The thought process of the customer is to shop around for a product or service, so they have put the word on the street that they are on the market for a particular product.
If you feel uncomfortable with the thought of networking, then change the way you think about it. Most of us think that networking is an activity, an event to attend, or a “thing to do”, in order to market our business. Rather than think of it that way, look at networking as an attitude, or a skill to be developed. It’s something that can become a part of us every day, and can be shared with everyone we meet.
Think about a time when you needed to make a new connection, say, to a reliable auto mechanic. You may have started out by scanning the yellow pages only to realize that there’s no way to know who’s honest and competent. What do you do then? You do what everyone does: they turn to friends, family and acquaintances for a personal recommendation. If the first person you ask can’t offer you a good referral, he or she may know someone who can, and if not, you move on to the next person on your list, and the next. Pretty soon you make the connection you were looking for…even without your set of official networking helix units!
Timing is software defined networking everything here-spend enough time to connect with someone but not so much time that you don’t get around the room. If you spend too much time with one person, it will feel like you’re trying to sell yourself; too little time, you’re using them. So, be sure to have a firm handshake, use eye contact, ask what they do, what brings them here, ask a follow up question, let them know what you do, and then excuse yourself. “So nice to meet you. We have plans to follow up. I’ll call you tomorrow to set that appointment. Now I must move on so that I am doing my job as a networker.” After all everyone knows why you’re there so why not acknowledge the obvious.
It takes a certain amount of self-discipline, commitment, perseverance, strength and a LOT of work. Unfortunately, we do not all possess these qualities. If you feel that you do, then you can do it!
Do you need to know what you are doing? No. If that were true, most businesses would never get off the ground. There is tremendous support both from other businesses to government sponsored development corporations to point you in the right direction. Many small business networking groups generate workshops on management topics, not to mention the glut of information on the internet. Line up a group of trusted advisors and take their advice.
Ask open-ended questions during your networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion for real communication and it shows that you are interested in what the other party has to say.
Remember that everyone you meet has the potential to lead you to your target. Most people are only three to six degrees removed from the person with whom they need to connect.
Recently I was watching Kudlow & Company on MSNBC and they tried a similar concept. Just before a station break they announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was no longer the most powerful woman in the world any more according to Forbes magazine. They expected me to sit through the break to wait for the answer as to who replaced her. Do you think I waited? With my faithful notebook computer right next to me I had the answer before the first commercial was over. The world’s most powerful woman was now Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, according to the list. By the time the break was over I was no longer watching Kudlow and had found my way to other on-demand news and information from the Internet and could care less about the rest of the program (and I’m a huge Kudlow fan!).
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