SALES & MARKETING: Five Steps to Better Networking

When you make friends, you make sales. Take these five steps to increase business opportunities – and your bottom line.

1. Take an interest in people and they’ll take an interest in you.
In 1937 Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People. Now, more than 70 years later, his book still appears on the bestseller list – a sure sign he knew what he was talking about.

His advice to take interest in others remains integral to effective networking. You meet new people all the time – at a business meeting, on the sidelines of your daughter’s soccer game, waiting for a flight at the airport – and every one of these people represents a potential opportunity for you to grow your business. But first you need to get to know them. Your objective should always be to make friends, not to aggressively sell your products and services. Think of networking as a marathon and not a sprint; build relationships over time with the possibility of reward in the distance.

When you meet new people, ask them about themselves. Where are they from? What do they do for a living? For fun? Search for common ground. Maybe you’re both Bengals fans, or maybe you both have chocolate labs. Strive to establish rapport and go from there. The rest will follow in due time.

2. Listen.
Always listen more than you talk. Not only will you learn more this way, but you’ll make others feel more important for having been heard. When I network at events, I rarely offer any information about myself unless I’m asked more than once, and even then I’m careful not to say too much. After all, I’m not there to talk about myself; I’m trying to meet new people who might someday be able to help me grow my business. So listen to those you meet, ask for their business cards and memorize their names immediately. This takes effort, but you’ll be amazed by how much something as simple as remembering a person’s name does to affect the way he or she feels about you.

3. Never network alone.
Always bring someone along with you to an event where you intend to network. Ask a friend or business associate who might benefit from the event to join you. Then, as you make your rounds, you can introduce your guest to others as a way of breaking the ice. This “security blanket” will help you approach these events with confidence, and your guest will appreciate your attempts to help him or her meet new people and prospects.

4. Don’t focus solely on your networking objectives.
Whether you’re at an industry event, a charity outing or just your neighbor’s pool party, try to have fun and relax without worrying too much about how many new contacts you’re making. People can sense when your interest in them is purely mercenary. You’re not there to seal any new deals, only to lay the groundwork for potential business in the future. When you behave with this in mind, you’ll be more at ease, others will enjoy being around you and you’ll find your network expanding on its own.

5. Follow up.
Ask for the business card of every new contact you make. The next morning, take the cards of those you think have the most potential for helping you grow your business and start cultivating them. I often drop a note in the mail telling them how much I enjoyed meeting them and include a copy of my book. You might send a copy of your company newsletter, or a newspaper clipping on a topic you discussed, or even your grandmother’s apple pie recipe – anything simple that you think they might enjoy that shows your thoughtfulness. Then log away this person’s profession and be on a daily lookout for items that might interest him or her. It really is true that it’s often the small things that make all the difference.

To succeed in business, it’s not what you know or who you know but who knows you when they need you. You have to work hard to keep your name out there, and networking is one of the best ways to do this.

Talk to you next month – I’ve got to get to a networking event.