How to make your networking work for you

(This is part one of a three part series )

I really believe networking is one of the best ways to grow your business. People talk about social media being all the rage in marketing today and it certainly is a valuable tactic, but I believe that good old-fashioned networking is really still the best way to grow your business. It’s an inexpensive way to build your list and to gain some great strategic partners. You have to go into an event looking to help others,  then all you need will come back to you.

Before you go to the event, however, you need to have a strategy – just like any other marketing tactic. If you go into it without a strategy, a plan of attack, it’s not going to be effective. I am always amazed when I talk to people about networking and they’re complaining that they find networking to be a waste of time. I always ask, “What’s your approach?”

Then I hear this: “I go in and I tell everybody what I do and I hope I get a lead.” Really, this is what they tell me. It doesn’t work, obviously – that’s why they find it a waste of time. You need to have a strategy.

Before you decide to go to an event, talk to the coordinator of the event and find out who’s attending. If they won’t give you names, ask the types of companies that usually attend the event. You want to make sure that the people attending are going to be the ones that can help grow your business, either through who they know or the problems that you can solve for them.

If you can get the names from the coordinator, do your research on LinkedIn. Here’s where the social media comes in. Find out more about what they do, where they went to school, who they know that you want to get an introduction to. It’ll give you a warm way to get into talking to them.

One of the biggest mistakes is that people go into an event, expecting to generate leads for their business. You really need to go into it with an open mind-set of “who’s going to be there” and “who can refer me or help expand my circle of influence”. It’s about building great relationships, not selling to that person at that particular moment.

Think about it. Wouldn’t it be great if you met someone who knows 10 other people that might need your services?

And don’t be afraid if your competitors are going to be there. Go in, talk to them. You actually may find that you provide a service that they’re not providing and you have the possibility of working together. If nothing else, it’s a great time for you to get some competitive information on them.

Once you’ve got a feel for who’s attending, you need to set a goal for yourself. How many people do you really want to talk to? You don’t want to be the one that’s pushing your card in everybody’s face. The goal isn’t really to try to meet everybody that’s there. You want to pick three to five people to have really quality conversations with.

Instead of selling, your strategy should be asking for help. Think about something that you want or something that could make a big difference to your business. For example, you might ask them, do you know someone who… ( and you need to insert who your ideal client is and what they might be saying if they are in need of your services or products). Or your mission could be to ask if the know someone who has a service or a product that maybe you’ve been searching for in your business. You can ask about someone that is just outside your circle of influence that you’d like to meet. There are endless ideas.

Then, ask them how you can help them. Think about who you’re able to connect them with prior to this event and have that in your “back pocket”, whether it’s a company or a potential customer. The idea is to help them with their business and be building that relationship.

Now that you have some ideas of what to give and what to ask for, you want to think about your conversation starter, and you don’t want to begin by talking about yourself. You want to get them talking. Think about the questions you’re going to ask. How did you get started in your industry or who is your ideal customer? How will I know when I’ve met someone that I can refer you to? What do you enjoy most about what you do? What’s the current trend in your industry?

Again, the idea is to get to know them better, get them talking.  Practice your questions so they come out naturally and they’re not rehearsed. After you ask the questions, just step back and listen. You want them to feel like you’re there to help them.

Take some times and watch the movie “Crazy, Stupid Love” with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Ryan Gosling plays a pick‑up artist and while I would not recommend you use his lines, his approach is flawless. He sincerely listens to the women after he asks the questions and then he uses that information to attain his goal. If nothing else, it’s really great to watch a master work at networking and making the information that he learns work for him.

Now they’re asking about you. You don’t want to be the person that goes on and on and on about what you do. The person you’re talking to eye’s are going to glaze over and they’ll be looking for the next person to talk to.

On the flip side, you don’t want to be the person who answers, “I’m a lawyer, I’m a consultant, I’m an architect.” You need to have a talking logo, a way to describe what you do that makes them stop and ask, “How do you do that?” Something that makes you stand out from the crowd. You don’t want to make this up.

Talk to your current clients and find out what they value from you. When you talk about your business want to talk about the value that you provide and who you provide it to. When you’re putting this together, think, “We,” an adjective. Could be “help.” Maybe “teach,” “provide.”

Then next, would come your ideal client. This is not anybody in any kind of business. These are the clients that are profitable, that value what you do and refer you. How will you know who this is? I suggest that you print out a list of your clients and find the ones you love working with, the ones that, if you had 20 or more of them, that you’d love coming to work every day.

They are the ones to call to find out why they like working with you.

Once you done you interviews you will have your “Talking Logo”.  It should be short and sweet. In our case, with Leading Results, our tagline is, “We Help Small Businesses Stop Wasting Money on Marketing.” I’ve had people stop dead in their tracks and say, “But you’re a marketing consultant. How does that work?” That’s what you’re trying to get to.

Here are a few other talking logos to think about:, “We help prevent buyer’s remorse.” This is a software selection firm.  Or  “We bake nostalgia” – from a craft baker who makes Whoppie Pies. The idea is that you want to put some effort into this and then practice this.

If it’s a tongue twister or it’s too long, you’re really in trouble. So, practice it. After you get your talking logo down, work on a brief explanation on the remarkably different way you solve your ideal client’s problems. How do you help people stop wasting money on marketing? Or how do you prevent buyers remorse? Again, be brief, because you want to save the really detailed information about your business for the meeting after the event.

This first encounter is where you’re really trying to learn from them.

So, we’ve got our strategy. Our next post, What to do when you get there, will be coming up shortly.

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at www.leadingresults.com/ramblings.

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