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Attract more business with The Six Laws of Effortless Networking
Ask yourself this question. Would you rather make a cold call or follow up with a qualified referral; that is, someone who has already expressed some level of interest in your product as a result of an endorsement from someone else?
If you would rather build your business off referrals, is your sales funnel bursting with potential new business that you've generated through networking and by utilizing a referral program? If not, then you will certainly have the opportunity to make this a reality and experience it firsthand after implementing the following strategies.
1. Bring a Wingman: Rather than flying solo at your next networking event, bring a friend, co-worker, or business associate along with you. This "security blanket" will boost your confidence as well as your comfort level and immediately removes the bulk of reluctance associated with attending a networking event by yourself.
2. You Are Not Alone: If you ask most people who attend networking events, they would tell you that there are certainly some feelings of apprehension and fear when it comes to meeting new people. Rather than placing yourself in the class of people who you perceive to be the minority, instead, consider that you are amongst the majority of people who feel the same way you do.
3. Keep Your Intentions In Focus: To maximize your networking efforts, detach from the outcome of having to generate new business. Your only focus should be on having a good time, relaxing, and enjoying yourself as you meet new people and foster new relationships. If you do, the other stuff will take care of itself as a byproduct of how effectively you are managing this mindset.
4. Lighten Up! When you go to a networking event, there's often food, music, even a keynote speaker. They are supposed to be fun. Don't take yourself or these events so seriously. Besides, people rather do business with those who are fun to be around and extroverted, not the wallflower sitting in the corner.
5. Make A Friend First, A Client Second: “Strangers are simply friends that are waiting to be met." At one point, all of your friends were strangers too!
6. Make It About The Other Person: Rely on the pull approach to networking rather than pushing for the result. Instead of talking about yourself, talk about them.
Finally, instead of asking yourself, "Why would that person want to talk to me?" change the question you are asking yourself to, "Why would I want to talk with them?” “How can I deliver value or assist them?" "What can I learn from them?" These questions shift your balance of power back to you so that you are at choice rather than being on the defensive or feel as if you have to come up with reasons as to why someone would want to talk to you.
Effective networking will expand your bandwidth and position you in front of more targeted prospects.
To maximize your networking efforts, remember, don’t take yourself so seriously. You will be amazed what you attract when you detach from the outcome of having to generate new business and just have fun.
This article was edited from a longer article by Keith Rosen, MCC.Top of Form
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