It’s hard to be in business today, certainly in the professional
services sector, without having heard the term ‘networking’.
Regarded by many as the Marmite of business, it is said that you
either are a networker or you aren’t. And if you think you
aren’t, you shouldn’t even try to do it.

Rubbish!

First of all, networking is essential to any business – whether
offline or online. The business you get from personal
recommendation will be some of the best business you ever do – they have pretty much made up their minds to use you before they
even call you, and they are a lot less concerned with price. And
it’s not just for solicitors and accountants – when your pipes
burst, how did you decide on a plumber to come out and fix it?
Was it someone you had heard good things about before? Maybe you
didn’t know anyone, so you called a friend and asked if they knew
a good plumber? Joe Bloggs Plumbers just won the business of
fixing your pipes through networking.

A good way to look at it is not as ‘networking’ but as
‘word-of-mouth marketing’. Because it is part of your marketing
mix – how’s your advertising? Local papers? Spot on radio?
Good, good. PR? Interview on local news this week? Fantastic.
How about promotions? Give aways? Offers? All sorted? Great
stuff. Got a website? Optimised for the search engines? Lots
of enquiries from it too? Brilliant.

And how about your word of mouth?

Not enough people concentrate on generating referrals and getting
people to mention their business to others. Millions of pounds
of business is done every year through referral and
recommendation. If you’re not getting any of it, you need to
think long and hard about why not.

So you’ve got yourself to a networking event, you tell the people
there about what you have to offer, and then ask if they want to
buy it, right? Wrong! If you do this you have become the person
at a networking event that everyone wants to avoid – the one
handing out business cards like they’re dealing a poker game; the
one who asks you nothing and tells you more than you could ever
want to know about what they do.

So how do you do it? The best way to network is to build trust,
build relationships, to think about what you can do for the other
people in the room before you think about what you might get. Be
a ‘people person’, be genuinely interested in the people you meet
at events. Great networkers want to help as well as get help – because they like helping others, not just because it might get
them some business in the future.

Networking is about building a relationship that eventually leads
to business being done, either between you and your new contact,
between you and someone they recommend, or between them and
someone you recommend. Don’t discount that last one – they have
to get something out of your relationship as well, otherwise it
isn’t a relationship. If you help them get more business, they
will do the same for you – in fact they’ll feel obliged to.

Where can I network?

The short answer is absolutely anywhere! Remember Joe Bloggs
Plumbers, the guys who fixed your pipes? You don’t find many
plumbers at networking events, but they still get referrals.
Networking happens when you talk to your colleagues at work, when
you go to the pub with your friends, it happens when you overhear
a conversation in the bus queue. Networking is about the
impression you leave people with, and you make impressions all
day, every day.

Of course you will make more effective contacts for referrals at
specialised networking events, but remember there are several
different kinds of events you can go to. Some of the most
established are breakfast meetings, which usually start around
7.00am and finish around 9.00am. Meetings are usually weekly and
the format is very focused and regimented. For those who like
this format, there is a lot of business to be done, but it is an
acquired taste. Try it out, but bear in mind whether or not you
can keep up with the regular early mornings and very formal
structure. Also, most breakfast meetings are restricted to one
person from each business sector, so you are not as likely to
meet people you can form alliances and joint ventures with, which
is a very important, and often overlooked part of networking.

There are also several different kinds of event organised by
groups such as local government organisations, such as race days,
golf days and others. These can be a lot of fun, but are very
often filled with people who are there for the golf rather than
to do business, and you may have to kiss a lot of frogs to find
your prince. Networking events are really a matter of preference
and perspective, and you should go to as many events as you can
at first, and then stick with the ones that work for you.

In summary, there is a simple and effective way to network that
anyone can do:

1. Get to know people as people, not prospects.
2. Everything happens after a meeting, not during. Always,
always follow up.
3. Give referrals as well as expect to receive them.
4. Keep in touch on a regular basis.

Best of luck with your networking!

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