Good networkers don't sell their own services

Effective networking leads to profitable word-of-mouth introductions and builds an irresistible brand. However, there are a lot of technically brilliant partners who are not yet skilled in networking or lack the confidence to do so.

Some people are not even networking, but rather bet-working. This occurs when people go to an event hoping that those they meet there will become their clients. Bet-workers assume that everyone needs them and then try to sell their services to people the first time they make contact with them.

By contrast, networkers get connected to people that already know, or are, their most profitable prospects. Good networkers bring people that don’t necessarily network into business discussions. That means new clients and new introducers.

Contact engagement

The first thing you should do when networking is to stop talking about yourself. Talking about your services before building rapport is tantamount to hard selling.

Allow other people to talk, because opportunities to meet purchasers of legal services are not always obvious. By asking questions focused on the people you meet, it is possible to build rapport and spot opportunities.

Networking isn’t just a matter of turning up at networking events, or simply participating in groups, whether online or offline.

You won’t consistently win new clients by hoovering up business cards, turning people into online connections and keeping in touch.

The new economy is about working smarter, collaborating with others, sharing and spreading knowledge. It’s about mixing web-based strategies with excellent communications.

Common networking mistakes are:

• attending one-to-one meetings with no idea of what the outcome might be;

• expecting introductions without making any; and

• joining or leaving groups without assessing their potential for introductions.

Effective networkers know how much fee income they generate from their networking efforts and review their results.

Build a network in ten steps

1. Get the attention of the people you meet. Unprofessional gimmicks will not lead to business introductions. Find a purposeful way to generate business interest among the people you meet.

2. Let your contacts know what kind of people you’d like to meet. Most people know lots of people. The challenge is to communicate which contacts you would like to be connected to. If you’re too specific, you will miss opportunities. Too little detail makes it almost impossible. Get the balance right.

3. Let them know who you want to meet the most. When they give you the opportunity to connect with their contacts, you will want to ensure you are connected to the right ones. If you have a win/win proposition for a specific sector, network with those who already work within that sector.

4. Give them a good reason to help you. Once your contacts know what kind of people you want to meet, they must understand why. The reason you want to meet them must be relevant. After all, they will want to explain the need for this introduction to their contact, so keep it simple yet ultimately compelling.

5. Ensure they are comfortable with helping you. Offering sweeteners or compliments won’t always work. Provide a reason why it would be mutually beneficial.

6. Track your reputation. Tracking what happens with your word-of-mouth reputation is not a matter of calling or emailing people incessantly. Keep up to date with valuable contacts in a way that is mutually beneficial.

7. Help everyone you meet. Helping others in business brings huge dividends to personal and business brand accounts.

8. Find out what your introducers need to continue making introductions. Sometimes people make introductions and then they stop. There’s usually a great reason why that happens and, when that reason is revealed, it opens the floodgates.

9. Make yourself invaluable. Those that generate the most introductions receive the most introductions. Successful networkers introduce those who network to those who don’t.

10. Review your results. Not everyone will prove to be a worthwhile contact. If you are not generating profitable introductions, something needs to change. Remember: insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results.

 jason@beyondnetworking.co.uk