression that leads to a sincere building professional relationship?”
This week let’s consider how to make an initial impression that paves the way to building a long-term, sincere professional relationship.
Here’s the “secret”:
first discover a shared interest
then agree that you do in fact have this common interest.
After all, what would be the foundation or basis for the relationship, if you didn’t have any common interests?
So when you think you might want to build a strong professional relationship with someone, start by considering these questions:
Why do you want to build a professional relationship with this person?
Why might the other person want to build a relationship with you?
How did you come to this conclusion? Based on what?
Your responses to these questions will help you engage in a productive conversation with this person on this topic.
You’ll be able to better explain to the other person why you’re interested in building a long-term working relationship. This helps the other person get a clearer sense of where you’re coming from.
You’ll also be able to talk about why the other person may want to consider such a relationship as well. Who knows? You might even bring up things he or she had not considered.
And if you are sincere about what you’re saying, your sincerity will naturally come through.
“[My biggest networking challenge is] starting conversations with all levels of people, from Ministers, Chief Executives down.”
I recently had a conversation with someone about exactly this topic!
She said she felt intimidated talking with people more knowledgeable than her.
But in social situations, she didn’t have a problem starting conversations with people.
“What’s the difference?” I asked.
It turns out that in social contexts, this person starts talking with people about topics that are of interest to her.
In this case, it doesn’t matter if the other person is more knowledgeable about it or not. In fact, more knowledgeable is probably better, since she is curious about the topic and wants to know more!
In business contexts, she assumes that the topic of conversation must be business related.
And often, she is among people who are specialists or experts in their field. Given her assumption that she must talk about work-related stuff, she feels tongue-tied.
After all, what could she possibly say to a lawyer about law that won’t make her look and feel inadequate?
So I asked her, “How did you come up with this assumption that you should only talk about business related stuff in business contexts? And is it valid?”
She looked at me for a while. Then she sat back, looking relieved!
If starting conversations with people is a challenge for you, what assumptions are you making about such conversations?
More on this topic is covered in module 2 of the Effortless Networking self-coaching program.
“Experts” may tell you there’s a right way to network.
I disagree.
Just as in any other area of life, one size does not fit all. In fact, if you network in a way that doesn’t suit your personality, it won’t work.
For example, you may plan to regularly meet with someone then find yourself constantly canceling or rescheduling your appointments.
Or you may decide to attend business mixers and realize that you’re too self-conscious to connect with people there.
On the other hand, when you find a networking approach that truly fits with who you are, you’ll achieve your networking goals much more easily.
Further, when your networking goal is aligned with your networking approach, you’ll start getting remarkable results seemingly effortlessly.
So how do you do this?
Take a moment to notice how you naturally interact with people.
You may find, for example, that you use email to stay connected with most people, but there are a few key people that you regularly talk to over the phone.
Or that you enjoy throwing parties, where you can introduce new friends to old friends.
Being aware of your personality and your preferences will help you to understand what networking environments and approaches are best for you.
Think about your networking objective.
Do you want to generate more visibility for your business? Do you want to find joint venture opportunities? Do you want business leads?
Networking to find a joint venture opportunity is very different from networking to get potential customers for your business.
The techniques may be the same, but the approach, venue and conversations can be very different.
Consider different networking approaches
For instance, you can network through organizations — such as, professional associations, Chamber of Commerce mixers, Leads groups, online networking forums, etc.
Or you can schedule one-on-one meetings with specific people, whether in person, on the phone or online.
Each has its pros and cons.
And each serves a particular need very well.
For instance, if you want to meet a lot of people in a particular industry quickly, going to an event sponsored by that professional association would be ideal. On the other hand, if you want to have an in-depth conversation about something, a private meeting would be better.
Once you have a sense of these 3 factors, you can mix and match them for best results.
For example, if you’re a business owner who prefers interacting with people one-on-one, who wants to generate more business through networking, and has a very busy schedule and limited free time, you might do the following:
Find an appropriate event to attend so you can quickly meet a large number of people who may be good referral sources for you.
Schedule follow-up meetings with only those who show an interest in partnering with you — and based on your mutual availability, of course.
Use these meetings to define and build sound working relationships with each other.
This allows you to make the most of your limited time, leverage your personal preference, and meet your business networking goals.
I’d love to hear about how you’d combine these to fit your needs. So please share your comments below…
And interestingly, in the past few weeks, I have done business with at least 6 small businesses — all of whom said that they got the bulk of their business easily — through “word-of-mouth”.
In other words, most of their clients are referred to them by past clients.
Immediately I asked them whether I could interview them, so I could find out their story and the secret of their success!
Although they were interested, no one has followed through yet.
Could it be because they have too much business already and don’t want any more publicity? Perhaps they’re too busy with their clients and don’t have the time. Or maybe they don’t want to share their secret!
Well, I don’t really know.
So let me share the story of my experience as their customer instead:
We are in the process of buying a house. So we need a lot of different kinds of services to help with the home-buying process: a home inspection company, a lead inspector, a landscape designer, a window replacement specialist, a settlement company, and so on.
We found out about each of these services from our friends and colleagues (i.e. through word-of-mouth networking).
When we asked people for recommendations for these services, we obviously asked people who had used that particular service themselves.
So each service was referred to us by a past client, who was very happy with their work (and often, happy with the price as well).
Well, we’ve been very happy with each of these businesses, and would gladly recommend them to anyone who asks for our opinion.
By the way, you’ll be interested to know that a couple of times we were told NOT to hire certain companies. Clearly, these were dissatisfied clients!
The point of this story? Well, there are two questions to ponder, actually:
Are your clients or customers satisfied with your work? How can you tell?
Do they recommend you and your business to their friends and colleagues? What (if anything) can you do to encourage this?
Here’s an interesting question from a reader, which may be one that you share too:
“How [do I] impress them instantly, such that they can devote their precious time speaking with me alone, rather than splitting their time amongst those around?”
My response:
Listen to them with your full and undivided attention.
Don’t sell, persuade, advise, talk about yourself, etc.
When you DO talk, ask questions about the other person.
If you really want to impress someone and have them talk with only you, this is all you need to do!
Try it.
Now, here is my question for you:
What will you do with all the information you get from this conversation?
No, I don’t mean to be irritating or annoying! I do however want you to think why you might want to have someone speak with you all evening.
For another take on the same topic (about what NOT to do when trying to impress someone), click here.
Whether you’re talking with someone in person, by phone or by email, there are some principles that are absolutely necessary to establish a genuine connection with a prospective customer.
Without these, your conversation is over before you even get started.
And here is an article from Ari about how to use these principles when selling via email.
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How to Use E-Mail To Connect with a Decison Maker — Without Using a “Sales Pitch”
by Ari Galper
Of all the selling mediums that have been the most abused, email seems to be at the top of the heap.
Because e-mail communication is simply text, void of any real human connection, many people who sell have adopted it as a way of avoiding having to pick up the phone to call someone new.
In fact, e-mail selling has now become part of the traditional “numbers game”. The more e-mails you send out, the better your return might be.
The problem is, you make some sales doing that, but you’ll burn your reputation and lose more opportunity that you even thought possible.
Sending a cold email to a decision maker in an organization is like a one-way electronic cold call.
And, if the email is written using a traditional sales pitch, it puts immediate sales pressure on the receiver (yes, sales pressure can be delivered through email) and the receiver immediately associates the sender with the negative “salesperson” stereotype.
I get these kind of email “pitches” all the time, as I’m sure you do as well.
The good news is, if you can shift your mindset away from making a “pitch”, and use the Unlock The Game Mindset instead, create a dialogue, be gracious and focus on a problem you can help them solve, you’ll find email can be a very profitable selling tool.
One of my clients, who is a sales executive for a software company, sent me an example of an old-school email pitch that he received last week.
I decided to dissect it and reinvent it the Unlock The Game way, pulling concepts directly from the Mastery Program, so that if you don’t have the program yet, you can get a taste of what you’ll learn.
Here’s the “cold introduction” e-mail that arrived in my client’s inbox:
Dear John,
My name is Michael Johnson and I am with XYZ company. We are the leading provider in back-office operations software with many clients such as XXX, YYY, ZZZ.
I’m writing you to see if you or your company would be interested in a demonstration of our software. It would be a brief 15- to 30-minute demonstration that we could do at your convenience.
Our website, dogandponyshow.com, lists many testimonials from customers that describe how we have improved their productivity, as well as complete details about our products and services.
I’ll give you a call later in the week to see if we can set up a time for the demonstration.
Sincerely,
Michael Johnson
Productivity Consultant
XYZ Software
On the surface, it looks innocent enough, but take a moment and ask yourself what your instant reaction would be if it arrived in your e-mail box.
Let’s look at it sentence by sentence:
Dear John,
My name is Michael Johnson, and I am with XYZ company. (Starting a conversation without asking a question can be perceived as an intrusion. Also, starting out with “My” and using “I” immediately focuses the conversation on you, not on your prospect.)
We are the leading provider in back-office operations software with many clients such as XXX, YYY, ZZZ. (This sentence is a mini-presentation designed to show off your client list. The writer is assuming that the prospect is already interested in the sender’s software. He’s also assuming that the prospect has a problem to be solved and that his company’s product can solve it.)
I’m writing you to see if you or your company would be interested in a demonstration of our software. It would be a brief 15- to 30-minute demonstration that we could do at your convenience. (Offering to demonstrate a solution without first determining any problem is likely to set off negative sales alarms.)
Our website, dogandponyshow.com, lists many testimonials from customers that describe how we have improved their productivity, as well as complete details about our products and services. (This paragraph continues the barrage of information, all based on the assumption that the reader is interested. If he isn’t, however, this writer has come across as a typical “salesperson.” He has communicated that he and his company are aggressive and interested only in the sale, rather than in taking the time to build trust and get to know the issues and problems that face potential customers.)
I’ll give you a call later in the week to see if we can set up a time for the demonstration. (This is the usual “assumptive” close used by most traditional salespeople. However, it only reinforces that this e-mail is an obvious attempt to get an appointment so the sender can make a sale, rather than opening communication so the sender can understand the reader’s world.)
Sincerely, (This is the traditional cold and aloof closing.)
Michael Johnson
Productivity Consultant
XYZ Software
My comments (in blue) zero in on the specific wording and phrases that feed the negative sales stereotype and give the impression that the writer cares only about the sale.
The problem is — even if your intentions are honest and sincere, e-mails like this are more likely to burn bridges than to build trust.
My comments show the reasons behind the phrases and why they both reduce potential sales tension and increase the chances of a favorable response.
Dear John,
Not sure if you can help me, but thought you could possibly point me in the right direction. (By starting off from a position of humility rather than with the typical assumptive introduction, and by asking for help, this e-mail gives the reader a chance to either tell the sender that he has reached the right person or to refer him on to someone else.)
Would you happen to know who in your organization would be responsible for diagnosing and solving productivity issues related to your technology infrastructure — specifically, underperforming servers, outdated software upgrades, or out-of-date computer hardware? (Rather than offering solutions, the writer is addressing very some real problems and issues that may exist in the reader’s company. In other words, the e-mail is about the receiver, not the sender. Also, the writer doesn’t mention any demonstration because problems must always come first, and the solutions later.)
I’m with XYZ company, and we specifically help companies solve these types of issues. (This reinforces that the writer’s company solves problems.)
Any help you could provide would be very graciously appreciated. (This statement expresses the warmth of the writer’s gratitude in advance.)
Warmest regards, (The warmth of this closing humanizes the whole communication.)
Michael Johnson
Productivity Consultant
XYZ Software
How do you think you would react if you received this e-mail?
Perhaps you would give a sigh of relief because you wouldn’t be feeling any sales pressure from this stranger you’ve never met.
This example shows that, even though e-mail is basically an impersonal one-way form of communicating, with the Unlock The Game Mindset you can humanize the connection.
When you give prospects a chance to respond to your request for help, you increase the possibilities for two-way communication and trust-building dialogue.
You might want to start reviewing your e-mails to prospects.
To your success,
Ari
Ari Galper is the founder of Unlock The Game™, the only selling program that completely eliminates pressure from the selling process. His Unlock The Game™ Sales Program has helped thousands of entrepenuers and sales professionals worldwide. Visit ww.UnlockTheGame.com to take a Free Test Drive!
book, I wrote about how to connect with prospects at business mixers or similar events. 
