Is your network, working for you?

There is a huge choice of places and ways to network these days. Online, in person, hybrid, and social.

In my experience many of us attend with the aim of selling our products and services. We soon realise that everyone else is there for the same reason and in fact no one is there to buy. The temptation to move on to another network when you don’t sell quickly is always present. The “scorched earth” approach to networking is probably familiar. A colleague was telling me about seeing someone popping up at different events in his local area staying for a couple of meetings and moving on. It didn’t help them and offered no value to the networks.

To avoid falling into the trap of scorched earth networking you need to be clear on some basic points. Are you attending the right sort of network (there are in fact 3 types of networks, all serving different purposes for your business)? What are your intentions, and what are your expectations? Something that has worked well for my clients is going to a networking group to listen. Through listening carefully rather than being focused on your own pitch you can identify 2 people who you want to have a more in-depth conversation with. So you are setting the intention to listen and the expectation that you will simply get to know a new contact, and understand what value you offer to each other. Many networking groups use a variation on the strapline, “meet, like, know, trust”. And while it is a bit of cliché it’s also very true. To leverage our networks to work for us we need to understand if they have the contacts we are looking for and they have the trust to share them.

We invest a lot of time and effort networking. Asking yourself some questions can help you achieve the best return on your investment.

·How many networks do you belong to?

·How much networking are you doing each week?

When you add up all the hours in a month you can be clear on how much you are investing in networking and understand the return that you are getting from it.

Have you been to a networking meeting where you have just gone to listen? It’s useful and you will find that the insight you get from understanding other people’s businesses and expectations will benefit yours. If you would like to book a 20-minute coffee online with me to help you understand how we can make your networks work more effectively for you, get in touch, and remember to ask me about the 3 types of networks.

Contact — MBD UK (mbd-co.uk)