Sharpening The Networking “Saw”

I am basically an introverted person. Interacting with strangers used to give me the shiver. But, considering the nature of my business and being an Business Owner this is one skill which I cant help without and neither can you if you are keen on career mobility.

Here are a few Tips to becoming a better Networker:

Craft Your Story: 

You create a story when you say something unique. It could be a unique profession, a way unique your name is spelt- it could be anything. The idea is that your story should be easy to remember.  That’s all that is there. Each one of us is unique in someway. But in the process of keeping up with our peers we end up copying them totally and seem to forget our uniqueness.

As a starting point, you may like to consider the following questions:

• What is something I do that very few other people do?
• What is something about me that people usually find interesting and ask further questions about?
• What is something that is likely to make me memorable?

And keep the story flexible depending on the audience. Talk kids when with a women with children. Talk out doors If with an athletic looking guy in the 30-40.

Common Points of Interest

This is an extension of the previous point. Kind of like In Rome do as the Romans do. Your unique story of your hobby of wildlife photography is not likely to fetch interest if the other person doesn’t find it so. So look for common points of interest.

Never Eat alone

This sounds like overkill. But, the point is , lunching with someone is a good way to get a conversation going for a period of time and good things can come of it. If you decide to have lunch with one new person every month – its going to make a great difference to your network.

Take the initiative 

Personally I find this to be the toughest part. Given a choice I would rather wait for someone to talk to me rather than take the initiative – but , so is most everyone. So doing the opposite pays. And if like me you feel shy talking to strangers you could check this post. 

Keep in Contact

After you have taken the initiative , overcome your shyness , and initiated contact – you need to maintain the contact. This is pure Grunt work if I may say so and a lot of people miss out here. unlike the thrill and subsequent euphoria of making contact with strangers – keeping in contact doesn’t require great effort – but it does require consistent effort. All you need to do is drop a one liner every once a month or share something interesting. In the case of later – Make it personal and do not overdo.

Nurturing your Network

When we think of our Professional Network – what comes to mind is our colleagues of the current and previous companies and maybe some alumni.

But your Professional Network need not be limited by them. Research has shown that one can develop mutually beneficial business contacts with people whom we might have met just once and maintain contact maybe couple of times in a year.

These are typically the Weak ties which bear fruit. Maybe not directly but over a period of time. And the best part is for that to happen you don’t need to put much effort.

here is a very interesting post by Sid Savara about his experiments in Networking especially using social Media. a lot of Simple take aways.

Learning the ropes of Networking

I am a Networking Newbie. It takes time for me to open up with people – so whatever Networking events I used to attend I would be either stuck with some known set or spend my time studiously poring over some promotion material.

Networking events are typically like a stage where you have to perform. For some the ” act ” comes pretty easy . For others not so , I being one those.

So for some time now I have been trying to create a facade of confidence and reach out to people. Give a greeting . shake a hand , be curious.

I am no where nearing perfection in this ” Art ” but there have been some learnings and some definite – “no-no’s” which is I want share here.

Networking is Not Selling

If you happen to meet someone in Networking event avoid selling or making a pitch. The events are great places to make contacts and some of these new contacts can even go deeper in time. But trying to make a sale in a Networking event  or pitching your services leaves a bad taste. You are most likely to loose the contact. Appreciate that the other person is also there to Network to find a solution or to make a sale. He might not be too excited about listening to your pitch. He will be polite yes, but thats about it.

Few is More 

If you make a new contact and are able to understand him/her better – it will be much more useful than saying hi , bye to a 100 people in the event. No one is going to remember. I deep conversation with even 2 contacts can be more useful in the long run.

Not being Fully Present 

This kind of follows from the previous point. If we are busy shoving our cards to as many people who come our way – we are not likely to be listening. Our goal –  to meet as many people as possible has a flipside  – you can do so but end up not having proper conversation. And, it is only meaningful conversations which can lead to meaningful contacts and relationships.

Followups

This is one crucial aspect which most people miss out on including myself. There is no point in meeting in a seminar and not following up with a mail or some kind of note or a phone call. To convert a contact to even a business acquaintance a followup would be a bare minimum. I deal would be a hand written note or Card saying thankyou or a Nice to Meet you. Good way to make the person remember.

6 Ways to enhance your network

Networking

This post is one of those Gyan posts which can be of real use if you are able to apply the tips. Goes the same for me. So here are some tips to build a quality Network

1. Take time to make a real connection. A 100 cards in the pocket after a seminar or any other event doesn’t automatically mean trusted contacts. An hour spent with one contact can add much more to your network.

2. Relationships happen for a reason. Seek out those reasons – and it need not necessarily mean a commercial transaction to your benefit. I could be anything a shared interest,  a shared experience something that can help in laying a bridge.

3. share your story. Make it interesting. A good story goes a long way in creating an impression and a memory. The story can take shape from any one unique attribute of yours. Could be you hometown, the pronunciation of your name, your date of birth or your profession.

4. To this I would add Be curious. You keep telling your story without listening to the other can make it a one way traffic and a dead end. so best way is to get interested in the other person and ask general , non personal questions. there is a line between being curious and getting nosy.

5. This goes to the next level. If your contact mentions a pressing problem or challenge he/she is facing – help them in some way ASAP. But, please do put yourself in their shoes and understand if what you are doing is of help or just appears to be of help to you. People can very easily see through  the gimmicks.

6. Networking rests on the premise of being useful. So the more you are able to contribute to the Network. The more you are going to be valued by your contacts.

Business Skills Needed for success

Great Businessmen have certain attributes in common. Several personal qualities are important, personal drive and motivation, strong goals and ambition, clear vision, and always a great deal of passion.

Beyond those personal qualities though, what makes a successful business person stand out from the crowd? Here I have listed out a few which are the bare minimum requirement for Business Success.

Written : We spend a lot of time writing. communicating through mail, preparing reports, Business Plans, Resumes. Each of our written documents give a certain impression to the person who goes through it. If that impression is positive or negative defines our success or failure. Good writing , boosts you in your path to success.

Networking: As you move up the Corporate Ladder – who you know counts more than what you know. A Crucial skill to develop and nurture if you serious about rising up the career echelons. Networking skill is not just about having a contact list running into 1000’s. It has more to do with building deeper relationships with existing contacts. The deeper the relationship , the greater the trust hence greater ability to leverage that trust for mutual benefit.

To be continued…..

PS: Checkout the website of our Training division – Winstream.You might find some Training program which is interesting and worth attending.

 

Networking & Relationship Building

I strongly believe in the effectiveness of Networking and have posted a few times on the importance of building up your network. But adding people to your linked on Facebook list alone is not equal to building your network.

For the Network to grow your relationship with the people in the network needs to grow. Numbers help ,surely,  the more people in your network the easier it is to bring value to people in your network by connecting them to each other.But, high numbers without much direct contact – doesnt augur well.

In the Network you can be both a node and a channel depending on the situation. In fact that is what makes the network vibrant.

Bombarding your contacts lists with requests for referrals or connections goes to erode and finally stops a relationship from developing.  Chrisbrogan a veteran blogger and a thoroughbred net-worker talks about a ratio. the number of times you help a person before you ask him for a favour is 10:1. Now, helping does’nt include sending unsolicited mail however funny or entertaining.

As someone as said -” its all in the Relationship honey”  – all business is built on relationships. It is the relationships that are the source of learning, growth, and opportunity. Investing in one quality relationship can yield more than 10k contacts.

Thats the challenge.

Building Networks

Networking is the key to speedy career progression.

I have known this for sometime now but have not done much towards that. But, off late the realization has started hitting full force.

This year one of my Main Objectives is to build/grow my Network.

while reading on these lines I came across an interesting story of Josie who has grown her netwrok by volunteering. Hope you like it .