The True Nature of Networking

I have been to many ‘networking events’ where it has been painfully evident that the organisers (and most of the attendees) have no real idea how networking operates.

Networking is not:

• Simply a prospecting exercise, where you cast your net as far as you can and try to sell to everybody you meet;
• A race to press your card into the hand of everybody present;
• An opportunity to try to impress them that you are the best printer, supplier of widgets, loans or other product or service;
• A source of instant business.

The true networker – and there are not that many – knows that networking is a gradual process of building relationships, and expecting to give more than you get. The process goes through a series of stages, from meeting somebody new, getting to know them, briefly mentioning what you do then finding out as much as you can (without interrogation) what the other person does, and what you can do for them. There follows the consolidation period, where you maintain contact, occasionally make reference to your own business and try to contribute something meaningful to the other person’s business or social needs. The idea is to insert yourself in a memorable way into the other person’s circle of friends and acquaintances, so that he or she will know that there is a helpful, sociable person out there who just happens to be the best possible person to supply the product or service you supply, because you are such a pleasure to know and deal with.

If you can achieve this positioning – and you can, with training and practice – you will reap endless rewards, as your contacts pass you on to their contacts, give you the opportunity to meet their circle of acquaintances and enter into a subtle partnership with you to reach out to more people than you ever imagined possible. And the surprising thing is this – properly done, you may benefit greatly without ever having asked that first contact for any business!