Maximising Returns From Networking

I’m sitting at a breakfast networking eating just the other day and I

am staggered at the lack of style and performance and basic ‘appeal’ at almost all of the 60

second type slots!!!

Just what a they doing?!!

Ok, let’s cut to the chase…have you ever been to a business network meeting when people

stand up and say what they do?

And have you ever sat there and wondered after their 60 seconds exactly what do they do?!

AND worse than that, have you ever watched them, understood but still thought “I’d never buy

from you!”

Why? Why are most of them so bad?!!

Well there is a way networking can be a whole lot better…and not by having personality or

confidence transplants! No, simply by actually viewing it for its true potential and just putting

a little effort into the presentation and thinking a little before hand about how you might come

across better!

To help though here are a couple of really strong tips:

1.Do NOT  start by saying what you do! The listening mind is usually very selfish!

Indeed many of the guests or those present will have already heard most of the other guests

speak and so they are already operating at half radar awareness levels…don’t switch them off

completely by repeating what they already know! No, instead ask a question or sing or dance

or do something different to grab their attention! Tell a story, use props or make a really loud

bold statement! Shock them, surprise them, intrigue them, entertain them!

For example, if you are in IT services and you provide a back up service for IT repairs and problem

solving you might frame yourself as another emergency service and come in with props such as ambulance

images or toy cars or fire engines or images of a breakdown truck…be creative…frame yourself

as an emergency service with images not merely your words! If you are a web designer then

talk about the mass of millions of websites and illustrate it with images people relate to like

needles and hay! Or try showing really poor sites and demo interactive ones…or talk about

money! Show a site that you did last year that has made a heap of sales and talk about money

NOT websites!! In short, be creative and be interesting…and prepare some material that sparks

interest instead of almost being bored of it yourself! Believe me, you CAN make business

networking drive a load of referrals when you just up the anti of you!

2. Do NOT talk about what you do as much as what it does for me! I don’t care what you know or where you have

been or what labels are after your name…frankly I don’t give a damn…I care about my challenges,

my pressures and me. Show me what you do in my language not yours. Never ever use short

acronyms or industry sector language …tell me in my simple words what it does for me!

For example, if you are selling you as a video producer tell the audience about enquiries that

your video has given to the last client and how he is now getting all sorts of request from

media companies after the video you shot was found on YouTube!  Don’t show me a video, show me results from a video!

If you are selling photographic services similarly exploit the personal image / ego and show how something came from

your work that results in press coverage or recognition in the persons business sector.

There are hundreds of examples, and I know that if I were sitting beside you now and asked

about your client stories you could come up with them…so come up with them when networking!!

Be interesting to me in my language! Show me how I win not what you do!