networking event

“I AM AN EXPERIENCED NETWORKER” – Not!

by Phil Berg on April 12, 2013 · 1 comment

Crowd 1“I’m an experienced networker.” I meet people that say this almost on a daily basis and I find it rather amusing. Why? Because 9 times out of 10, they aren’t what you should call an ‘experienced networker.’

Let me tell you the story about Simon, an Interior Designer that I met at a mutual friend’s party a few weeks ago (his name has been changed – or maybe not – to protect the innocent). He claimed in a very boastful, almost arrogant way, to be an “experienced” networker

My lovely wife and I were invited to the birthday party of a friend that was celebrating a big birthday – as they are the same age as my wife and I, let’s call it a 30th birthday party. [click to continue…]

Eat your own dog food!

by Richard White on April 2, 2013 · 0 comments

Dog CookiesI recently overheard someone at a business networking event use the expression “Eat your own dog food!”

It was a curious expression and I had not heard it before so I looked it up on Wikipedia and it appears it is quite a widely used expression in certain circles. Its origin is a little uncertain but it is a more colourful way of saying “practice what you preach”.

The person I overheard was talking to a marketing expert whom I know is struggling to find clients. One look at the appearance of the marketing expert would tell you that he knew nothing about personal branding. After a few sentences you would realise he knew nothing about marketing communications. His business card was one of those flimsy ones that you get for free off the internet. Get the picture?

Would you hire a disorganised Virtual Assistant to help you get organised? Would you entrust your IT support to a company that never answers the telephone and always lets it go to voicemail? Would you engage a web designer with an awful website full of broken links?

As a sales consultant and author of a book on business networking, I am always aware that my expertise is being judged by the way I network and sell as much as what I say.

Credibility is the currency of business networking and a critical factor in sales. Without credibility we are unlikely to get many referrals and we will really struggle to close the sale.

In these challenging economic times we need to ensure we have all the bases covered. One of those bases is eating our own dog food!

Richard White
Richard White is a sales coach and trainer. He specialises in helping IT consultants win more sales through effective networking. Richard is the author of ‘The Accidental Salesman Networking Survival Guide’ and is a highly sought after speaker on the subjects of networking and soft selling.

I’m terrible with names

by Charlie Lawson on March 1, 2013 · 2 comments

welcoming guestsI’m terrible at remembering names.  I always have been – and often, given I run the UK’s biggest referral and networking organisation, this can cause some interesting challenges.

‘Hi Charlie’, someone will say when we meet at an event or function.

‘Hi, how are you?’ will be my slightly stumbled, embarrassed reply.  Now I KNOW that I’ve met the person before (faces I don’t have a problem remembering) – but names – like I said, I’m terrible!

If they are wearing a name badge though, a quick glance down, and the reply is a much more satisfactory ‘Hi Tim, how are you…?’  I’m not talking about this being satisfactory for me (although less embarrassing maybe) – I’m much keener to make sure that my networking contact, in this case Tim, feels respected and that I’m interested in him.  After all, it is the relationship between us that will determine whether the two of us are profitable networking partners.  [click to continue…]

Smile please!

by David Wimblett on January 21, 2013 · 1 comment

Cheerful businesswoman showing tumbs upI’ve recently started to mentor a business owner who needs more sales, not just to make a profit, but just to stand a chance of staying in business.  Now there are a number of things that we need to work on urgently, and one of the most important is the marketing of the business.

The simple truth is that the business is a good one; it just needs more sales.  The trouble is, however good a business you may have, without sales it’s dead.  So, the marketing of any business is the key to its success. [click to continue…]

How Rude!

December 10, 2012

At a networking event recently, I bumped into Elizabeth, an old colleague from a previous job.  As it was a busy event, we both agreed that we should sit down for a coffee to have a proper catch up, so we arranged to meet the following week. With the chance to talk properly, it turned out that through our various contacts, we were both in a position to help each other.  I was really excited – her current role was on a project with a client that I’d been interested to get an introduction to, and amongst other things, I’d [...]

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ABCs of Referral Marketing – D is for debrief

November 8, 2012

How many times have you come home from a networking event with piles of business cards? Where do they go? On the desk, in a drawer or maybe they end up in the bin? A few minutes spent debriefing after an event will mean a lot for your effectiveness when networking. It is said that “time is money” but really productive time is money, and being productive means having some decent business systems to handle your networking activity. There are lots of gadgets for you gadget lovers out there, you can scan cards with all sorts of apps which will [...]

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A pocket full of cards!

September 21, 2012

I’ve just got back from a networking event – one I had never been to before – and have the usual pocket full of business cards.  I’m now sorting through the cards and making some notes and it occurred to me that you might be interested in my thinking and how it might relate to your networking in the future. In total I have the business cards of thirteen people (well fourteen really as I spoke to two people from the same company) plus an instant email (they sent it to me as we were talking) as the person had [...]

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ABCs of Referral Marketing – E is for engage

June 29, 2012

How do you engage people at an event? How to people remember you rather than your competitor or other people at an event. There are a few easy ways to engage people in conversation and to be memorable and they all involve a little thought and preparation. The easiest way to start to engage people is to ask open ended questions, prepare four or five questions which you can use depending on the situation that you can engage people in conversation. Most people are reciprocal and therefore will ask you back the same question that you asked them. So let’s [...]

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