There is an inescapable fact that comes with owning and running a business and having a key role within an organization: you have to get out there, meet prospective customers and sell. In other words – you have to network. Yet for many, meeting new people and starting conversation with strangers is on their top 3 list of things they really don’t like to do – right behind public speaking and paying taxes!
Now of course, there are people who are natural social magnets. They love meeting new people, engaging in conversation and discussing ways their business can help. These are the extroverts or the borderline introverts who have learned how to be become skillful networkers. But for many of us (and one of the authors, Tony, falls into this category), networking is a challenge.
To get better at networking, or at anything for that matter, you have to believe that it’s important and worth your while. Think about it, how many of you actually spend time doing what you don’t like to do? So what do you do about having to do something you don’t like to do because to grow your business you must do it? You learn how to network, and you start in a safe environment.
Networking opportunities are literally everywhere. Whether you are at your son or daughter’s event, at a club, at parent’s night, at a local trade association meeting, there are networking opportunities. Now we did not pick these places casually. These are safe places. These are places where you can practice conversational engagement, asking provocative questions, in a conversational tone, with someone you already know. The difference from what you are doing now, is that you are probing, gently, into what the other person does, what they think about certain issues. You are practicing a networking conversion.
In Thursday’s Quick Tips, we will identify a 10-step process you can take to improve your networking skills and achieve positive results. In the meantime, remember, that to be successful in networking you must come across as a peer. That means you do not start the conversation by telling the other person how much you admire them, what a big fan you are. Fawning is out! This approach immediately makes you a subordinate.
Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest
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