Networking My Way

When I speak with people about networking I often receive back blank stares, so I thought it might be helpful to put my key points down on paper so that more of you can think about these principles and apply them to your business.  I will end with a real life example of what not to do.

Clearly 90% of my business comes directly as the result of networking.  I help companies achieve a higher level of success as a partner with B2B CFO®.  In my opinion, however, it does not matter whether you are trolling for your own clients or networking to find a W-2 gig the rules are the same and I really only have a few.

When you are meeting with someone for the first time, if at all possible, meet at their office.  This is a safe place for the person you are meeting with and it is also the source of any information they may need to share with you.  I have often had people go to their computers for information while they were speaking with me.  Many people do carry all this info in their PDA but still try and get to their office.  Besides information, their office will also give you clues about how to best build rapport with them, so use their safe place to your advantage.

The second major rule is follow up.  If someone gives me a referral name, I will acknowledge back to the referring party a thank you for the referral, immediately.

The second point of contact I have is after I have set up a meeting with the referral, I will go back once again to the person making the referral and let them know that we have made contact and that we are meeting.  Likewise if I have trouble making contact, I will let the referring party know this as well.

I will go back a third time, after meeting the referral and thank the person again and state very briefly how the encounter went.  I don’t write anything more than a brief sentence.  This does a number of things.  First it takes seconds to do and seconds to read.  It shows a true appreciation for the fact that you were given a referral name and it closes the loop in case there is contact between the two referring parties.

Now my true story; this is actually a client who I have been working with to try and expand their sales and marketing effort by the use of networking.  I had gotten them thinking about where their best customers came from, with the idea of identifying who they should be speaking with to find new customers; then how to network into those contacts.  In the course of this discussion I determined two potential customers for them that I had in my network and asked if they would be good referrals for them, they agreed.  I then contacted the other partner to make sure they wanted the connection; so that when I made the referral it would be a truly warm lead.  I made the connection then waited.  I had actually sent them three different connections all in their sweet spot and I have yet to hear from them, over a month later.  Now on a normal basis I would write a group like this off, you don’t ignore a referral source, except they are my client and I am specifically trying to help them improve in this area.  So don’t be like this group.  Your referral sources are gold, so treat them that way.

The benefit of being a partner with B2B CFO® is the support I have around topics such as networking.  We are taught from the beginning how to network to find clients.  At our annual meetings we always have sessions on business development.  If you are interested in learning more just how B2B CFO® can help you in your success journey then contact me.