Now that we have discussed some of the qualities that will help you to become a master networker, what about some actions? What will it take to become successful in any networking activity?
Let’s focus on some fundamentals …
You don’t have to be a mad extrovert to be a successful networker – I am largely introverted. I can appear to be extroverted when needed, but only to a limited degree and not in every situation. I work best in smaller venues and I will avoid larger gatherings like the plague.
Oddly, I am comfortable in front of large crowds but not in one. As there are a ton of suitable networking opportunities out there, avoiding large venues becomes a non-issue.
Take it slow – Wherever you are, be sure to take your time to get settled in. You must get to know people before approaching them. More importantly, they need to become comfortable with you.
I once joined a group and on the day of our first meeting, a member who was not in attendance called me on the phone and suggested that we exchange our email lists. All of them. Uh … no. It don’t work that way.
Show up – You have to be active and be consistent. Only an idiot would make a monetary investment in any networking activity and then not make the necessary time investment in order to realize a return. It just makes no sense and it is an opportunity that has been fully squandered.
Learn to listen – People who are the most successful are those who genuinely show more interest in learning about others than they do talking about themselves.This is the time when the old adage … God gave you two eyes, two ears, and one mouth for a reason … carries absolute weight.
Do your homework – Performing your due diligence before reaching out is important. I expect people to do some research on me before getting in touch, With social networking and the internet in general, it’s not like it takes a lot of effort.
If you don’t, I may view it as being rather insulting and especially if your assumptions about me are blatantly in error. On the other hand, if you do, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. You might even become R.U.M.
Refer others before asking for referrals – Remember that givers get. Practice giving quality referrals and introductions to others. You probably want to know who, what, when, where, why and how and people you refer will want to know the same.
Then teach others how to refer you – One of the most important steps to first take is to take advantage of opportunities to let people know who you are and what your offered value proposition is. You are going to be hard to refer if folks have no idea as to what the hell you do.
When presented with a general opportunity, contact the giver for more info and ask … “can I use your name?”. By the way, this simple action is a powerful way to build one-on-one relationships. Speaking of …
One-on-ones – Meet with others one-on-one and outside of the group setting. It’s a funny dynamic that is also critically important with power partners. When I was in the sign business, I had some extremely powerful power partner relationships.
These people loved me as much as I loved them but, much to my surprise, they did not spend their days thinking … “How can I best take care of Craig??” Talk about selfish 🙂 However, when Craig was buying lunch it was “what can we bring!?”
Next month will be exploring this topic further as we dig deeper into group sizes as well as individual relationships.
