Love it, or hate it, networking can be good for your business but it isn’t an instant sales opportunity.
Networking is about spending time together to get to know each other, like each other, and eventually to trust each other enough to take the relationship further.
Sound a bit like dating?
You need to be prepared to take your time. Marriages are rarely based on love at first sight and neither are good quality clients. Waving a condom around as you greet your blind date is unlikely to get you the outcome that you want and business networking rarely generates instant sales.
There are two main types of networking group.
The closed groups where visitors are welcome but membership is selective. In these groups it is easier to build trust as you get to see the same people on a regular basis. Regular visitors ensure that the group doesn’t become stale as one member might invite a colleague who can benefit from an introduction to somebody else in the group. Done right the members of the group begin to share access to each other’s contacts as appropriate. We belong to the We Mean Biz network in the SouthWest. We also like to introduce our clients to each other for mutual benefit.
There are also open groups where the attendee list can be much more varied but the visitors often come and go before anybody can get to know them. These are a bit more like speed dating. To get the best out of these groups it is important that you follow up any suitable leads with a one to one meeting over coffee (or tea!). This can be a bit like kissing a lot of frogs to find your prince or it can lead to some great business connections.
I would usually recommend a mixture of both so perhaps join one closed group and then visit some other local groups each month.
If you’d like more information about We Mean Biz then drop me a line or check out their website We Mean Biz – Business Networking Where You Come First – We Mean Biz