benefit

What Impact Does a Nation’s Culture Have on the Growth of Networking?

April 10, 2012

Last year I visited Vietnam to speak at two events about networking and why it is so important. In preparation for my talks I asked Vietnamese business owners and expats based there for their views on Vietnamese networking culture and how it compares to the way we network in the West. Whenever I speak overseas I am told that the culture in the country I am visiting is different to the UK and, importantly, is less well developed. Swedes tell me they are shy, Romanians told me they are less willing to share ideas, contacts or advice. The Vietnamese told [...]

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How not to have a conversation

April 2, 2012

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.” At that point, the conversation ended.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t trying to offend him (or every other accountant) – I just literally couldn’t think of anything else to say!

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It’s a Pain!

March 30, 2012

That’s what we solve for clients is it not? We take pain away from them so they can be more efficient and profitable in their business, or personal life for that matter. Generally, potential clients do not want to hear the benefits of your products and services – although people think they do. A study done some years ago where 200 homeowners were given a survey on their homes proves this. Half the homeowners were told if they insulated their homes they would save 50 cents a week. 12 people out of the 100 took up the offer. The second [...]

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Trading stories: How to make your 1-2-1 meetings more effective

March 30, 2012

1-2-1 meetings are an important element of business networking. They help build relationships, develop trust, and identify areas of potentially working together in one way or another. One of the most effective ways I have discovered for achieving this is by sharing stories with each other. I am not talking about telling fairy stories. Real life is much more interesting!

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Why the Death of the Business Card has been Widely Misreported

March 12, 2012

A couple of weeks ago an article in Bloomberg Businessweek asked how business cards survive in the ‘Age of LinkedIn’. The article’s author, Roger Bennett, quoted Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital describing business cards as “so horse-and-carriage”. He went on to describe the range of technological innovation designed to commit physical business cards to the annals of history, including ‘Bumping’ smart phones, applications that share virtual cards and LinkedIn itself.

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The ABC of referral marketing – b is for benefits

March 5, 2012

Before you begin marketing any product or service you need to know some basics, what is your value proposition? How are you different from your competitors? What are the features of your product? And of the utmost importance in word of mouth marketing….what are the benefits. The benefits of your product or service are what the client is left with after you are gone, it is the value that they have derived from having some interaction with your product or service. Clients and customers want a product to do a job or a service to meet a need not as [...]

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The more BO you have, the more – and quicker – “Yeses” you get

February 1, 2012

You have to be good at persuading people to say “Yes”. These yeses could be big (“please invest £millions in X”) or small (“please can we have a 121?”). They could relate to work (“please can you buy this?”) or home (“please can you tidy your room?) The better you are at triggering ‘yeses’, the more – and more quickly – you succeed. But it’s not easy.  People have their own agendas, priorities and motivations.  And they’re often very different to yours.  This means it’s often easier for them to say “No”.

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Are you ready to get different results from your networking in 2012

December 25, 2011

As you review your year, as you celebrate your results and successes and re-live the challenges, what will you think about your networking results?  Will you be pleasantly surprised by the percentage of your business that has been created by your contacts, or will you be attempting to justify the cost and time again?

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