In a previous article, which was part one of two, we looked at five of the biggest mistakes made in business networking. In this article we will discover the next five big mistakes and then combined with these ten developments you will become a master of business networking, resulting in the prospect of gaining more valuable business.
Before going into the next five mistakes made when business networking, let us recap on the first five. They were:
No1: Not knowing what you are actually doing when out business networking.
No2: Not preparing for the Business Networking event.
No3: Not remembering names.
No4 is Not answering the ‘What do you do?’ question very well.
And No5: Not knowing what you want to get out of the event.
So let us now look at the next five in detail and learn how to become a highly effective business networker
No6: Not doing small-talk
The largest amount of talk at any event is the ‘small talk’.
Whilst I commonly hear that people like to get ‘straight to business’ and that they dislike ‘small talk’, it is during the small talk that the foundations of good relationships are laid.
You can’t do big business without the small talk.
Reinforcing what I said in point one, people like to do business with people like them, so it’s here where we find out:
what people like what people are like if they are like us and whether we like them.
It is here where we establish the key areas of similarity and connectivity which enable us to move conversations forward and towards the business topics.
For some, small talk seems easy, but for the rest of us, giving this some thought and preparing a host of topics to draw from, to keep it from drying up, would be a great asset wouldn’t it?
No7: Not asking the right questions in the right way
Some people can be embarrassed when it comes to asking questions. They can feel they’re being pushy or intrusive, but the simple fact is that if you’re trying to uncover the needs of your prospect and therefore seeking to find ways to help them solve their problems through using your products or services, then you have to ask good, precise questions.
Firstly, be clear on what you want to know and mentally prepare a bank of questions which will lead to your desired understanding in the shortest possible time.
Secondly, questions must be phrased in an ‘open’ manner to prevent a mono syllabic answer. This allows your prospect to get into a flow, when answering, so that they will freely liberate more information than you went looking for in the first place.
There is limited time when networking and you must use it wisely.
Recognising that questioning techniques are key tools, then, means that giving them a little thought, prior to the event is more valuable than we previously realised, doesn’t it?
No8: Forgetting to listen well
We have two ears and one mouth !
Like me, I’m sure your mother told you to listen twice as much as you speak!
So it is when networking.
Through active listening, and by suppressing the continuous chatter which incessantly clutters our head, it allows us to hear and remember those priceless pieces of information which alert us to new business opportunities.
Talking too much yourself? / Distracted by other things going on around you? / Thinking about what you are going to say next instead of listening tio the answer being given?
None of the above will yield profitable opportunities. In fact you’ll simply miss them.
One of the most valuable things we can give to another is our full attention. It sounds like an oxymoron, but you’ll be able sell more, by talking less and through listening harder, for longer.
You’ll agree, then, that listening is an art at which we should all be a little better, shouldn’t we?
No9: Reverting to ‘selling’ mode when spotting an opportunity
Once an opportunity has been spotted, most become their own worst enemy by changing gear from ‘relationship-building’ into ‘selling’.
Body language shifts, the speed of the questions increases and the focus of the questions becomes narrower. Usually the ‘seller’ turns square-on to face his/her prospect and it is obvious to the prospect that they’re about to be sold to.
People love to buy, but almost everyone hates to be sold to.
The outcome is simply that they start to feel pressurized. They become evasive or simply withdraw both mentally and emotionally and shut down altogether.
To be fair, launching into sales mode is an automatic reaction for most of us, but it is one that we must be conscious of and guard against if we actually want to be successful during networking.
The selling can come later. At a more appropriate time, in a more appropriate environment.
We’ve got what we came for. We’ve spotted the need (it’s not going to evaporate), and hopefully we’ve established a good relationship upon which we can build, in the near future.
So handling the ‘spotting-of-the-opportunity’ correctly and seamlessly needs to be prepared for. It’ll be so much more beneficial and profitable for us if we do, won’t it?
No10: Simply not following-up
For the vast majority of us, feelings of anxiety, self-consciousness, self-doubt and fear of rejection, rise up when it’s time to pick up the phone, after the event, and make that ‘follow-up call’.
These are the very same fears and concerns that most people have when entering a room full of strangers, in an unfamiliar environment, right at the beginning of the event and it prevents many people from completing the networking cycle.
I call these people ‘Networking Criminals!’ If they know they won’t have the courage to follow-up, from the outset, then my advice is that they mustn’t go networking in the first place.
It wastes their time, it wastes their prospects time and it can sometimes do irreparable damage to their brand. It’s a negative multiplier.
Just by considering the harm caused by not following-up can make it easier to pick up that phone, can’t it?
Conclusion
Considering the financial benefits that attending business networking events can bring, my recommendation to business leaders is to get your people trained in the systems and processes which will make them all more confident and effective networkers. Simply ushering them out the door, invitation in hand isn’t enough.
Train them in the skills and techniques essential to making this activity deliver against the true promise of it’s hidden potential.
In this market, your strategy for success must be visibility.
Your teams should be accepting more invitations and getting ‘out there’ more often.
Being good at what you do is not enough in the new millennium. One has to be a business developer too.
Also, being good at what you do, but being a secret, is bad for business.
Wouldn’t it be better to build their capacity to deliver to your business an abundance of new clients, instead of just sending them out the door to a business event, and hoping for the best?
Placing a monetary value on what one new client can bring-in will make the investment in just one days training a very sound proposition, won’t it?
Parting words
I hope you found these two article to be of value to your business networking toolbox and that it helps to make this activity more manageable and profitable for you in the future.
Wishing you all effective and profitable Business Networking
Topic: asking the right questions, business networking, business topics, key areas, master of business, networker, networking event, one people, remembering names, simple fact