Putting the right business people together!

By Chris Mansfield – Fusion – The Business Catalyst
www.fusion-business.co.uk

I started networking in 1999 when I attended my first BNI meeting. I had to stand in front of about 30 people to introduce myself and my business and ike the majority of people, I was terrified and spluttered my way through the worst explanation of what I did.

21 years later, I’m now paid to generate new business leads and strategic connections for a variety of top-quality, non-conflicting businesses based on a reputation for building trusted relationships through networking.

True networking occurs when you understand that everyone in the room has equal value. It’s about people enjoying other people, communicating their interests and connecting with others who share them. It’s about listening to what others need and connecting them with people you think can help, without any designs for personal gain. The most successful networkers build genuine relationships and give more than they receive.

We have two ears and one mouth so try to use them in those proportions, as the Dalai Lama once said, “When you talk you are only repeating what you already know, if you listen, you might learn something new!”

Here are 4 key components of networking which have become the foundations of my business.

Start networking before you need it.

If you start networking because you’ve run out of customers and are desperate for new ones, seasoned networkers will smell your desperation from across the room. People can always tell when someone is only out to help themselves.

Proper networking is a slow burn but when you have no ulterior motive, you can begin to build relationships and a reputation for being generous rather than self-serving.

Have a plan.

Before attending any networking event, be clear on what talents, strengths, skill sets and connections you can bring to the table. Decide who you want to talk to and what you want to talk about, particularly how you can help other people. Incidentally, a large number of people I meet while networking really struggle to simply communicate what it is they actually do so you might want to work on that first!

If there’s an attendee list look at it before you go along and decide who you really want to connect with, and if you don’t know them, ask the organisers to introduce you. I tend to focus on 4 – 5 people with a view to organising 121s over coffee.

Follow up and follow through.

If you tell someone you’ll get in touch with them, do it and if you promise to introduce someone to a person you know, take the time to do that too. Everyone is busy these days with jobs, families, events, etc but it takes no more than a minute to shoot off an email to introduce two people you want to connect. They can take it from there and you can just enjoy being the bridge. Little things like that mean a lot to people and just one introduction can end up changing someone’s life for the better.

….and finally, Believe in the power of networking.

When you believe that the true value of networking lies in helping others and you do your part, you’ll soon discover magic happening all around you. The beauty of this approach is that you never know when that karma is going to happen, but it will!