FSB North Staffs Presentation - 9 Steps To Fail At Business Networking

9 Guaranteed Steps To FAIL At Business Networking

www.conspicuous-cbm.com

“Effective referral networking if done well is consistently the lowest

cost form of marketing any business can employ to boost

sales, opportunities and profits. !

Do it badly and it can kill!”


What You Will See


• Who am I?

• Introduction

• 9 Steps To FAIL at Networking!

• Final Thoughts

Who Am I?


• Chartered Accountant

• Social Media Addict

• + outside interests...

• Corporate Stooge

• Referral Marketing Specialist


• Recognised social media person - Linked-in, Twitter, Slideshare, Facebook....

• Regular posting on CCBM website & other original content to share.

• Linked-in guru - 25 published posts (nearly 2100 followers / 2010+ connections)

• 90+ recommendations & hundreds of endorsements on LinkedIn

• Most successful RD in BforB history

• Well respected in Staffordshire & beyond community - helped hundreds of new business / start-ups / established businesses

• Friend of other networking gurus

Who Am I?

Introduction


• Fact - Networking brings companies a rich stream of new contacts and business that can make them more successful & profitable

• Fact - Networking help them to understand their customers and the marketplace better whilst testing their message and its effectiveness.

• Fact - Many people who do network or referral marketing make mistakes which can cost them winning new business & damage their reputation.

• Fact - We all make mistakes. But what can you do to maximize your networking activities by avoiding these costly errors?

• These are the 9 Steps to Networking Failure

• Study them hard

• See which ones you have tripped-up over in the past

• See which ones have cost you business

• How are you going to avoid these errors in the future?


7 Things We Won't Be Talking About Tonight!



Behaviour Smiling Humour

Time keeping Dress Social media

+Follow-Up!

STEP 1 - Not listening



• One of the most important skills to have.

• Not about hearing what is said - it is understanding what people really mean.

• Real listening requires your complete focus and attention.

• What are people really looking to achieve?

• What is really important to them about their business, job, personal ambition, and family?

• People don't listen because they are too busy focusing on what they want to say next in a conversation.

• 2 choices - be an interesting person or an interested person. You decide!

• We are all at networking meetings to sell “ourselves”, but if we don't connect emotionally people will run a mile in the other direction - so LISTEN!

STEP 2 - Sell, Sell, Selling!



• Business Networking is not about sell, sell, sell.

• The aggressive nightmares are easy to spot!

• The question is, are YOU ever guilty of talking when you should be listening?

• Top networkers know how & do follow up + keep in regular contact.

• The people you meet at business networking are equals - they do not want to be sold to and definitely do not want to be treated as prospects

• Your objective is to build rapport and turn them into advocates of your business - they may become customers or clients in time!

STEP 3 - Deadly dull pitches



• Business Networking is not about telling the whole story of your business.

• Brighten your 60 seconds up with humour, a picture or an interesting statistic. • The point of the pitch is to stimulate people's curiosity.

• Today we're all overloaded with too much information - even worse at a Business Networking event.

• Give people as much information as they need at a later point.

• So do people a favour - FAVOUR simplicity over detail.

STEP 4 - Going for the quick fix



• Business Networking is NOT where a sale occurs each time you network.

• If everyone thought otherwise, who would we sell to - the catering staff?!

• Networking is all about building relationships.

• People can make great connections the first time they attend a Business Networking event but it is not something that you should expect.

• Real gold is in the long-term mutual beneficial relationships you form.

• You never know where where one conversation that you have in January could lead - don't be surprised if it's made you thousands by the end of December.

STEP 5 - Prejudging people



• Some of the best referrals we see - come from people who we think cannot help us or anybody else!

• You cannot afford to prejudge people

• You simply do not know who they know or who they can connect you to.

• The saying is, never judge a book by its cover, but many of us do.

• Give people time and your attention by getting to know them via 121s.

• The flipside is that all that glitters is not gold, be open-minded and don't rush into all relationships.

STEP 6 - Not taking the Limelight



• Presenting - Public speaking scares many people witless:

• Grab any opportunity to present to get your message across & grow your reputation.

• Confident speakers? They learnt this confidence by practicing. They too were once scared!

• Talking to strangers - Normal to feel apprehensive:

• In business, talking to complete strangers is only way to generate interest and contacts for your business.

• Only talk to the people you already know and deal with? You’re missing out on big opportunities!

• Set targets before you attend any networking event. Decide how many new contacts you want to make etc

• Make it fun and get out of your comfort zone with practice and determination.

• What was I worried about....

STEP 7 - Being a 1-hit Wonder



• You will get great results if you go back and get to know the other members.

• You never know what JV or referrals will result from the trust that grows out of regularly attending a networking group.

• Don't be a deal chaser in networking. Cannot afford to have an attitude of What's in it for me. Replace this with the mantra - How can I help you or How can I serve. Make a positive impact on someone's day!

• Effective networkers take a farming approach. They focus on cultivating relationships for mutual long term benefit and they definitely do not chase deals or instant sales.

• You may attend a networking forum and do business initially (The Law Of Recency) but referral's work best if you develop a long term know like and trust strategy with the people you meet.

STEP 8 - Not talking up the benefits



• Talk about the benefits you deliver to your clients, suppliers and contacts.

• Talk enthusiastically.

• What is unique about you? How do you deliver more value than others in your sector?

• Don’t fall into the trap of saying that it is your service or quality of your product that differentiates you. This is far too common and generic.

• Everything you say should be relevant to the needs of the other people in the room.

STEP 9 - No Clear Objective



• Want quality business? Your objective MUST be to build relationships on the following 3 criteria: know, like and trust.

• *Know - getting to know your contact first is vital. Get the conversation going by asking open-ended questions in which the person cannot easily answer yes or no!

• *Like- this is all about building rapport and getting on well.

• *Trust - mutual beneficial business relationships must be built on trust as it is your reputation - there must be no hidden agendas.

• DO: Have a plan for what customers or businesses you want to meet or be referred into.

• Other people can't guess what you want!

• Worse still they will waste your time with the wrong referrals if you are not CLEAR, PRECISE & FOCUSED on what your top targets are.

• Let people know who you want to be referred to specifically, NEVER say anybody or everybody. You will usually get referred to nobody !

• Nothing screams professionalism and "refer me with confidence" than having that laser-like focus on your referral targets.

Final Thoughts


Final Thoughts


• What next? Networking is a marketing tool and not just an event that you go to.

• Follow up without hesitation. Don’t allow the little voice to put you off.

• Find a professional business networking organization to join. Will help you become more successful and improve your networking skills.

• Making networking the core of your marketing activity will be one of the best business decisions you make. And fun too!

• Always observe the successes and failures of others’ networking efforts. There is a lot to learn from them.

• Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Success is impossible without some failure.

• If you don't get your message across properly today, there's always next time....

What Do I Want?


Continue the conversation

Social Media challenge

Let’s Do Mentoring

Opportunities to speak or network

Accountants

Contact Us


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FSB North Staffs Presentation - 9 Steps To Fail At Business Networking

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Transcript of FSB North Staffs Presentation - 9 Steps To Fail At Business Networking