The Basic Secrets of Successful Business Networking
Business networking means actively seeking out and building up a wide range of contacts valuable to you in your business life. And it’s free, apart from the odd membership fee. What’s more, it’s one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways of finding new customers. It can help you build your sales either through direct purchases from your contacts or through referrals.
However, it’s not easy. And it can be very time-consuming and even frustrating. To the point that you may decide it’s not worth the effort. I’m going to suggest six ways to approach business networking that will make it easier, more enjoyable and productive for you:
- Profile your targets.
By that I mean have a clear idea of the types of people you want to network with. Sit down with a pen and piece of paper and list the characteristics of the people you believe can help you. Of course, there will be more than one type, so you will have several profiles. If you offer IT training services, for instance, you might want to meet HR people, IT people, other, non-competitive training providers, small business owners, and so on.
- Be selective.
Don’t just attend every event that comes along. Use your profiling to decide what events will be more fruitful. While it depends on what you’re looking for, here are some suggestions: attend events organized by your own trade body; attend events run by your customers’ trade bodies; do the same with trade shows and exhibitions. Think about joining formal business networks, e.g., BNI or Buddy Network, but make sure that these are right for you; in other words, the other members match your profiles.
- Be realistic.
Start by realizing that, no matter which sort of event you attend, you’re not going to leave with a string of great new contacts. That’s not how it works. Good contacts don’t grow on trees, and if you can leave with just a few real prospects then you’ll have achieved a valuable goal. In other words, be realistic about what it’s possible to achieve and you’ll find networking much less frustrating.
- Prepare in advance.
Think about the sorts of people you’ll be meeting at the event and how you might approach them. Work out your tactics before you get there. Take plenty of business cards - and don’t forget them. You’d be surprised by the number of people who change their clothes for the event and then forget to bring their cards. Some golden rules about business cards: keep them up to date with your latest contact details; don’t print anything on the rear of them, as you’ll need this space for jotting down notes about your contacts. And forget the laminated cards; they might look good, but they’re not practical - you can’t write on them.
- Set realistic objectives
for the number of good contacts you want to make at the event. That will depend on your type of product or service and the type of people you expect to meet. Let’s say that you sell cut-price stationery and the attendees are all office managers; you could set quite a high target. On the other hand, let’s say you sell $10,000 IT systems; you can expect fewer contacts. There are two reasons for doing this: first, it gives you a personal target and something specific to aim at - and something to celebrate when you reach or surpass that target; second, if you fail to meet your realistic targets, you’ll know that this event didn’t work for you and you can avoid it in future.
- Commit to the process.
I said at the outset that networking is time-consuming and it can be frustrating. You’ll find that you waste a lot of time chasing dead leads. But you have to keep going.>
And no matter what type of event you attend, when you get there, don’t chicken out. Business networking requires a certain personality and drive to talk to people you’ve never met before. Lots of business people go to these events with good networking intentions, but find any kind of excuse not to go through with it. Don’t be one of them.
Tom Wilson is an expert and specialist in marketing a small business and provides free marketing strategies, tips and ideas. He runs an international marketing consultancy and is the founder of www.cluedupmarketing.com a website that provides marketing help online to the small business. Visit this and access a wide range of complimentary marketing material, including help articles, white papers and podcasts
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