I was talking to a member of NRG in London on Friday. He has received business this month worth £22000 through his NRG network. He has been a member for a couple of years and typically people take a while to generate results. He also shared that he had received business through a contact at his first ever NRG meeting and regularly since then.
So what has he been doing to get results where others struggle?
He has a strategy for his networking.
He always takes time to listen and find a point of connection with someone new.
He attends his own group regularly and visits other groups too.
He is very clear about what he does, who he does it for and the problems he fixes.
He always follows up.
He spends a lot of time with his existing network.
He regularly advocates and introduces others.
Networking can take a long time. However if you plan and follow a system you can ensure that your networking activity produces predictable, reliable and profitable results.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
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Home > Archives for April 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
What are people really hearing?
You can often find that people hear something altogether different from the message you think you are conveying.
I was at a Business Networking Event recently when someone gave a very convincing pitch. He then said something I disagreed with so I said that. He responded with;
"You have misunderstood me. It is an irrefutable fact that..."
I probably had misunderstood him, and so I apologised. My lasting impression is not the pitch, however, it is the impression of being told I was wrong and he was right. Not an ideal way to start a relationship.
I remember hearing from someone who said that the meaning of our communication is the response we get. If you are not getting the right response then maybe get some of your trusted contacts to give you some good honest feedback. You can then adjust, or not, accordingly.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
I was at a Business Networking Event recently when someone gave a very convincing pitch. He then said something I disagreed with so I said that. He responded with;
"You have misunderstood me. It is an irrefutable fact that..."
I probably had misunderstood him, and so I apologised. My lasting impression is not the pitch, however, it is the impression of being told I was wrong and he was right. Not an ideal way to start a relationship.
I remember hearing from someone who said that the meaning of our communication is the response we get. If you are not getting the right response then maybe get some of your trusted contacts to give you some good honest feedback. You can then adjust, or not, accordingly.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
What do you really do?
Recently I attended a Seminar before an NRG Business Development Network Lunch. The Seminar was on "How to get free publicity on TV, on radio and in Print" and was presented by Chantal Cooke of passionfortheplanet.com. Chantal used her expertise in journalism to identify the PR angle for all the business people present.
With some people it was not immediately clear to Chantal (or anyone else) what their proposition was. It took all of her expertise to extract from them what they really did and who for.
How often do you get the luxury of finding out if your message is clearly understood?
Maybe you can find someone to interview you before you next go networking.
Some questions you might want to think about:
What do you do?..................................
Which means what?................................
Which means what exactly?........................
Where do you do this?............................
Who do you do this for?..........................
Who do you do this for specifically..............
Why should anyone choose you?....................
What examples do you have?.......................
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
With some people it was not immediately clear to Chantal (or anyone else) what their proposition was. It took all of her expertise to extract from them what they really did and who for.
How often do you get the luxury of finding out if your message is clearly understood?
Maybe you can find someone to interview you before you next go networking.
Some questions you might want to think about:
What do you do?..................................
Which means what?................................
Which means what exactly?........................
Where do you do this?............................
Who do you do this for?..........................
Who do you do this for specifically..............
Why should anyone choose you?....................
What examples do you have?.......................
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Get a Frog Kissing Radar Device
I just read a great article entitled 'Get a Frog Kissing Radar Device' from Sarah Owen of the Referral Institute in the UK.
I have written about the importance of follow up in this blog before. In Sarah's article she suggests it would be great to have a device that told us who to follow up with. In the absence of such a device she suggests some indicators to watch out for when you meet someone networking. Read the full article in the networking articles section of the NRG networks website.
I find myself asking some fairly simple questions when I meet someone.
What do you do?
Who are your typical clients?
What problem do you solve for them?
Any examples?
Who else sells to your market?
How did you get into this business?
What help are you looking for?
What contacts are you looking for?
The answers and how they answer help me to form an impression. It helps me to assess whether I like them, if there are points of contact and any interesting things to follow up.
How do you qualify a potential advocate?
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
I have written about the importance of follow up in this blog before. In Sarah's article she suggests it would be great to have a device that told us who to follow up with. In the absence of such a device she suggests some indicators to watch out for when you meet someone networking. Read the full article in the networking articles section of the NRG networks website.
I find myself asking some fairly simple questions when I meet someone.
What do you do?
Who are your typical clients?
What problem do you solve for them?
Any examples?
Who else sells to your market?
How did you get into this business?
What help are you looking for?
What contacts are you looking for?
The answers and how they answer help me to form an impression. It helps me to assess whether I like them, if there are points of contact and any interesting things to follow up.
How do you qualify a potential advocate?
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | virtual board
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