Networking expertise to help you grow your business
Imagine the scene. It’s 10am, you’re in your office, onto your second cuppa of the day, Facebook pages have been checked and updated, and you’re dealing with the unanswered emails in your inbox. The phone rings, and the person on the other end launches into their sales pitch: “I don’t know who deals with your stationery supplies, but I wanted to tell you about our fantastic offers…”
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.”
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.
I was at a networking event recently, and spotted a lady that I’d met a few times before. I approached her, offering my hand to shake. She ignored this, and leant right over and kissed me on the cheek.
I was a little taken aback by her directness: after all, I didn’t know her well, and the event was being held in a very ‘professional’ setting – the offices of a law firm. More than that, as an Unnatural Networker, I find meeting people hard enough without having to think about kissing them. When it comes to networking, I’m just not a kissing type of guy. [click to continue…]
Charlie Lawson – BNI National Director and Word of Mouth marketing expert, whose passion is to see BNI members succeed in their businesses.
