I remember when I first started in business going along to all these networking events and handing out cards and starting conversations with LOTS of people. But very rarely did new business come from it. I’d ask myself why?
Was my service not what people wanted?
Was I going to the wrong sorts of events?
What could I be doing differently?
And the list of questions went on…
The thing was it had nothing to do with any of that, it had to do with my mindset of what networking was and how to use it more effectively.
Here are 3 things that I learnt and helped to change the way I networked going forward.
First, understand that networking is not a place to hand out hundreds of business cards and sell your stuff to everything on the spot.
It’s called ‘networking’ not ‘sell-working’
Networking is about conversations to build relationships to then create further opportunities down the track.
Second, people love to buy and people love to help, but only to those that they resonate with and have a connection to.
You can’t get a connection with someone who talks at you nonstop, is pushy and only is there to serve themselves.
Third, the best opportunity from a networking event is to actually be able to sell to other people’s clients and networks rather than getting the one sale.
The people you meet all have clients, they all know people and being able to add value to their networks will get you a lot more sales than trying to sell to the one person at the event.
It’s a completely different way of thinking, but one that will grow your business much faster and gives you the power of leverage.
As you go and network over the next few months, whether that be online or offline, have a think about your own mindset and purpose and see how you can make some small changes.
This post was written by Michael Griffiths, founder of the The Million Dollar Referral Network