Last week, while at a networking event, I met a man called Mark. Here is a transcript of our conversation:
Me: “Hello there Mark, I’m Charlie – what do you do?”
Mark: “I’m an accountant.”
Me: “Oh.”
Working a Room
Christmas is coming… and I’ve been invited to another networking event. What joy…! Another bunch of people I don’t know. I know I should engage in small talk. I know I should be looking to generate some new business. I know I should give out lots of business cards, at which point they’ll give me theirs. I know that when I get back to the office in January I’ll do absolutely nothing with the cards I’ve collected.
In my humble opinion, the only thing you can get wrong when networking is the initial approach. My personal golden rule is to ensure that the person you are speaking to doesn’t feel like you are trying to “sell” to him or her. Make it non-threatening and they will stay in the conversation (for a little while, at least). The reason I say that is because if the initial conversation goes wrong, then there isn’t a chance to get it back at that stage or ever (sure, at a later date perhaps, but not at that moment). As the saying goes, “…you might not get a second chance to make a first impression!”
Networking should be thought of as “stages”…
1. Why am I networking in the first place?
2. Where should I network?
3. When should I network?
4. Locate the people I want to network with
5. Start a conversation that simply breaks the ice
6. Create interest in a way that they would like to speak to me again (even better, if they are actually looking forward to speaking to me again)
…and none of this must ever come across as “desperate” or “salesy”!
Growing your business by networking and referrals makes good sense. Pretty much all business is personal these days, and building trusted relationships that lead to recommendations and introductions is a good use of your time. Good networking is coachable. You can get better. And the best way to do that is to copy the great networkers. Here are 10 things you will always see the best networking doing…
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