6 Reasons You May Be Sabotaging Your Networking Success
Virtually anyone you ask in business today will tell you that networking with other professionals in your industry and with members of your target/ideal clients is key to your success.
Many of those same folks will also admit (if only in secret!) that their own networking efforts have not yielded the results they expected or hoped for.
I believe there are at least 6 reasons they are sabotaging their networking success. Do you see yourself committing any of these networking sins?
- They go to the wrong meetings (AKA “The Shotgun Approach” to Networking)
There really are no “wrong” networking meetings; there are just those that are wrong for you. Most people attend various groups without a rhyme or reason or plan. Like a shotgun that messily scatters bullets everywhere, this approach to networking rests solely on chance and hope, rather than on a system.This is ineffective, time-consuming, and expensive. - They go to Speed Networking Events
Speed Networking is all about Me, Me, Me, as everyone is trying as fast as they can to give their boring elevator speech (which in most cases is a complete waste of time, since people still don’t get what you do even after you’ve told them). The problem is that your ideal prospect is also concerned about Me, Me, Me. While they are repeating their elevator speech in their head over and over again to make sure they don’t mess up, they aren’t even listening to you tell yours.How many times have you come home with a handful of business cards of people you don’t even remember who they are?As far as I’m concerned, Speed Networking is like flushing your money down the toilet.
- They confuse Networking Events with Referral or Leads Groups
Leads groups generally are restricted to one representative from each business category, though this is not always the case. There are variations on the format of their meetings, but for the most part, there primary reason for existence is for the purpose of passing referrals or leads. In fact, it is a requirement of membership that everyone generate referrals for each other.Networking Events should be about starting and continuing a meaningful conversation. Ideally, Referral Groups would be concerned with relationship-building, but normally this isn’t the upfront focus, whereas effective networking puts the building of a relationship front-and-center.
- They don’t know how to introduce themselves and what they do in a compelling way
How many times have you asked someone what they do and one of the following occurs: (1) They finish talking and you still have absolutely no idea what they do or who they do it for; (2) You do have a sense of what they do, but they talk on and on and on while your eyes glaze over and you silently wonder how you are going to get away from them; (3) They do 15 different things.Any one of these scenarios is ineffective, at best, because it’s confusing. A confused mind always says ‘No.’
As for doing 15 different things, there’s nothing wrong with having multiple interests and ways you help people. They problem is that no one believes anyone is an expert in everything. An entrepreneur who is a one-stop shopping center is not a key differentiator.
- They think they are supposed to be selling at the networking event
Why put pressure on yourself and the people you interact with? Networking is about initiating and continuing a value-based conversation, not about selling your product or service. This should be the goal of all of your marketing efforts, of which networking is a subset. - They don’t follow up, or they don’t follow up enough (or even know how to follow up)
This last one is pretty self-explanatory. Without a specific system of follow-up in place, most people are probably not following up enough. Follow-up should also be value-based.
When you correct these basic “networking sins” one-by-one, and nurture the contacts and relationships you make at networking events, you’ll see your efforts bear fruit faster and easier ever than before.
So, in which of these areas can you improve your networking skills, starting today?
