Here is the question… why do you go to networking events?
Can you answer that? Most people think they can but many have no real clue. Some will say to get new leads, or to get people business cards, or to connect with the right people. While all of those are true what is the REAL reason you go? It’s very selfish when you say it out loud but this is the only reason you should ever go out networking, to get a new client, to get new business, to make more money…
Think about it. Isn't that the real reason you take time out of your busy schedule to go to a networking event? Well if you just said no then it should be.
Yeah yeah.. I want to help people too. But if all we dd was help people we would be broke and not able to help anyone anyway.
So now once again, if we have now narrowed our focus to 1) getting a new client or 2) getting new business or 3) making more money , then how does networking really help us out?
Networking is the first step to making a great personal connection. I have met many people who think networking is about how many people you can meet.
I recently attended a networking event where they held the event at a nightclub. Nothing roped off, nothing private about it. At the door if you said you were a networker they charged you $20 and let you go make you own name tag. And then you had to find the other people who were wearing nametags vs the people who were not. And yes, many of the women don’t wear their name tags because it interferes with their sense of style. So you could walk up to almost anyone, introduce yourself and if you didn't get slapped or visually berated from a table of women who were not networking then you might have made a first connection except for one thing, the sound system. Yes, the music was very loud, the cacophony of conversation noise added in and … wait for it… the live band then began playing.
Needless to say, I left quite early and the next day I spoke to another attendee who said they thought it was a great event and they had met more than fifteen people that night.
Now let us return to the reason we went to the event. And I did not ask because my input was not requested but I was very curious to know how many appointments my networking friend had established, how many phone calls had they agreed would be received and by whom?
By that I mean when we go networking for the purpose of meeting someone, it is to ascertain if what my services are could be valued enough by the person I have met to allow them to part with some of their hard earned money in order for me to help them grow or improve their business in some manner. To be of value to them. Does that seem to make sense?
And in my trainings I teach people how and what questions to ask to start a great conversation to find all of this out. When was the last time you heard question #2… I mean you always hear, ‘so, what do you do?’ but the next question sets up the 3rd and fourth… it is… ’and, how is your business?’
How many of you are asking that key question? Now for what you will find out about their business, but 1) what you will find out about how they think their business is and 2) you will start to get a feeling of their pain issues about their business. (but that is all part of the Professional Networking Workshop).
and those four questions will help you (yes I am big on numbering) a) establish your concern and interest b) place yourself (if applicable) into a place where you can begin to ease their pain 3) establish yourself as their helper so you can make them feel like they need and want to talk to you.
NOW we have gotten somewhere! because the purpose of your networking is to GET AN APPOINTMENT so you can sit down and spend some quality time to find out if the two of you want or need to do business together. And the appointment is what networking is really all about.
I am Steve Sapato from MentalProsperityBlog.com and I am your networking expert.
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