Career tips

Networking or Notworking?

Lets start by being honest with ourselves shall we?

We are in business to make a profit and profit comes from firstly getting and then keeping customers. It matters not what your product is, how many staff you have or even the level of I.T you have in your organisation.

Without customers we are sunk, and don't let anyone tell you any different!

Getting customers is what networking is all about. You don't go to lunch to eat lunch, you go to lunch to meet new and established acquaintances and to increase your network of contacts. Networking effectively will eventually allow you to lay to rest the old beliefs that getting business is about calling people cold, hoping you speak with someone who can help, and then hoping they want to see you.

I cannot recall the last time I made a cold call. In fact, unless it is to clean a database or something similar where you don't need to speak to a specific person, I now regard cold calling as an ineffective way to grow a business. At worst, cold calling can be seen as intrusive.

Nowadays with the growth of networking there seems little or no need to cold call. New networking organisations are springing up almost weekly. Here in the Leeds area, we are particularly spoilt for choice when it comes to finding new business over breakfast, lunch or even a footy match. The Business Network, BNI and of course many other Networking events hosted by a multitude of organisations and individuals, are rich with business opportunities for the brave warrior who is prepared to stick their neck out and ask for them.

Over the last two years I have generated over £150,000 worth of business from networking within the Leeds area. More than half of that has come as a result of my membership of the Leeds Chamber. One thing you can be sure of - the business is out there!


It's an old one, I know, but there really is only one letter between 'Networking' and 'Notworking'.

Have you ever wondered...

The answer is simple.

Some people network effectively ~ some people don't!

It's really is as simple as that. Oh I know, some people will tell you it's not as easy as that; they will tell you the business is just not out there; they will tell you the competition is slaying them; if they get desperate they may use the old chestnut "I just never seem to be in the right place at the right time!"; they may even resort to the worst excuse of all "I'm just not lucky when it comes to networking!"

Let's put those sacred cows to rest once and for all.

 

The Business is out there

The business is out there and in abundance. But the bad news is...so is the competition and, if they have any sense, they are not going to say "After you!"

We are always in the right place and it is always the right time to network. I am working with one of the largest sports teams in the UK as a result of "bumping into" someone in Tesco's at Askham Bar in York. I worked with a toiletries supplier in Dubai because I sat next to someone on an aeroplane. You see, when I meet someone I would like to do business with, I am not afraid to ask for a business card, an appointment or even better still an opportunity to work with them.

Networking is not about being lucky.

"Every act of genius and every success is simply the reaction to a prepared mind meeting a serendipitous moment."

When someone told Arnold Palmer how lucky he was to have holed a shot out of a bunker he replied, "The harder I work the luckier I get." Likewise, when people tell me or other people who have made a success out of effective networking that we are lucky the same answer applies. "The more people I speak to about my organisation the luckier I get.

So how do we become more effective at networking? Firstly it might help to understand what the word networking means.

According to the Collins dictionary, networking is: A group of broadcasting stations connected for simultaneous broadcasting of the same message. This means that if a number of people are talking about your organisation in a number of places at the same time you have probably been networking effectively. And the more people you have talking about you, the more (unpaid) staff you have working for you.

By the way, there is a difference between 'networking effectively' and 'networking efficiently'. 'Efficient' means doing something right. 'Effective' means doing the right thing right. More about this later when we go fishing...


Here are a few ideas you might like to try over the coming months to increase your business through effective networking.

Have a sense of direction.
I have been to a lot of network meetings in the last few years and I am used to seeing people there who don't have a clue why they are there. They know that they want to make contacts in the hope of getting more business but they don't know whom they want to meet specifically and, if they do meet someone, they are not certain what it is that they want. Knowing what you are looking for, and what you will do with it when you find it, will help you to be more focussed throughout the meeting. It also helps when some helpful person says "Can I help you?" You can immediately reply "Yes please. I'm looking for..."

Fish where the big fish swim.
When someone goes fishing they will probably take a rod, some bait and a couple of beers and hope they will be 'lucky' enough to catch something. If this is the way you go networking your future as a master networker is in jeopardy. Taking a few business cards, a diary and a good speech and hoping you will catch something isn't going to work I'm afraid. Most networking organisations nowadays will, if you ask them, let you have a list of their members. If they don't do this, or worse still won't tell you who their members are, ask them why not. Before you join an organisation, or attend a meeting, find out if the people you want to do business with are members or are at least attending the meeting. If not don’t go! Of course for you to be able to do this you first have to decide who it is you want to work with. This is where having a sense of direction becomes very important.

Decide NEVER to give up.
In April 2003, I started working with an organisation in Dubai. The contract came, in a very roundabout way, as a result of another contact I made at a network meeting I attended in York in September 1999. Networking gives you no guarantees as to when you will start to get business - just that you will IF you do it effectively. Keep going, keep asking and keep on keeping on. It will work in the long run...I promise.

If you would like a copy of my audio CD and booklet, 27 Proven Ways to Grow Your Business, you can contact me via my online contact form.

Networking is not about selling; it is about meeting and speaking with people whom you can form a mutually beneficial relationship. Which brings me nicely to some of the things that I believe need to exist between two people or organisations for effective networking to grow. They are:

I would like to think that the days of pyramid selling "give me the names of all of your friends and family" are long gone. There may still be a few dinosaurs out there but they wont last too long now.