Are you getting the most from your business networking?
In our last blog we gave our top recommendations for professional networking groups in and around the Sussex area. now we thought it would be useful to offer up some professional networking tips too.
Many people undertake networking and consider it one of the most important marketing and sales tactics they undertake.
However, from our experience, very few actually undertake business networking with quite the right amount of strategic planning, clarity on their goals, defined what success looks like, or the tools to make it truly as effective as it could be.
Networking can be a big draw on your time. It’s something that needs to done regularly to generate results, when you have the best professional networking tips to hand!
Therefore a key question to ask yourself: Is networking the best use of your time given everything else you have to do as an owner of a business?’
If you aren’t sure, or the answer is no, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should stop your networking – rather you need to be doing it differently. That is where this blog with professional networking tips can help you.
Business networking is incredibly powerful, as I know for myself with my own business. But there are some tricks and professional networking tips that can certainly elevate your business success from networking.
So let’s start the New Year with a new approach to networking with our 5 professional networking tips.
5 professional networking tips
1. Be consistent and go prepared
Our first professional networking tip is that first impressions do matter.
As humans, we do make judgments on first impressions and although they can be overwritten, there are a few things you can do to help.
Looking appropriately smart for the occasion is one. That of course doesn’t mean a suit and tie, or a posh dress necessarily unless it is that type of event!
Be well-organised, and make sure you have some interesting business cards and marketing materials to hand out when asked is professional networking tip to get you started!
Have a great and interesting answer to the “So, what do you do?” question. Rather than saying you are an accountant, try providing context for your value.
As an example, say: “You know how getting your tax assessment wrong would be really annoying? Well, I keep everyone happy by helping them achieve a ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’ outcome… not too much, not too little, just the right amount!” This leads to more productive small talk afterwards.
2. Be pro-active and engaging
Wallflowers don’t win at networking. This can of course be hard for the more introverted among us but there are still ways around this but having a good opening elevator pitch.
Focus your conversations on the things you love and are passionate about in your business.
Spend time speaking to the people you don’t know so that you build your connection list both quickly and effectively. It may just be one or two people to start with, and building up to working the whole roo over time.
Our professional networking tip is to remember that the aim is not to collect as many business cards as possible, but rather to find the right types of people who could be customers or could refer customers to you. So proactively seek out those who fall into these categories. Have a mutually beneficial objective in mind (i.e. what’s in it for them to speak to you) and start building a relationship with them.
3. Ask open ended questions
Again, go prepared with some questions you can ask people you meet, and ensure they are open ended.
For example, “Do you work with xxx types of businesses?” can generate a simple yes or no answer, or certainly a clipped one of no, xxx companies instead. Instead try asking “ Who is your ideal client?”
To ensure you learn the most about the people around you, and build a network that is most relevant to your aims, open-ended questions encourages exploration and dialogue. This is a professional networking tip that you wouldn’t believe how many people don’t do!
4. Follow up professionally
You won’t speak with everyone at an event, but many will be receptive to a chat or a coffee in the following days. Use a polite, professional email or call to arrange that after the meeting. Do not just expect people to come to you, there needs to be an effort made in following up afterward.
It is important to highlight this is still not a sales pitch opportunity. You are inviting people for an informal coffee to learn more about them and their business. If you’ve done your research earlier, you will have qualified that there is potential mutual benefits to building a relationship – whether that be direct business, referrals, supplier, or other strategic partnership opportunities – the invite is to identify whether that opportunity is real and timely, and importantly, you explore that together with the new connection.
5. Don’t be metronomic
If you are attending a regular meeting, deliver a range of information rather than the same thing over and over again. People get bored quickly and you need to be fresh as a daisy with your message. Be sure to re-enforce the points about you that need to be remembered by the audience for the longer term. Make sure you bring some of your personality through, whether that is through anecdotes, humour or some other means.
People do business with people. So our final professional networking tip is to let them get to know you!
Additional networking tips for young professionals
If you are just starting out on your career and are looking for networking tips for young professionals, the truth is the same tips above apply as the critical things to do and consider.
The only addition I’d add is that the results from networking take time and practice. So learn your elevator pitch and spend a bit longer preparing for your networking events. Find your way of networking that reflects your personality, passions and interests. Critically, find your tribe – the networking group that suits you personally and your business goals.
Give yourself some time to figure this out and the best chance of success by researching, planning and following up.
Looking for further business advice?
We hope that you’ve found this quick guide to networking, and the best networking events Sussex helpful.
If you’d like to learn more about how UK Growth Coach business coaches help their clients to accelerate progress and achieve better results, do get in touch. You can learn more about our work as coaches elsewhere on the website.
