Burton Chamber Of Commerce Networking Talk - April 2015

9 Guaranteed Steps To FAIL At Business Networking

www.conspicuous-cbm.com

“Effective business networking done well is consistently the lowest cost marketing any business can

employ to boost sales, opportunities and profits.

!

Do it badly and it can kill!”



What You Will See


• Who am I?

• Introduction

• Why Networking?

• 9 Steps To FAIL at Networking!

• Final Thoughts

Who Am I?


• Chartered Accountant

• Social Media Addict

• + outside interests...

• Corporate Stooge

• Referral Marketing Specialist


• Social media junkie - Twitter, Google+, Instagram

• Blogging Junkie & now published author

• LinkedIn Fan - 40 posts, 2400+ connections, 100+ recommendations, 100s Endorsements

• Most successful RD in BforB history

• Helped hundreds of new business / start-ups / established businesses

• Friend of other networking gurus including Rob!

I Am Not Rob Brown! But…

Introduction


• Fact - Networking brings companies a rich stream of new contacts and business that can make them more successful & profitable

• Fact - Networking help them to understand their customers and the marketplace better whilst testing their message and its effectiveness.

• Fact - Many people who do networking or referral marketing make mistakes which can cost them winning new business & damage their reputation.

• Fact - We all make mistakes.

• But what can you do to maximize your networking activities by avoiding these costly errors?

Why Networking?



Networking Referral Marketing

Reputation Building + Social Media

4 Things To Do!


4 Words!

Hard Work Discipline

Perseverance + A Plan!


4 Elements For Success

Presence 121s

Enthusiasm Focus


The 9 Steps To Failure!• These are the 9 Steps to Networking Failure

• Study them hard

• See which ones you have tripped-up over in the past

• See which ones have cost you business

• How are you going to avoid these errors in the future?

7 Things We Won't Be Talking About Today!



Behaviour Smiling Humour

Time keeping Dress Social media

+Follow-Up!


The 9 FailuresNot Listening Sell Sell Selling

Deadly Dull Pitches Going For The Quick Fix

Prejudging People Not Taking the Limelight

Being A 1-hit Wonder Not Talking Up The Benefits

No Clear Objective ++++++

STEP 1 - Not listening



• One of the most important skills to have.

• Not about hearing what is said - it is understanding what people really mean.

• Real listening requires your complete focus and attention.

• What are people really looking to achieve?

• What is really important to them about their business, job, personal ambition, and family?

• People don't listen because they are too busy focusing on what they want to say next in a conversation.

• 2 choices - be an interesting person or an interested person. You decide!

• We are all at networking meetings to sell “ourselves”, but if we don't connect emotionally people will run a mile in the other direction - so LISTEN!

STEP 2 - Sell, Sell, Selling!



• Business Networking is not about sell, sell, sell.

• The aggressive nightmares are easy to spot!

• The question is, are YOU ever guilty of talking when you should be listening?

• Top networkers know how & do follow up + keep in regular contact.

• The people you meet at business networking are equals - they do not want to be sold to and definitely do not want to be treated as prospects

• Your objective is to build rapport and turn them into advocates of your business - they may become customers or clients in time!

STEP 3 - Deadly dull pitches



• Business Networking is not about telling the whole story of your business.

• Brighten your 60 seconds up with humour, a picture or an interesting statistic. • The point of the pitch is to stimulate people's curiosity.

• Today we're all overloaded with too much information - even worse at a Business Networking event.

• Give people as much information as they need at a later point.

• So do people a favour - FAVOUR simplicity over detail.

STEP 4 - Going for the quick fix



• Business Networking is NOT where a sale occurs each time you network.

• If everyone thought otherwise, who would we sell to - the catering staff?!

• Networking is all about building relationships.

• People can make great connections the first time they attend a Business Networking event but it is not something that you should expect.

• Real gold is in the long-term mutual beneficial relationships you form.

• You never know where where one conversation that you have in January could lead - don't be surprised if it's made you thousands by the end of December.

STEP 5 - Prejudging people



• Some of the best referrals we see - come from people who we think cannot help us or anybody else!

• You cannot afford to prejudge people

• You simply do not know who they know or who they can connect you to.

• The saying is, never judge a book by its cover, but many of us do.

• Give people time and your attention by getting to know them via 121s.

• The flipside is that all that glitters is not gold, be open-minded and don't rush into all relationships.

STEP 6 - Not taking the Limelight



• Presenting - Public speaking scares many people witless:

• Grab any opportunity to present to get your message across & grow your reputation.

• Confident speakers? They learnt this confidence by practicing. They too were once scared!

• Talking to strangers - Normal to feel apprehensive:

• In business, talking to complete strangers is only way to generate interest and contacts for your business.

• Only talk to the people you already know and deal with? You’re missing out on big opportunities!

• Set targets before you attend any networking event. Decide how many new contacts you want to make etc

• Make it fun and get out of your comfort zone with practice and determination.

• What was I worried about....

STEP 7 - Being a 1-hit Wonder



• You will get great results if you go back and get to know the other members.

• You never know what JV or referrals will result from the trust that grows out of regularly attending a networking group.

• Don't be a deal chaser in networking. Cannot afford to have an attitude of What's in it for me. Replace this with the mantra - How can I help you or How can I serve. Make a positive impact on someone's day!

• Effective networkers take a farming approach. They focus on cultivating relationships for mutual long term benefit and they definitely do not chase deals or instant sales.

• You may attend a networking forum and do business initially (The Law Of Recency) but referral's work best if you develop a long term know like and trust strategy with the people you meet.

STEP 8 - Not talking up the benefits



• Talk about the benefits you deliver to your clients, suppliers and contacts.

• Talk enthusiastically.

• What is unique about you? How do you deliver more value than others in your sector?

• Don’t fall into the trap of saying that it is your service or quality of your product that differentiates you. This is far too common and generic.

• Everything you say should be relevant to the needs of the other people in the room.

STEP 9 - No Clear Objective



• Want quality business? Your objective MUST be to build relationships on the following 3 criteria: know, like and trust.

• *Know - getting to know your contact first is vital. Get the conversation going by asking open-ended questions in which the person cannot easily answer yes or no!

• *Like- this is all about building rapport and getting on well.

• *Trust - mutual beneficial business relationships must be built on trust as it is your reputation - there must be no hidden agendas.

• DO: Have a plan for what customers or businesses you want to meet or be referred into.

• Other people can't guess what you want!

• Worse still they will waste your time with the wrong referrals if you are not CLEAR, PRECISE & FOCUSED on what your top targets are.

• Let people know who you want to be referred to specifically, NEVER say anybody or everybody. You will usually get referred to nobody !

• Nothing screams professionalism and "refer me with confidence" than having that laser-like focus on your referral targets.

Final Thoughts


Final Thoughts


•Networking is a marketing tool and not just an event that you go to.

•Make it the core of your marketing. Good for business and fun too!

• Follow up without hesitation.

• Find a professional business networking organization to join.

•Observe the successes and failures of others’ networking efforts.

•Don't be afraid of making mistakes.

•Don't get your message across today, there's always next time....


5 Final Actions


1-2-1s


Social Media Challenge


21st April Stafford

http://staffordshirechambers.co.uk/events/one2three-club-3/

http://staffordshirechambers.co.uk/events/one2three-club-3/


http://staffordshirechambers.co.uk/

Lets Do Mentoring

http://staffordshirechambers.co.uk/


https://wtdesigns.leadpages.net/refer-refer-refer-by-stuart-walton/

Refer, Refer, Refer

https://wtdesigns.leadpages.net/refer-refer-refer-by-stuart-walton/

Contact Us


Phone - 01785 244481 or 07706 171851 Email - [email protected] Blog - www.conspicuous-cbm.com LinkedIn - uk.linkedin.com/in/stuartwalton/ !LinkedIn - ConspicuousCBM Facebook - ConspicuousCBM Google+ - Conspicuous CBM ltd Slideshare - Stuart Walton Instagram - ConspicuousCBM Flickr - BNRMStaffordshire YouTube - Conspicuous CBM ltd Vimeo - ConspicuousCBM Tumblr - ConspicuousCBM Pinterest - ConspicuousCBM Scribd - ConspicuousCBM Twitter - @conspicuouscbm

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.conspicuous-cbm.com

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stuartwalton/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/conspicuous-cbm?trk=biz-companies-cym

https://www.facebook.com/conspicuousCBM

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/102935103811289549177/+Conspicuouscbmltd/posts

http://www.slideshare.net/stuartwalton

http://instagram.com/conspicuouscbm

https://www.flickr.com/groups/bforbstaffs/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q93kGs1YGs8DoKyrU9_ow

https://vimeo.com/conspicuouscbm

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/conspicuouscbm

http://www.pinterest.com/conspicuouscbm/

http://www.scribd.com/conspicuouscbm

https://twitter.com/ConspicuousCBM


THANK YOU


QUESTIONS
