Business Networking is a vital part of business success. The relationships you create and foster now can have a huge influence on your future success – this could be whether you are looking for a job, trying to grow your own business through word of mouth marketing or even trying to get elected to a position – either as a politician or on to the Board of an organisation that you may be the member of. This article contains tips that would be useful in all of these situations but, because I am a business owner, the focus here is on business networking.
The business networking tips mentioned below may seem basic but they do create the foundation for your success in networking. Check them out and embrace them. Make them everyday habits and I have no doubt that you will quite quickly see a great level of success.
1. Always carry business cards and make notes on others business cards – If you meet someone that you want to further develop a relationship with you need to ensure that you have a way for them to keep in touch with you. Here your business card is a vital tool. Further, when you collect their business card, make sure you make some notes on the card about where you met this person and something else of interest. As you increase your networking you will find that you start to collect a lot of business cards and it can be hard to keep track of who is who. The best way to do this is through notes. This can also jog other people’s memories when you later try to reintroduce yourself – either via email or at another event.
2. Be passionate and share your passions – No one likes or remembers the boring person. Be passionate about what you do and share this passion. Enthusiasm is contagious and if you can have an enthusiastic conversation with someone this makes you memorable and can be the foundation of a long lasting friendship and business relationship.
3. Listen and be helpful – Networking gets a bad wrap when you hear horror stories of slash and burn networkers. These people attend a networking event, hand out 100 business cards, maybe collect 100 and think they’ve had a great night. The main problem for these people is that they haven’t set any foundations for long lasting relationships. They haven’t actually networked. Don’t go to a networking event thinking what’s in it for me. With every person you meet try and think of a way that you might be able to help them. The more you help others the more likely they are to want to help you so you do end up getting what you want in the end.
4. Boost your visibility at networking events – If there is an organising committee for a group you are involved with – whether a service organisation or a business networking group like BNI – you should apply for a position on the leadership team. This means that more people will see you and leaders generally get more referrals as they are seen to be helping out the group as a whole. It’s also a great opportunity to foster deeper relationships with others on the leadership team.
5. Attend different networking events to the norm – You need to get out there more. There are many different types of networking events and you should consider other networking events to grow your network. For example, I am not an accountant but one of my target markets is accounting firms. There is benefit to me attending events run by accountants so I can be seen as part of their network and build relationships with these people before making my final pitch.
6. Increase your level of education – I am not talking about going to university to “study” networking. You don’t need a formal qualification. There are a number of excellent books out there that can help with your networking. Two I will mention are The 29% Solution and Networking Like a Pro.
These are the 6 tips that I can recommend as strong foundation activities to improve your networking. However I wanted to add a little bit below as I know how hard it can be to introduce yourself to someone at a networking event.
Here are some potential conversation starters at a networking event:
- Just smile – it is not confronting and will put the other person at ease.
- Introduce yourself – “Hi my Name is”
- Complement the other person on something they are wearing
- Talk about the weather or traffic or something easy to get started.
- DON’T TALK ABOUT POLITICS OR RELIGION
- “Man it’s hot (cold) in here.”
- “Man, I hate networking” – this one is a good approach for the lonely guy you see hiding in the corner.