Effective Networking

June 8, 2010 — Anonymous

As business coaching professionals we are mentoring leaders, we are leading leaders and helping them get back on track or improve an already amazing track record.

San Franscisco is host to the Pacific Veterinary Conference this year. It runs from July 15th to 18th, put on by the California Veterinary Medical Association. No doubt there will be all kinds of pet food suppliers and medical supply companies on hand at the conference. And plenty of networking going on.

On the CVMA website, they have a page about how you can get involved. I bet anyone who is associated with the CVMA is considered highly respectable by their clientele.

“Everything counts! Not just what you want to count, but everything.” That’s a quote from a piece by Brian Tracy entitled Everything Counts!

He goes on to tell a story about a friend who is very overweight, who keeps complaining that he doesn’t understand why he is so heavy even though he eats right – salads, fruits, etc. Then one day Brian watched him finish off a second piece of cheesecake and asked him about how that fit in with the diet. The friend told him, “That doesn’t count.” Heh heh… neither do burnt cookies or any foods eaten between midnight and six am.

So when I talk about networking, let’s keep that in mind.

Referral networking doesn’t just mean going to the businessmen’s (or women’s) networking luncheon every third Wednesday of the month and collecting a bunch of business cards.

There are two things to apply from that “Everything Counts” concept when you’re networking:

Make sure you are always on: be the business you are selling.
Make sure the you that is “on” is making a business contact.

Networking effectively means you’re building business relationships.

Rather than diving onto someone and trying to sell them his/her best material –

A good networker can discuss what he does and integrate it into the conversation.
A good networker knows that their business offers the best: he can talk with confidence about what he does and
A good networker can give examples of his success.

Networking means to integrate yourself into the community. If it’s the local business community, if it’s the Chamber of Commerce – you should be one of the guys on a committee – it shows leadership.

Okay, I understand there isn’t much more than those 24 hours in one day, but if you take some of those hours and use them to work with a bunch of like-minded contacts, who very likely will need your services at some point – consider it time you could have spent designing a website or a brochure: but better, because you’re already face-to-face or at least phone-to-phone with a prospect.

Networking isn’t always easy for people who are less than social, but if you are in a small business and you aren’t in a position to hire a sales person, you really need to find a way to put yourself out there as a human being!

This is where a FocalPoint business coaching professional can help you.

First off, we can help you decide whether it’s time in your business to bring in some sales and marketing assistance.
Secondly we can actually help you set-up a networking routine or schedule – a system – that you can integrate into your business life and calendar.
Third, we can set you up with scripts and teach you techniques that will help you deliver the best of yourself and your business when you are in a networking situation.

If you think you could do with some help networking why not contact a Brian Tracy Certified Business Coach in your area?

And please, if you have any tips or tricks that you use in networking, share them with our business management community by posting a comment below. Thanks for reading.

's blog

Comments

Networking effectively is an

June 8, 2010 — Jerold S. Cohen (not verified)

Networking effectively is an excellent way to market your business. Before starting you networking it is important to decide what type of networking groups and events you wish to attend. In any area, there are lots of networking groups to chose from, ranging from free to expensive, open or exclusive, and happening in all types of venues.

Some groups such as BNI, require a weekly committment to attend, and ask that the members share referrals. These groups are generally exclusive, and will only have one member of any particular profession, so you are not competing with another group member for the same referrals. They often meet in restaraunts. Although this structure works extremely well for many people, others, do not like the weekly time committment or the other requirements that go along with membership. Although BNI is probably the most well know of this type of group there are many other networkers that have formed groups using a similar model. BNI generally meets first thing in the morning for breakfast, while some of the other groups have decided to do lunch, dinner or drinks, or even no food. If joing this type of group you must decide which time slot works best for you as well as evaluating if the members are the right people to help you build your business.

At the other end of the spectrum are groups that are open and require no committment. The organizer plans an event which is open to anyone from any profession that would like to attend. You can select evewnts that meet at a time you wish to attend. These often meet at clubs, bars, restaraunts or offices. At this type of event it is highly likely that you will meet other individuals who do the same thing as you do. When doing this type of networking, you want to be very clear about what sets you apart from others in your field, your unigue selling proposition (USP), as well as what benefits the client would receive by working with you. The people you meet at the event need to know what differentiates you from others in your field.

There are also networking events that are designed for members of a specific group, such as healthcare providers, architects or lawyers. If the members of this group are people you wish to meet it is possible that you can attend, but make sure to check with the organizers if their event is open to people working with members of this profession or only to members of the profession. At these events, like the one above you may meet people who do the same thing that you do, and want to be able to exsplain what differentiates you from others.

These last two types of events require you to walk up to strangers and introduce yourself and start a conversation. This is often difficult for introverts, but once the conversation starts it can be very rewarding. You should always ask the other person how you can help them, and what types of people they are looking to meet. If you have already met someone that fits their criteria, you should attempt to bring the two together. By helping others you will ultimately help yourself.

At the BNI type of events, you will meet the same people every week, and get to know them. Many people find this a much more comfortable situation since they do not like having to talk to strangers.

It is also important that you determine how much time you are going to spend networking in any given week, and then decide which of the groups you have identified will help you make the right contacts for your business. It is possible to be at networking events every morning and every night, but remember that for every event you attend you should follow up with the people you meet, so there is more time spent than just the time at the event itself. At the end of the event you should review and assess if you could have done anything differently, if you met the types of people you had wanted to meet, and if you want to continue attending this event. Keep in mind that it might take a few meetings to determine if you want to continue attending this group.

Determine what kinds of groups you wish to attend and how often. By planning in advance your networking will be much more effective.

Jerold S. Cohen

Certified Business Performance Coach, FocalPoint Coaching by Sharpen Your Focus Associates, LLC

Serving New York and New Jersey

212-599-1851

http://jeroldcohen.focalpointcoaching.com

Networking requires a few key

June 9, 2010 — Chris Allen (not verified)

Networking requires a few key attitude changes to be successful:

1) It's not all about you! Don't be "that guy/gal" that comes up to everyone, shakes their hand, tells them what they do and with a flip of a card is gone. If you take the time to listen to what the other person has to say, they will automatically take an interest in you and what you do. It's all about building long-term relationships which either develop into a direct sale or even better turns into a referral source for you ... extending your sales force by one person at a time!

2) Do what you say you are going to do and follow-up! If you go to events and never follow-up, it sends the message you weren't really serious about helping the person, doing business with them or learning about their business.

3) Be professional - Dress the part you'd like to convey. If you are a house painter, a networking meeting isn't the time to show up in coveralls coated with paint like you just walked off a job to go to this meeting. No one wants to be leery about brushing against you or shaking your hand. This doesn't mean everyone needs to come in a suit and tie, but at least come in like you are expecting to meet people who'd like to do business with you. As another part of this, take the time to think about your marketing message. No one wants to spend 15 minutes listening to you discuss everything you do the first time they meet you. Try to come up with a 10-15 second "what you do" message. It should generate a response of "How do you do that?" Then have a 30-40 second "How" message which answers that question. This length message gets people interested in any venue or at least impresses them that you have your act together. Then spend the rest of the time listening to what they do. If there's a mutual interest, you can then plan for a follow-up to learn more about each other's respective businesses and possibly conduct some business.

4) Have clear objectives - the objective isn't to get a business card from everyone at the event. For an event to be useful, you should at least get 3-4 quality leads on business and 2-3 people who you've planned a follow-up with for each of you to learn more.

5) Test and measure - Is your message getting the desired result? i.e., more business, or at least people wanting to follow-up with you. Are the events you are choosing yielding the results you are looking for - # of quality leads & follow-ups? If not, either what you are doing is not right, or the event itself is not right. Take the time to think about the event, how you positioned yourself, how people reacted, etc. Ideally, doing some of this after each person you've met is the right approach.

Good Networking to All!

Chris Allen, Owner & Certified Business Coach for The Business Spotlight, Inc.

"Lighting the Way to Your Success!"

Cincinnati, Ohio

www.TheBusinessSpotlightInc.com

www.linkedin.com/ln/christophershawnallen

513-272-6224 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 513-272-6224 end_of_the_skype_highlighting (513-27COACH)