If we’re not careful networking can become a bit of a habit. We attend because we like the people, the coffee, to escape our four walls and we’ve paid for our membership.
Now I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with networking as a habit… I’m all for it… but it needs to be done intentionally. A plan for your networking will help.
Why do you ‘go networking’?
The following reasons emerged from a recent meeting; you may have others…
- To generate leads for business
- To find suppliers
- To meet potential collaborators
- For support
- To learn
- To test out ideas, products, messaging etc.
- For accountability
Are you clear about the reasons you ‘go networking’?
How well is your networking working for you?
Ask yourself what is working for you for the reasons you network. What do you enjoy? These are the things you’ll want to do more of.
Now think what could be better. For many people that might mean tweaking their introductions to make them clearer or more attractive. It often means being more systematic and consistent with follow up. Or maybe there are some changes to the meeting format you’d like to see, in which case do share your thoughts with the host.
Make a networking plan for the next few months
Now is a great time to plan your future networking activities. When you have a plan you are on the way to saving time and increasing effectiveness.
3 key questions to lead to your networking plan
- Who do I want to reach? This might be your ideal client or people who know, or work with, your ideal client. It might be a particular type of supplier or a good collaborative partner.
- What do I want to promote? What products, services or events am I focusing on in the coming months. Stick to one for each meeting or you will confuse people.
- What’s my core message? Our members really nailed this when I asked them to introduce their businesses in 15 words or less. Too much information confuses people… try to nail your core message in one sentence. Who are my ideal clients? What are the results I deliver for them? How do people find out more? Stick with that one core message until the people in your community really understand it, only then should you add further information.
Integrate networking with your marketing plan
If one of your reasons for networking is to find leads for business, then your networking plan should be integrated with your marketing plan. This means that you’ll know who your ideal client is, their reasons for buying and the nature of their buying journey. Your plan should ensure that you have the right marketing material to support that buying journey. These are the things that you will be directing your networking contacts to.
Your marketing might comprise
- Fliers, brochures etc. taken to events
- Your website… do you have a relevant page for what you are promoting currently?
- Your social posts… are you sharing relevant content?
- Talks, podcasts, articles etc.
- Your emails
Statistics suggest that a potential buyer for a considered purchase will spend around 7 hours checking you out before they are ready to buy. If your content isn’t sending a consistent message they may give up and go elsewhere.
Can you direct your potential customers and networking contacts to things that they can read, watch, listen to or sample that support the messages you are delivering? Will you take some relevant printed materials with you to your networking events?
The administration to support your networking.
The best networkers are often those who are most organised. They have the systems and procedures in place to be consistent.
They ‘pencil’ their regular networking events into their diaries often for the whole year. This ensures that they can attend events consistently to get the best results. They will usually book in some time to follow up with contacts within a couple of days of the event. This is the best way to ensure that the follow up happens and the gold is in the follow up.
Most successful networkers will also allocate regular time for 1-2-1s especially with new people they meet. But don’t forget contacts you’ve known for ages. Their lives and businesses move on as do yours. It’s worth setting time aside for a 1-2-1 with these people too. How about coffee before a meeting or lunch after it? Zoom and its competitors have made it easier and cheaper to fit in the follow ups… no need to find a mutually convenient location or to take time travelling.
Each year I get a number of calls from our attendees to ask for the name or contact details for someone the person has met at one of our meetings. This would indicate that the networker’s own systems are not as good as they should be. A CRM system should give you the structure for recording contacts and your engagements with them and some of these are free or very low cost. At the very least an Excel or Google spreadsheet would allow you to record and track some basic information.
Make time for evaluation.
And don’t forget to allocate some time every few months to evaluate your activities and to reconnect with people you may not have seen in a while. Most of us are surprised how much time has flown since we last engaged with someone we connected with. It’s not personal or intentional but if we don’t stay in touch we’re undervaluing the time we spend networking. Remember most people will forget you in 90 days if you’re out of sight. Why not invite the people you meet to join your mailing list and then send a value laden email at least once every three months? Or connect on social media and engage with them on a regular basis.
Do you have any networking planning tips to share? If so I’d love to hear them. Please email glenda@fabulousnetworking.co.uk
