The Hole in Your Net

If you are in business today, you are probably involved in some form of business networking. You may attend events at your local Chamber of Commerce, participate in a Leads Club, connect through online social media tools, participate in Meet-Up groups or simply take advantage of any occasion to meet someone new.

What happens at these events? Quite often, people travel in packs. They hang out at the hor d’ouvres table or sit at the bar waiting for that next big prospect to approach them. They patiently listen to the presentation and anxiously await their opportunity to deliver their compelling 15 to 20 second elevator speech. (Yawn!)

Of course, when you attend networking events, you listen intently to everyone’s unique selling proposition, don’t you? Well, maybe after you’ve delivered your elevator speech!

As these events transition from the formal agenda to the informal agenda, what happens? Amazingly, most people leave! Those who are slightly more astute hang around to swap cards. They chit-chat with a few other hangers-on, promising to give you a call or cut you a great deal!

What happens after the event?

Nothing!

Far too often, we take our valuable investment of time, energy and money and simply fail to follow-up. We don’t pick up the phone. We don’t schedule time to meet 1-on-1. We don’t invest in building a relationship.

Why do we spend so much time networking and realize such mediocre results? More importantly, how do we close the holes in our net?

Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals, reminds us of a fundamental truth in all business relationships:

All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, people they know, like and trust.

The key to closing the holes in our net lies in shifting our focus. The sooner we can stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others, the sooner we can expect our networking results to improve. Approach your networking with a goal of building know, like and trust relationships and you’ll close those holes in your net!

About Bill Merrow
Bill’s marketing career began in 1984, leading to opportunities to manage a 40,000 person sales force and sell over $500,000,000 through direct mail. His consulting clients include General Electric, American Express, Walmart and hundreds of smaller firms. Bill specializes in helping small businesses differentiate themselves from their competition and create massive growth in sales and profitability. Learn more about Bill at http://www.azprofitplanners.com/ or http://www.linkedin/in/billmerrow. You can also contact him directly at bill@azprofitplanners.com or 602.821.7340.

Technorati Tags: Networking, social media