Quality or Quantity?

Last week I was interviewed for a research project on Networking.
One of the questions asked was whether I favoured a quantity or quality approach. My view is that the 2 are not incompatible although there is confusion.

If you start from the premise that networking is about building relationships then over time you will develop a number of quality relationships. You have a finite resource of time and so your capacity for these relationships is a limited number. As you build trust these 'advocates' will help spread your reputation far and wide. You will not get to like or trust everyone you meet so you need to meet a larger number of people in order to develop these 'quality' relationships. The quality is therefore an outcome of quantity. The right networking groups are an efficient way of filtering & building these 'quality' relationships.

Where I see confusion is amongst those people who seem to think that networking is about meeting lots of people once. People who attend different events with different people all of the time. That type of activity does not build relationships & misses the point of networking entirely.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Why join a networking group?

Successful Networking depends on developing business relationships with others who place a similar importance on this approach. You probably have a number of these relationships in place, but it can be difficult to generate enough in a small business where you work with a limited number of clients & suppliers.

When you find a group that you feel may be right for you there is one huge benefit. The shared commitment to building those business relationships. If you are wondering about joining a group just ask yourself how long it would take to build that number of positive relationships outside one at a time.

As you develop a high level of trust with others in the group you are able to:

• Specialise in what you are really good at
• Reduce your costs of selling
• Reduce risks
• Work with other companies on larger projects
• Improve credibility
• Give & gain specialist information
• Give & gain hard to get business intelligence
• Give & gain referrals

The Networking groups that work well do so because of the high level of trust in the relationships.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Trusted referrals

Charlie Collins posted a great quote from Mark Zuckerberg on my facebook profile over the weekend:

"Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising"

Although the quote is about advertising it goes right to the heart of business networking - building relationships to regularly generate those trusted referrals.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Networking is not....

Networking is not attending an event & interrupting as many people as you can & thrusting your business card at them!

I was at a large networking event a couple of weeks ago. I was in conversation with someone I had just met. Another person came up said, "Here's my card. If you ever want this give me a call", then he moved on to the next group.

What do you think happened to all the cards he gave out?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Networking: I tried that once!

In a few conversations people have said to me, "Networking. I tried that, but it didn't work"

On the last occasion I asked what the person meant. He said "I spent a few months attending lots of events, but no one gave me any business"

I asked a few questions back including;

"Did you refer any business to anyone else?"
"Did you have any follow up conversations?"
"Did you have any 121 meetings?"

The answer was 'no' to each one.

It's a common misconception that networking is just about meeting people at events and somehow business happens. It isn't like that, it's about building relationships. As Andy Lopata commented on my earlier post 'What is Networking' it is about collaboration, mutual support and teamwork.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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What can you do for the group?

Often people will try and assess a Networking Group on what it will give them.

One way of deciding whether to join a Group is to ask yourself whether you can see yourself helping the other members. In the course of your business do you come across referral opportunities that would benefit the other members? If the answer is yes then they are likely to be able to do the same for you.

If you start sharing these then other members will be motivated to help you.

There is a great quote from Napoleon Hill on the subject.

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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What is networking?

When I present seminars & workshops on business networking I often ask if anyone has a definition for networking.

One interesting one was from an attendee at a Seminar in Swindon.

"Networking is about making friends you can do Business with"

Do you have your own definition?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Do you have a specific niche?

I first spoke to the owner of law firm X a couple of years ago. Their message then was about certain specialist legal services to small and medium sized businesses.

More recently someone from the firm spoke about their specialism in helping a particular group of foreign nationals in the UK with these specialist services.

When you narrow down your offering to a particular market segment it makes your marketing & networking much easier.

You have a much clearer understanding of their problems & concerns.
You know who they are and therefore who to aim your messages at.
You know who else supplies them and therefore who to network with.
You know who their customers are and so more people to network with.

The great thing is that you still get referred to people with similar needs, but not quite in the same niche.

So what is your niche?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Getting your message across

I was in a networking session last week where we each had some time to resolve an issue rather than have the usual introductions. One of the problems that a number of people raised was the difficulty in getting their message across to potential clients.

One of the others suggested a great question:

"How do your potential clients recognise themselves"

It immediately got people thinking from the perspective of a client and the issues that they faced in the context of a particular service or offering. The message is then focussed in the right place. On the receiver & not the deliverer!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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