Do you regard yourself as an effective networker? If yes, alarmingly, you could be a rare commodity. Do you understand that networking is relationship based, mutually beneficial and evolves over time? Unfortunately, networking is often confused for the more transactional nature of ‘sales’.
How many times have you attended an event, swapped a few random cards and ultimately realised no benefit? It is important to recognise that your time is an investment, and you should be aiming for a return on this investment. This is where structure can be highly beneficial to your networking activities. As a guide, the following steps will help improve your effectiveness at events and functions:
Before you leave – research the attendee list and identify people you would like to meet. Ensure that you have read the daily news stories, and have a couple of standard ice breaker questions prepared. If you need additional support, invite a colleague to attend with you. Most important, set a few objectives for your investment at the event.
When you are there – engage with a balance of appropriate questioning and active listening. Be prepared to use a response to guide your next question, without being overbearing. Your positive and open body language is vital, as are confidence and energy. Spend more time with fewer people, as this will allow better quality engagement. If you know numerous people at the function, introduce and connect them – you never know what could eventuate.
The next day – reflect on the event, your performance and whether you met your objectives. If you made commitments to provide information or follow up with people, ensure that you respond by email or phone within 24 hours – even if only to acknowledge the commitment at this stage.
Your networking skills and personal style will develop over time and with more practice. The addition of structure and tactical thinking should increase your networking effectiveness and ultimately help grow your contact base.
David Dercho, Personal Brand and Networking consultant
Hear from David at CPA Congress 2008
He will be presenting at CPA Australia’s Queensland (session L5) and South Australian (session E2) CPA Congresses
August 19, 2008 at 10:36 pm |
I like what you have to say but a lot of people can appear as insincere and come across as being only interested in what you can do for them. Any suggestions on what you can do to avoid such things ?
August 20, 2008 at 1:05 am |
I agree with you Anthony, and that’s the key difference between poor and great networkers. As briefly outlined at the start of my article, people who approach networking opportunities with a ’sales pitch’ or transaction mentality are generally left disappointed. It is difficult to directly influence the networking approach of others. However, you can certainly develop your networking skills through:
- showing a genuine interest in the person/people you’re speaking with, and therefore made an investment of time in
- engaging with them on balanced basis, and ask them open questions about their organisation or situation
- think about how you can help them, including through connecting them with others in your network, and relevant research or infomration that could be useful
If you feel like you’re being harassed by a poor networker at an event, politely excuse yourself from the conversation and move on. Remember, your time is an investment.
September 1, 2008 at 4:37 pm |
Dear David,
At last a common sense approach to effective networking and I am sure that delegates will be interested in hearing your sessions at Queensland and South Australia. Particularly those that have been thrust into networking without any guidance from the employers.
I would endorse your comments on networking, very rarely is it an opportunity to sell and those that do try and sell tend to have a short term and fruitless relationship on their hands. Far better to ask questions and enquire about the individual and organisation, to establish if you can build a long term fruitful relationship with win:win in mind.
Do you have any suggestions on ‘how to deliver’ your message,i.e. body language, voice tone and word phrases that successful networks use? How useful is an elevator speech and what message should it convey?
September 2, 2008 at 6:22 am |
Paul – many thanks for the positive feedback. It would appear that you’re already an experienced and successful networker, so I would encourage you to consider taking on a mentor or coach role for others in your organisation. No doubt others could benefit from your knowledge. Delivery of your message can make or break, so here are some simple tips:
- Open body language – your physical stance and posture can be welcoming, or at the other scale very confronting for others. Have an open stance when standing, and slightly leaning forward to show interest when seated. Your opportunity here is to make the other person/people as comfortable as possible, and perhaps indicating to others that you would welcome them joining the conversation. Engaging eye contact and facial expressions are well received, but avoid the long stares.
- Verbal – you should aim for open questions, where you allow the respondent to be creative and tell you their story. If you give people an opportunity to open up, you can quickly get to know a lot about them, their challanges and indeed opportunities. Try not to be overbearing, and aim for a balance with your communication. as they most likely also want to get to know you. Stay agile and responsive, and don’t stick to your original line of questioning if they take you down another path. A good networker will often have people in mind they would like to meet – ensure that you’re well researched, so you’re in a position to drop a few lines about their latest press releases or relevant information.
eg I note that your organisation has just merged with another, and I assume that you have large integration issues to deal with ….
Just give them something to open up about.
Your elevator pitch is designed to convey what value you and your organisation can bring to others. It’s not something that you would start a conversation with, but if someone asks you, are you ready to respond? My big tip is to focus on the value you bring, and not the services you provide. make it meaningul, and where possible highlight examples where you may have helped others in a similar sector. If you tailor it to your audience, it will be better received than a generic response.
August 6, 2009 at 5:19 pm |
[...] his recent post on the CPA Congress Blog, Personal Brand and Networking Consultant David Dechro describes networking [...]