AC Interpreting

Archive for the ‘Business Networking’ Category

Over the last 6years I have presented to nearly 30,000 delegates and a wide variety of audiences and what I have learnt beyond doubt is that about 99% of them don’t like business networking.

“I feel uncomfortable entering a room full of people I don’t know.”

“I get nervous when I see an invitation I ought to accept”

are just two of the comments I hear. Or a third comment,

“It’s not for me I get enough business through referrals and recommendations.”

Now, that third response always brings me to ask what is the fundamental difference between getting business from referrals and getting it through business networking? Simple answer, the

If you are content to wait for third parties to dictate the growth rate of your business, that is fine. Rely on clients and contacts to make those recommendations. However, if you want to dictate the growth of your business then I believe the most cost effective way to spread your message about who you are what you do and how your clients benefit from buying your services and products then business networking has to be the answer.

Having spent literally hundreds of hours analysing these negative attitudes to business networking, I believe I now have most of the solutions to help overcome people’s fears and anxieties. Let me share my findings with you. Can I ask how do you feel when you go somewhere be it business networking or social and you are not likely to know many people. If you are like my seminar delegates or audiences you tell me things like:

“I could make a fool of myself”,

“I may not belong here”,

“I am going to feel well outside my comfort zone”,

“I am likely to be embarrassed”,

and the list goes on and on.

I know the key learning point here is virtually everyone feels the same, therefore as a consequence if you feel totally relaxed and comfortable you are abnormal! Don’t worry, there are just a few of us still around. Don’t misunderstand me but I know the root cause of all these fears, it is your mother’s fault. My mother, your mother, everyone’s mother, what did she tell us about strangers? That’s right never talk to strangers. What she forgot to tell us when we became mature teenagers that there was no harm in safe environments in talking to people we don’t know.

I now give you that permission because you will never be rejected. Rejection, that is the overall fear to networking. Zig Ziglar, that famous and international motivational speaker said “Fear false evidence appearing real”. Now think about it for a moment. When have you been rejected when you have approached someone at a business networking event or social gathering? My guess is never, unless of course you don’t do it in the correct manner.

Imagine a scenario. Your clients have invited you to the opening of their new premises and have been kind enough to include you on their guest list. Let us move into that room. There are 50 people there and the only people you know are the hosts. You said your hellos to them then they move on to greet other guests. Now is the moment when I ask you to remember that 99% of the people in that room had similar misgivings and doubts. So, if it is a bar do, go and get yourself a drink and look round the room and you will see them. There they are standing alone near the wall like Billy and Betty no mates. These people are standing there because of all the fears we have mentioned so far. They feel as if they have 2 ton of lead on each foot weighing them down, unable to move. At best this is due to unease, at worst raw panic. Knowing now how they feel, take your drink, go up to them and from a short distance smile. Ask if you may join them, extend your hand, shake hands and introduce yourself. I think first names only are a great way to start to build a business relationship. Most of us struggle with names, let’s keep it simple. At this moment please, please believe me, you will not be rejected. You will never be rejected. They will want to make you their friend for life at this point. They will want to give you a big mental hug and more than likely they will offer up a little prayer of thanks. No one stands on their own by choice, they do it because of their lack of self-confidence, their worries and their misgivings. Even at this early stage you and Billy or Betty will have at least four things in common:

You are both fellow guests of the same hosts. You both know no one. You are both in the same business networking event. You both travelled to get there.

There are many easy subjects you could discuss. You could talk about your hosts. You could comment on the room if there is something different about it or you could ask “so Jo, (it’s changed now from Billy or Betty Nomates because they have told you their real name) so Jo, how far have you travelled today to get here?”

It does not matter what the opening question is as long as it is something Jo won’t have any problem answering!

Believe me when I tell you that unless the person is truly antisocial, and yes it does happen very occasionally, the conversation will begin to flow. More often than not, there will soon be common topics to talk about. It may be where you both live, where your businesses are based, the fact that you are both in the same sort of business. You may both be suppliers to the host. By this time, you will both be feeling much more relaxed.

And finally, a quick tip. If you are nervous about entering a full room at a business networking event, get there early. This gives you a chance to chat to your hosts a little longer and it is likely they will introduce you to fellow guests immediately. This of course, rules out lots of the negative feelings, which we have already covered.

In other articles on business networking, we will talk about:

The problem people have with remembering other people’s names. How to build relationships through the power of small talk. How to extricate yourself, one person or a group of people How to break into groups How to park people with others, understanding that business networking is all about giving first and receiving second. Finally, how to leave any business networking event with real potential business opportunities.

The biggest mistake when business networking is to look for customers. No one knows you, no one trusts you and no one likes to be sold. So, what should you do, ask for referrals? Nope. That’s the second biggest mistake. Why should I give you anything if we’re not friends?

Am I saying you should business network to make friends?

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Many salespeople are blabber-mouths. They tell you everything they know about their products, as if they can talk you into buying right there at a networking meeting. Maybe it’s to be expected. In America, we swim through an ocean of obnoxious sales messages all day long. Perhaps, when we sell for the first time, we can’t help but sound like all the bad commercials we’ve absorbed throughout our lives.

Test this at your next networking meeting. See if people tell you everything they know about their product when you ask them a simple question. More importantly, see if you do it, and watch how people respond when they are talked at.

We are savvier than ever before and less tolerant of sales pitches. We can smell them a mile away. We run, we hide, we TIVO, we channel surf – we do whatever it takes to avoid all kinds of marketing. We have to. We are bombarded and we want peace.

I just had a woman come to my door, no joke, at 7:45 p.m., while I was writing this paragraph, to interest me in a free pizza from a new pizza place nearby. 7:45 p.m.! I told her, kindly, I am not interested in any marketing or advertising messages at my front door, thank you very much.

Want to push people away? Talk at them about your product before they ask you anything about it. Want to make friends? Here’s how.

Love people. That’s right. Just love them. Love who they are. Love what they say. Give them 100 percent permission to do and say whatever they’d like. Just take them in. If 90 percent of success is to just show up, the other 10 percent is caring.

Your feelings about people can be felt. You hide nothing. That’s why the best thing to give when you network is a real liking, a real love, a real appreciation of people. When people talk, listen. When they ask you a question, watch out. Right there you might be tempted to say a lot. Don’t. Instead, give simple answers to simple questions and see if the person wants to know more. If they don’t, ask them a question about themselves.

I’ll repeat that in case you missed it. Ask them a question about themselves, not about their product or service. And don’t ask them questions to qualify them as customers. That’s the kiss of death. You might as well reach in their pocket and pull out their wallet. Instead, engage, connect, and enjoy each person as an individual. Then, when you become friends, you’ll do what friends do naturally. You’ll help each other.

Now relax, pretend you’re at a party, and go network like a pro.

Facebook is one of the largest and most trafficked websites on the internet. It is also one of the biggest social networking sites out there. Facebook allows you to connect with classmates, co-workers, family members, friends and pretty much anyone and everyone that you have ever met. It is also a great place to meet new people and to market your business. It is important to understand however that Facebook is not a marketing site. It is a great tool for internet marketers and home business owners but that’s not it’s main function and it’s certainly not what the creators of the site had in mind when they created it.

Facebook is not like a website or a blog that you just put up there for people to find and look at. It is an interactive site. It is a SOCIAL networking site so it’s all about being social and talking to people. Part of being social means that you have to have friends, preferably lots of friends. Facebook will do you very, very little good if you don’t have a lot of people looking at your page and interacting with you.

So how do you get a lot of friends? Well, first you’ll want to start out by inviting all of the people that you know in real life to follow you. You can do this simply by typing in names or email addresses into the search bar at the top. You will be amazed at just how many people are actually on Facebook it is a popular site for people of all ages. From teenagers to grandparents! Once you have friend requested all the people that you know (hopefully that’s at least 100 or more) you can start adding new friends or people you want to get to know and network with.

The best places to find people to network with are in groups. Go to the search bar and type in a term like “home based business” or the name of your company or “stay at home moms” whatever and you should find a bunch of groups that fit the bill. Once you find the group you want to join (and you can join as many as you want) you can see who is a part of that group and you can start to friend request them as well. Facebook will not allow you to add tons and tons of friends all at once so you’ll have to just add a few every day and they will add up quickly.

Then once you have a good group of friends it’s time to start interacting. Leave comments, have conversations and just have fun! Try not to make your posts too spammy but don’t be afraid to promote your business either. You can have fun and promote your business at the same time.

Networking plays a major role in marketing your business and can save you a bundle of money in advertising. Following are six important components to keep in mind at your next networking event. You may think some of these components are obvious, but you’d be surprised to find how many new business owners make some of the most obvious mistakes.

1. Never sell your product or service while networking: Remember that you are there for the purpose of networking, not to recruit clients. The sole purpose of networking is to acquire, build and maintain informal business relationships. These business relationships carry the potential for future advantages in business opportunities that benefit both sides.

2. Never be the first one out the door as soon as the networking event is over: Being the first one out the door defeats the purpose of the networking event because soon after the major part of the event is over, people are more willing to talk about what they’ve just heard and how it applies to their business. It’s a powerhouse of energy and information and it’s your cue to listen and gather tips for your success.

3. Never wear your old jeans and sweatshirt to a networking event: It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you about being yourself and being comfortable, it reflects poorly if you show up at a business networking event in your old jeans and sweatshirt. How you manage your home business is your private matter, when networking is a business event it should be treated as such. Business impressions speak louder than business cards.

4. Never wait for someone to come and talk to you: You should never wait for someone to come to you in a networking event. You may feel a bit shy or out of place in the beginning, but remind yourself of the purpose for your coming to that event. It’s your business and you need to be proactive if you expect to succeed.

5. Never allow yourself to feel inferior: Others may have more experience than you in the networking arena but you are all at that event for the same reason. Try to spot those with more experience if this is your first time and follow their lead. Be open to learn from others and put any feelings of inferiority aside.

6. Never run out of business cards: Every networking event that you attend you must make sure you have more than enough business cards to hand out. People will not take you serious if you run out of business cards. Find out ahead of time the approximate number of people expected to turn out for that particular event.

Apply these six components to your next networking event and you will be better prepared to get the most out it, not to mention how much money you will be saving in advertising costs. By the way, networking isn’t always just about business partnerships, it has also been known to build long term friendships. So don’t be shy, get out there and learn a few things.

It is amazing how many online networking groups there are now for business, and there is an online networking group for almost every industry sector and sub-niche. In fact, if you do a little searching around on the Ning Social Online Network Platform, you will see a social online network for your exact industry group, and perhaps even one in your own area, or region of the country.

With all these online networking groups, there will be more price collusion, even if the participants aren’t necessarily attempting to do that. How do I know this? Well, although I am now retired, I belong to quite a few business type social networking groups, and I see a number of folks online discussing price, services, and the types of products they sell, and what works best.

In doing so newcomers to the industry, as well as those who are entrenched in their local markets, are constantly adjusting their price point to the industry averages – and in a way this is nothing new, industry associations have also been doing these things for decades. The difference now is anyone can belong to a social online networking site for their small business niche, without paying a lot of money to do it.

Therefore, there is more participation overall on many different networking websites, and the interesting thing is many of these networking websites are linked together to other websites, and the participants are involved in several, each time linking them to more people. What we have is an ad hoc standardization of pricing in almost every single industry due to the Internet.

In a way this limits competition, promotes collusion, and although it does provide some standardization, which is nice for a consumer, it also can slow down the competitive aspect which we have come to love and respect in a free market system. Now then, I am not criticizing what’s going on, I realize that small business social networking are evolving, so what’s happening right now and today may not be of concern.

Also, I realize things could go either way, the price collusion problems could get worse, they might drive down prices, which helps consumers, and more consumers might find out about these groups and learn more about the industry so they don’t get ripped off in the future. After all, information is power. Nevertheless, from an intellectual standpoint perhaps this is something we should be watching, considering, and perhaps doing something about in the future. I hope you will please consider this as a thought problem.

Offline businesses have always understood the value of business networking, and often offline business networking is a company’s main source of meeting new suppliers, finding new products and services to promote and getting referrals to new targeted leads. But never before has business networking been as simple or as far-reaching as it is with today’s social networking sites.

To start with, whatever niche or field your offline businesses are in probably has an association, and nowadays few industry associations don’t have websites where members can discuss issues, trade referrals and all the other areas of business networking. If your industry association was helpful to you before, think of how much more valuable they’d be to your offline businesses if they also became a source of contacts and targeted business leads?

Next, professional associations that cross the niche boundaries can be a major boost to the networking efforts of offline businesses too. For example, retail councils, manufacturing associations, wholesaler associations and even consumer advocacy groups all have websites where, with a bit of study and prudence, you can find ways to extend your business networking.

Then there are the actual social networking sites online, designed to cover all areas of business for both offline businesses and online businesses alike. LinkedIn, for example, lets each employee or owner in your company have their own resume-style page where they can list what they do and who they work for, and builds company listing pages as well showing which members of that company have pages there. A quick look at their site will show you it’s a dream come true for offline businesses looking for networking opportunities.

Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and Web 2.0 properties like Google Buzz and Yahoo Buzz aren’t designed specifically for business use, but can still be extremely helpful in your business networking quest. Give your employees some guidance in how best to represent your company on these sites then allow them some time each day to network with people there in an effort to find suppliers and get referrals to targeted leads – there efforts can even help you get more traffic to your company websites and directly through the front doors of your offline businesses.