| People say that networking events are not the place to ‘sell’, but what else are you supposed to do? Malcolm Sleath from coaching consultancy 12boxes sets out the essentials. |
| People are talking about me behind my back |
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| | By Malcolm Sleath
Question: Working
in a medium-sized
consulting practice, I
manage projects and
day-to-day relationship
with clients, working
with a partner who
handles the account
management role. I have
already proved that I can
develop business with
existing clients, but it
has been made clear to me
that if I am going to get
to the next level in the
firm I have to show that
I can bring in new
business. Otherwise it’s
likely that proven
business developers will
be brought in from
outside over my head. My
boss tells me that I
should devote more time
to networking, but the
events I have been to
either seem full of pushy
people who are only
interested in me as a
sales prospect, or they
are laid back, clubby and
boozy. I can’t see the
potential.
Answer: From my
own experience, I can
assure you that even the
most badly organised,
unlikely and unpromising
networking events can
prove to be a useful
source of business. It’s
not what other people are
doing, but what you are
doing that counts.
The first thing you
have to do is to relieve
yourself of the pressure
that you are there to
sell. Otherwise you are | |
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| | going to find yourself
going round repeating
variations on your
elevator pitch like one
of those talking dolls
with a string in its
back.
Networking is not like
cold-calling where you
(or someone hired by you)
is essentially playing
the numbers game, hoping
to hit on someone who
wants to talk about a
particular set of issues.
Neither is it about
continually kissing frogs
until one turns into a
prince.
The important thing to
remember is that your
most powerful networking
takes place between other
people when you are not
present. It’s what people
say about you when you
are not there that
counts, not what they say
to your face.
Next, I would say,
give yourself time.
Provided the right people
are there, this is one
reason why clubby and
boozy can be better than
pushy and pitchy. People
are likely to come back
and you have a chance to
build up a network of
relationships.
This does not mean
that you have to be boozy
too. I’ve watched people
chuck away golden
opportunities because
they have let the wine go
to their head and a
prospective client has | |
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| | been confronted with an
individual who is far too
flippant and pleased with
themselves to be of
interest.
So how do you invest
this time? My third point
is that your focus should
be on other people and
how you might be able to
help them. At the last
networking event I
attended, I met three
people who could be
helped in some way by
meeting people that I
already knew. Some were
in the network, some were
not. That doesn’t
matter.
But what is the point
of an approach that
sounds more like social
work? (Someone emailed me
the other day and
jokingly suggested that I
might like to start an
introduction agency.) At
the simplest level, it
means that two people are
going to be talking about
me when I am not there.
And provided they get on,
they both have reason to
appreciate what I have
done in bringing them
together. I’m building a
reputation. If I say that
I will introduce someone
to someone, I
meticulously follow up on
it. So I am seen as
someone who does what
they say they will do.
Continued on page 14
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