How to get the most out of networking
1. Quotable Quote
"Nothing can move your career further and faster than having a base of associates positioned to support you in your goals. Conversely, few things feel better than using your talents to help others achieve their goals. Once considered informal, unstructured and random, networking is now viewed as an essential way of developing professional relationships. It keeps you in touch by connecting you to new people and information. It is one of the highest forms of collaboration."
2. Here's An Idea
One of the hardest things to do at a conference or workshop is to start talking to people you’ve never met before. Here’s a strategy for making this easier:
The coffee or lunch queue is a good place to begin. Usually there are at least half a dozen people waiting in line. Strike up a conversation with someone in the line, and then continue that conversation when you leave the queue. But, importantly, talk to the person behind you in the line, so that you can wait for that person after you get served. If you start talking to the person ahead of you, s/he might get their coffee and move away while you’re still being served.
3. Here's An Idea
A common mistake many managers make at networking events (seminars, meetings, conferences) is to try to talk to too many people - in an attempt to ‘really get their money’s worth’.
Harvey Mackay, in his book 'Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty', tells managers to spend time with fewer people at such functions. One or two meaningful dialogues are infinitely more valuable than time spent flitting from one person to another. The aim is to build meaningful relationships - not just see how many people you can meet.
4. Don't Forget
The usefulness or utility of a network equals the square of the number of its users.
5. Read Me
'Networking Magic' by Robyn Henderson, Networking to Win, Coogee, NSW, 1999.
6. Tea With Churchill
What a privilege it would have been to have had morning tea with the great Winston Churchill, and to have listened to him speaking profoundly on the topic-of-the-day around the table.
The late British actor Jon Pertwee was once honoured in this way. In 1938, when acting in a play in Cambridge with actress Sarah Churchill, her father would occasionally drive down from his home to take Sarah and a couple of her friends out to tea.
"I will never, ever, forget the occasion,' Pertwee recalled, 'or the advice he gave me that day. He told me:
Never miss an opportunity to learn, my boy. Find out what the person who is sitting next to you at dinner, on the train or in a meeting knows about, and then ask him how he does it. You're sure to be enthralled. It's good to learn something every day, for it keeps us on our toes, and gives a zest to living.
Today, in business and management, we use the term 'networking'-exposing yourself to new people, new ideas, new ways of looking at things, and, importantly, increasing your visibility and advancing your career prospects.
So, if you want to advance in business - and in life - heed Churchill's advice, get out there, promote yourself, and make contact. Network now.
7. Get Out Of Your Office And Go To The Bathroom
Do you spend most of your day in your office? You shouldn't. Get out and walk around. Meet people. Greet people. Talk to people. When Lyndon Johnson was a first-year senator in the United States Senate, he would leave his office a dozen times a day to go to the bathroom-even though he had a restroom in his office! On his trips he would try to "bump into" as many other senators as he could; and each time he would establish another contact and acquire more information. Adopt the same strategy yourself - and make contacts with employees, coworkers, other managers, suppliers - and anyone else who might have information you can use.
8. Getting The Most Out Of A Gathering
The purpose of networking can vary based on one's own agenda, yet the primary focus is to meet people, and have people meet you. In other words, you have the opportunity to market yourself and your business in a relaxed, social situation. This often proves to be a comfortable situation for all involved.
There are many opportunities to network in virtually every community on some scale, e.g. by visiting, and possibly joining, several organizations, but whatever you choose to do, it will only be effective if you use it. Regular attendance at the meetings is extremely important for effective networking. As you attend the meetings, you will be recognized by more and more people, as well as getting to know more and more people, and this facilitates you reaching your goal. People will know you and your company, and refer to you, and you will do the same for them to reciprocate. Personal referrals and 'word of mouth' advertising is invaluable and highly effective.
To make the most of any networking meeting you attend, the Texas Center for Women's Business Enterprise has listed the following guidelines:
- Arrive early. If you are there before the mass of the group, you are assured the maximum opportunity to meet everyone.
- Arrive with a goal in mind. Before the meeting, set a goal for yourself for that day, and then achieve it. Don't arrive at the meeting feeling lackadaisical, or unfocused. Take some time for yourself to get yourself focused before the meeting.
- Make sure you have writing materials and plenty of business cards and/or brochures.
- Make sure you have a purse or briefcase to deposit the materials and business cards which you will accumulate.
- Make sure to shake hands when introduced, or when you introduce yourself.
- Don't huddle up with co-workers or friends.
- It is easier to be approached by others if you don't appear to be busy with idle conversation.
- Don't be afraid to approach people you don't know and introduce yourself.
- Wear a name tag or business card.
10. Don't hard sell yourself or your company. Networking meetings are to be social and semi-informal/relaxed.
11. Do your best to remember names of individuals you have met.
12. Make sure your personal appearance is appropriate for the gathering. Your appearance is the first thing people notice.
13. After the meeting, it is important that you follow up with the people you have met in a timely manner. If someone was interested in your company, don't wait two or three weeks to drop them a line; they may have forgotten you by then. Also, it is very important to follow through on any promises you may have made. If you told someone you would call them with some information, make sure you do it! It is very important to be credible and reliable in order for your networking efforts to be truly fruitful.
Networking can be costly in fees, dues, luncheons, etc., but if done effectively, it can prove to be an invaluable investment in your business's success.
9. Never Eat Lunch Alone!
In 'The Pursuit of Wow!', management guru Tom Peters advises managers never to eat lunch alone. He reasons that there are 49 working weeks in a year and, after subtracting some holidays, you are left with 225 lunches per year. That, says Peters, is 225 opportunities to network and develop relationships with colleagues and clients. Of course, his calculations don't even include power breakfasts - 'a new opportunity for networking', says Peters.
10. How To Mingle
Networking at events, whether business or social, can be fulfilling and produce the desired result when done well. Here are some guidelines, with thanks to Ivan Misner, author of 'Networking for Success', Susan RoAne, nationally known speaker and author of'How To Work A Room', and Entrepreneurial Edge magazine:
- Come prepared. Have business cards, a pen and even a small notebook. It may come in handy for making more extensive notes than you can fit on the back of a business card.
- Know how to describe your business in one or two sentences, including a benefit statement, or a story about ho you handled a recent project or helped a client.
- Know what you want to accomplish at the event. For example, your purpose may be meeting a certain number of people, or finding a particular resource.
- Act according to the event. If you are attending a networking event, you can be a little more focused on developing business connections than is appropriate at a formal social function.
- Develop several different ways to start conversations. These can include commenting on the reason for the event, asking other people why they decided to attend, or even asking them to tell you something about themselves.
- Be positive, friendly, enthusiastic and have fun! Take the initiative in starting conversations. Avoid making negative comments on the room, the food, the guests or your host.
- Act as if you are a host, not a guest. Reach out to people standing by themselves, the ones Susan RoAne calls "the white knuckle drinkers." Introduce people to each other. Be helpful.
- Don't be afraid to approach people. Strangers are merely friends you haven't met yet. If you focus on the other person's comfort, you will lose your own self-consciousness.
- Exchange business cards when appropriate. Ask for other people's cards if you sincerely want to keep in touch with them. Not everyone you meet will be a good resource.
10. Keep track of your new connections by making notes on the backs of their business cards, or in your notebook. Unless you have an extraordinary memory, you won't remember the specifics of your conversations without jotting them down on the scene.
11. Try to spend no more than l0 minutes with each person you meet. Remember that both of you are at the event to circulate and meet a variety of people, not to spend the entire evening involved in one conversation.
12. Listen more than you talk. You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion. And remember that there is nothing more flattering than someone who listens carefully and shows sincere interest in other people.
13. Don't drink or eat too much. You can't easily shake hands and juggle a drink and an hor d'oeuvre plate all at the same time. And, while this sounds obvious, you shouldn't talk with your mouth full.
14. Provide a good lead or referral whenever possible. Listen for a need. Tell the prospect you know someone who offers that service, and describe the person or company you have in mind. Ask the prospect if it's all right to have that person call. Give the information to the prospect, and give the lead to the resource. Above all, don't knowingly supply bad leads to someone else. "What goes around, comes around" applies to bad leads as well as good ones.
15. Know how to gracefully end conversations. According to Miss Manners, it is perfectly fine to simply say, "Excuse me, it has been nice meeting you" or "I've enjoyed our conversation." Then visibly move to some other part of the room.
16. Follow up with the people you meet, and the contacts they give you, in a timely manner. "If you're going to ask for a lead," says Susan RoAne, "either follow up on that lead or let the person know you won't. If your follow-through is weak, people will feel you aren't good for your word."
17. Send a thank you note to sources of new connections, and keep them informed of your progress. They have a vested interest in your success, and will probably want to support you as much as they can.
18. Bring your whole self to the event. You are not just your business. On the personal side, you also have a distinct background and a wide variety of interests.
19. Be open to serendipity. You never know when the "magic" of networking might strike!
11. The Pavlova
Barry Creyton, Australian actor and playwright, advises that, if you're intent on networking, don't look as if you're networking! He supports this timely tip with this tale (the veracity of which is debatable):
"At a party in Sydney some years ago, a producer (who didn't follow my advice) used the pretence of a conversation with me to gaze over my shoulder and attract the attention of others. So busy was she working the room that she tripped over a chair and fell heavily into a Pavlova. The moral of my story is this: Until you become an expert networker, watch out for the obstacles people might put in your path."
12. Be Not Afraid
Fear of making a mistake often holds a person back in their career, says Robyn Hendersen, author of 'Networking For Success'. She says networking is about taking risks, making mistakes, feeling stupid at times, and constantly moving out of your comfort zone.
"It's okay to make a mistake. Successful networkers make lots of mistakes. They overcome their fear of failing, fear of rejection, fear of losing friends and fear of not being liked."
Remember: while one person hesitates because s/he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.
13. OYOB's Ten Tips For Successful Networking #1
- Acknowledge what stops you from networking at the level you want, and decide to overcome it. Don't get in the way of your own success. Resolve to become an excellent networker whatever it takes. Keep your promises to yourself and stay true to the networking disciplines.
- Pinpoint your purpose for networking, write it down and refer to it often.
- Recognise that the aim of networking is NOT to sell to everyone you meet. Appreciate that the first step when networking is simply to develop good personal relationships. Understand that when a good relationship is forged, your next step is simply to give and to receive information and only where appropriate, to move onto a potential business relationship.
- Re-inspire yourself about what you do for a living - re-sell yourself! If you can't, change to something you're passionate about. Write down your proposition and practise saying it out loud. Then, when you come to say it to a stranger, you are sure of what you are saying.
- Re-evaluate what you have to offer and get clear about how you can benefit others. Make your proposition crystal clear, so that you can recognise opportunities. Understand that some people will be searching for what you offer.
- Write down your purpose in life and values. For example, your purpose in life may be to be a driving force in sales and marketing and your business values may include having fun, making a difference, getting results, creating win-win situations and maintaining a balanced life.
- Undertake self-development courses to gain more confidence. You'll find plenty on the Internet, at your local library or by asking your contacts for their recommendations.
- Think two or three steps ahead. What practical steps will you need to take if someone shows an interest?
- Set networking goals. For example: to approach and talk with five complete strangers at the next function you attend, or to collect three business cards. Carry your business cards with you everywhere in a specially designed holder and always have them easily to hand.
10. Ask people for their business cards - it is flattering. Take down their details if they don't have a card.
14. OYOB's Ten Tips For Successful Networking #2
- Write brief notes about what the person said/actions you will take on the back of their business card.
- Become outstanding at remembering other people's names - and use them.
- Create a database for good network contacts - the best way is on a palm-top computer backed up on your PC.
- Keep up-to-date notes about the people you meet on your database, so that you can refer to them later
- Grade your contacts A, B or C so that you can prioritise your time in follow-though and focus on those people with whom regular contact will be most mutually beneficial.
- Carry at least one good quality writing implement with you at all times.
- Carry your diary or, better still, an electronic organiser with you so you can make appointments there and then.
- Consider having your photograph on your business card so people differentiate you after you've met with them.
- Invest in having unique stationery by appointing a good graphic designer.
10. Specialise. When you focus on a niche area within your line of work, your efforts are concentrated, you produce better results and people recommend you. Target your services at a niche group of clients. This way, your network will be made up of like-minded people who will spread the word about you.
15. OYOB's Ten Tips For Successful Networking #3
- Become genuinely interested in other people. Take the lead with them, accept and welcome them. Approach people confidently, either face-to-face at an event, in writing or, at worst, by email. Filter out those people who cause you anxiety or problems. Close your eyes and visualise yourself working successfully with the very best people you can imagine. Do this at least twice a day and you will begin to attract this kind of network
- Do what your conscience and instincts tell you are right when networking.
- Challenge yourself to be more courageous day by day. For example, approach people who you fear would not be interested in you. By talking and listening to them, you'll learn more about how they think and be better equipped for the next person and so on.
- Become the one who sets up meetings and organises others to action. Make things happen around you.
- Believe in the 'six degrees of separation' theory. It has been proven that we are each within just six telephone calls of everyone in the world, so there is nothing stopping you from having whoever you like in your network.
- Put you contacts together with others who would be useful to them. You'll soon become the kind of person that everyone wants to know
- Make it a priority to listen properly. That means emptying your mind of everything else except what the other person is saying. Absorb yourself in what you are being told. Delay you own input and just let the other person talk.
- Ask open-ended questions to encourage others to open up. Start questions with who, what, when, where and how to keep then open-ended.
- Be sensitive to non-talkers, who only become verbose about things that really excite them and who are otherwise more comfortable listening than they are talking.
10. Develop a great web site so people can follow-up with you.
16. OYOB's Ten Tips For Successful Networking #4
- Practise your handshake with someone you know. It should be firm and confident. Beware of being the 'wet fish' or 'bone-crusher'.
- Watch your body 1anguage - 'non-touchers' will stiffen slightly and even step back if they think you are about to stand too close. 'Touchers' will feel more comfortable standing close to you. This will help you develop a good relationship quickly. Make confident eye contact. This makes others feel that you accept and like them - but do not stare.
- Learn the networking customs of other cultures before travelling to their country on business.
- Check your breath. Clean your teeth, use a spray, or chew some mint gum before the event.
- Check your appearance immediately before going into a networking function.
- Develop a confident, interesting and memorable reply for when people ask what you do.
- Speak in public, to raise your profile, and give people confidence in you.
- Speak as if you want to be heard. Put a bit of passion into it.
- Smile. It's a sign of confidence.
10. Accept that when people don't smile back, its not because they are rejecting you.
17. OYOB's Ten Tips For Successful Networking #5
- Have an open agenda. Once you have developed a good personal relationship and established mutual interest, suggest a clear agenda for taking things further.
- Write down and then memorise a set of questions you can ask of anyone at any function. For example, 'How did you get into your line of business?' and 'What are the main challenges you're facing at the moment? Then you'll find taking the lead in conversations easier.
- Plan how to close a conversation and move away graciously. For example: 'I'm glad we met. I look forward to staying in touch' or, best of all, 'May I introduce you to X? You have several things in common'.
- Follow up. Write follow-up notes. Make follow-up calls. Stay in touch with people.
- Keep your promises to those you meet. For example, if you promise to send information, send it as a matter of urgency.
- Make time for networking as a priority activity.
- Read for at least half an hour a day. Keep up to date with the news. Then you can converse on a range of subjects.
- Believe that fate will work in you favour, that you are lucky, that you are destined to meet the right people. Be alert to coincidences. They are often a sign that you are compatible with certain people and companies.
- Wear your nametag to the right rather than to the left. This is the opposite of the norm and subconsciously memorable.
10. Stand tall, breathe deeply and move with purpose. You'll be a magnet to others.
18. Business Card Dossier
After your next business gathering, on the back of your new contact's business card, write notes to remind you of the conversation: his/her favourite restaurant, film, book, sport or drink, where they grew up, maybe a joke they told. In your next communication, toss in a reference to the favourite film, restaurant, former high school etc. Or reprieve the laugh over the great joke.
They may not jump up and down wondering how you managed to remember, but a special kind of kinship might be created with you, all because you took the time to remember their accomplishments, likes and dislikes.
19. The Lowdown From Lowndes
Networking advice from Leil Lowndes in 'How to Talk to Anyone' (Thorsons, London, 1999):
- Rubberneck the room. When you arrive at your next networking gathering, stop dramatically in the entrance. Then slowly survey the situation. You're not thinking 'Look at me'. Rather, you're diagnosing the situation, looking at the faces, checking on who is there, selecting your targets.
- You do the choosing. Don't stand around waiting for the moment someone approaches you. You make it happen by exploring every face in the room. No more 'ships passing in the night'. Capture whomever and whatever you want in your life.
- Munch or mingle? If you networking opportunity involves food and drink, decide whether you've come to munch or mingle. Don't expect to do both. Like a good politician, chow down before you come if you're serious about networking.
20. Name Tag
At a conference or large meeting, try attaching something to your name tag (e.g. small flower, postage stamp, cut-out object etc) if you want people to see it clearly when they meet you. It will help them better remember you as well.
21. Networking Conversations Made Easy
If striking up conversations with strangers at conferences causes stress, Rachel Green in Network offers this advice to give you confidence:
- Prepare topics to discuss before hand. Aim to meet a certain number of people and enjoy yourself.
- Don't cling to familiar faces. Introduce yourself to those looking lost or bored and do so distinctively - begin by sharing some information about yourself or the event.
- Keep the conversation flowing. Be confident. Talk about yourself but be interested in the other person's life. Remember key details, i.e. name, job, partner's name etc. Ask open questions.
- Generate a variety of topics to discuss. Use the surroundings; talk about books, movies, the news; your own personal interests and experiences. Exchange business cards.
- Aim to meet other people, so politely thank the person and exit the conversation clearly and confidently. Another option is to introduce them to someone else before moving on.
22. The Rules Of Networking
- Don't act as if you are doing it.
- Seek contacts outside your professional gene pool.
- Multi-task it with another activity.
- Remain sober.
- Do not conduct business at urinals.
- If you finish with dozens of business cards you haven't been effective.
- If you leave with a warm inner glow, you weren't networking.
23. Mackay On Networking
'I don't know what I will be doing a year from now, but whatever it is undoubtedly will be based on the contacts I made today.'
'You're never too old to start networking. And you're never too young either.'
'There are no dead-end jobs. There are only dead-end people. If you build a network you will have a bridge to wherever you want to go.'
'Networking is not a numbers game. The idea is not to see how many people to meet; the idea is to compile a lot of people you can count on.'
'Getting through the fence to the top dog is easy, if you know the gatekeeper.'
