Networking is HUGE

Networking is HUGE

1 August 2008

Business doesn’t just walk through the front door of your office does it? If it did then everyone would be a successful business person! But as any successful business person will tell you, there are many aspects to ensure that you are on a winning team, and one of the most effective ways of ensuring you are successful is to build up a circle of business friends and acquaintances.

The old cliché ‘people buy from people’ is as true today as it ever was, and knowing the right people with the right connections is what it is all about. Of course the modern term for this is ‘networking’ but the principle is nothing new, the concept is as old as business itself.

Having said that, some people seem to have an innate ability to ‘network’, to get easily with people and even enjoy the experience of getting to know strangers, but for many, perhaps the more reserved of us, whilst we recognize the importance networking plays in business relations and success none the less we feel uncomfortable in the company of strangers.

Of course, one might joke that a gin and tonic or two helps ease any social reticence, but of course this approach may not leave a favorable impression with your new acquaintances!

Perhaps the first thing to realize is that you are networking for a reason and that other people you meet (for example at a convention or exhibition) and likely to be in the same situation as yourself. Furthermore, remember that whoever it is you are trying to network with does have many things in common with you; at least some common business interests (or else why are you at the same convention?). Striking up that initial conversation is always the difficult part. We are all afraid of rejection, but in reality remember the other person is probably feeling the same!

So, next time you go to a trade show or convention, and you know deep inside that it would be useful to know the rep from Acme Corp. take a deep breath, stroll over and say ‘hi!’. In all probability they will find your own companied offering of interest to them too and very likely a mutually beneficial business relationship may result!

Finally, remember that networking is not only about meeting and making useful contacts. There is another old saying, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer still’. Networking in the right environment can give you key information on competitors and rivals!