BIG Networking Mistakes and the Solutions
Last week I asked a heap of you in our community about your networking goals for 2019. Many of you responded. And we’ve been able to help some of you already.
As a result of this though there were some key mistakes that jumped out at me that many of you were and are making. As a result of these mistakes I wanted to share with you what they are and how you can overcome them.
These are THREE REALLY, REALLY, IMPORTANT keys to your networking success in 2019. If you don’t get these right from the get-go, your results are going to be hard to come by this year.
Networking Mistake #1
I’m going to share the first one below and the next two in subsequent emails – keep an eye out.
After running networking events for the past 6-years and having 1000’s of business owners attend our events. I’ve learnt the true impact of not getting your networking right.
I’ve seen members of The Business League in the same industry, get small returns for their networking efforts whilst, other members in the same niche, in the same room generate thousands and thousands of dollars (one member generated $200 000 in revenue)
So if you don’t get this right you could be missing HUGE dollars.
The first mistake that networkers continually make, even the most seasoned networkers is not being clear on who you want to connect with. Time and time again I ask our members, who do you want to connect with and time and time again, even from those business owners who have been networking for 10-years, do I get a vague response. A response like: “Anyone who owns a house” or something similar.
Clarity
You see the problem with this is that one it’s not clear who you are really looking for and as a result I can’t help you find them. The second ties into this and it’s that I can’t use this to make an introduction. I’m not going to connect a friend to you simply because they own a house. Imagine and introduction that went like this: “Hi friend, I’d like to introduce you to ‘Geoff’ he’s looking for people who own a house”. You wouldn’t do it, neither would I. You’re friend would be like – “Ed, what are doing???”
The other problem that happens here is its hard for me to help this response. Compare this to a person who says “I’m looking to connect with Husband and Wives who run a business together and have 5 or more staff members, are always working and never have time. The business is growing but its all reactionary and crazy, staff are underperforming and they just want business to be easier.”
The later allows you to pinpoint who, then it provides details about how to identify people inside that group. It also identifies key aspects to trigger conversation and make it easier to connect.
So I know you will be reading this saying to yourself, I know who I want to get connected with and going “that’s not me, I’m clear”
I’m going to call “BULLSHIT” on this and get you to get even clearer, dig deeper, understand who they are. I promise you the clearer you get the more success you will achieve.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Are you networking for clients or strategic partners?
- Are you really specific on who you want to meet?
- Do you have a good process for engagement and follow up?
- What is the best thing I do for my clients
- Who are my best clients?
- How can I narrow down their description even further?
So, my question for you is “WHO DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT WITH?”