Winning at Networking Events-Ten Keys

Most of us can still recall the first time we were asked to attend an associational event, an awards banquet, party or other networking event on our company’s behalf.  By our very nature most of us, not all, were a bit apprehensive about going.  We didn’t have a clue how to work a room, we didn’t know the protocol or rules, and we certainly didn’t know what we should say or what we should do. It is certain that most of us found someone, probably a colleague and clung pretty close by there side.  That was my experience.

Since that time, I have been to literally hundreds of different events of this type.  Over the years I have picked up a few tidbits which when attending an event.  Most of these are pretty simplistic but often forgotten.  When attending events where networking is at least part of the purpose of the function, attendees should try to follow10 simple rules.

1. Make sure to take plenty business cards.  Yes this is such a simple thing.  Yet, countless times have I asked others for their card and they don’t have one or they have run out.  When giving a card, it should be done with the top of the card toward you.  This way they can read it.  When receiving a card, make sure to comment on something interesting about the card. 
2. Name tags or stickers go on the right hand sided.  90 percent of the people put them on the left hand side.  This takes the tag out of the direct line of site as you shake hands. Use the other persons tag as you introduce yourself.  “Hello ____, I’m _____”. 
3. Get out of your comfort zone.  Most of the time we go to these functions with others from our company.  DO NOT cling to them.  Get away from them as quickly as possible.  It just increases the number of touches your company can make.  If it is an event where a meal is served, make sure to sit at different tables.  If it is a party, introduce colleague to someone, stay for a minute then excuse yourself.  
4. Make sure that you carry you drink in your left hand.  Your right hand is for shaking and no one wants to shake a cold wet hand.  Your grip should be firm but not hard and you should shake the whole hand. 
5. Be an introducer. Those who know me know that my philosophy in life is one that I have taken on from one of my favorite motivation speakers and sales people.  Zig Ziglar say, “The way to get everything you want out of life is to help enough other people get what they want”.   At networking events what people want is to get to know other people.  When you introduce people they remember that you tried to help them.  And if not you will feel good about it any way. 
6. Get to events early.  Most of the time people are looking for some level of comfort, and organizations are always looking for people to help them greet as guest arrive.  When you show up early, you get to help the organization greet guest and you get to meet new people.  The people you meet are often willing to talk to you because you taken on an official persona. 
7. Stay after and get the most out of the networking opportunity.  Most of the time the organization is glad for anyone who will help close up shop.  The people you talk to when helping will look at you as being official and are often more willing to talk. 
8. Always have some cash stashed away for bar a cash bar situation.  Most networkers suggest at least $20 hidden somewhere in your billfold.  At evening events we often find that there is a cash bar.  If we are speaking or wanting to speak in depth with a client, it can be beneficial to buy them a drink.
9. Don’t become the life of the party.  At many of the functions alcohol will be served free of by a cash bar. If you are going to drink at the events, be careful not to over do it.  There is a fine line between being memorable and BEING MEMORABLE. 
10. Don’t stay too long with one person.  We all have only a limited amount of time at these functions.  When we are just meeting people it is best for us and for them to not monopolize each other’s time.  Conversations should be limited to around 3 minutes.  There will be times when we need to spend a little longer, or we will see that we need to move on quicker.  Don’t be rude when moving on, and do not lie to get out of a conversation.  Most people will understand that you need to move on.  Truthfully, most of them know they need to move on also, but they just don’t know how. 

 

Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but if you follow these guidelines you will be will on your way.

Less you, more them?

A recent conversation with a musician friend brought to mind something that is crucial in the business development and sales world.  I won’t bore you with all the details; truthfully I couldn’t remember them anyway. Long story short we were discussing the difficulty that musicians- really good ones- are having getting gigs right now in restaurants and bars.  Evidently owners are unwilling to spend the money to have live music in their establishments.  After listening to him for a while, I see the same old problem that many of us have faced over the years with selling our services, maybe with a slightly different spin.

After much discussion about the issue, the message I had for my friend was that he truly must come up with a way to show his value to the owner of the prospective establishment.  He doesn’t need to tell the owner about being a great musician. He is that.  He doesn’t need to sell his sound.  His sound is wonderful. 

Similarly, most musicians, just as most consultants, layers and everyone else who delivers products or services, are intent on marketing their product or their service based upon being great, being intelligent, having a smooth sound, years of experience.  All those things are truly wonderful, but the prospective client really doesn’t care.  They have heard it all before.  What the owner truly wants to know is: “what is in it for me?” 

So how does the musician demonstrate value?  What he must do is show the owner how he can deliver much more traffic to his establishment with his live music (his product/service).  It is not enough just to say it. He has to be able to show it. He has to deliver. In the case of my friend, he has played sporadically at a club or two.  He needs to find out what the traffic and the sales are the same nights of the week when he is not there and when he is there.  If he can deliver profitability based upon his ability to draw people/sales to the owner’s establishment, that is something he can sell to other bar or restaurant owners. 

Well what about the rest of us?  How do we show value?  First and foremost, it is not about you!  Looking at this through the musician’s point of view brings to mind the Toby Keith song, “I Wanna Talk About Me”.  In that song Toby is the potential client and each of us are the person to whom he is singing.  As sales and business development folks, we must remember that we bring value to our clients by:

• Helping them defeat what concerns them
• Helping them to look good
• Helping them win
• Helping them come in on time and under budget
• Helping them make a profit
• Helping them make the sale
• Helping them get that pat on the back, that promotion
• Helping them help their client in the same way

 In short, we create value by finding out what is important to the client, figuring out how to make that a reality and then delivering that reality in a meaningful, effective and profitable manner. 

Stop beating your chest like Tarzan and find your value proposition and deliver!

Social Media, Why?

I don’t know how many different sessions I have been to over the last several years talking about networking. Mostly these sessions have talked about how to build a network, the importance and many of the other things that most of us who have been in the business for a while take for granted. Additionally, they have all stress the importance of social media networking. We hear that we must be involved in Twitter, in Facebook, in Linked in and blogs. We have all heard it. But, there are a couple of things that the pundits don’t tell us. They don’t tell us how, and they don’t tell us why. How is a very big subject that I will explore in later blogs, but before you can get to the how, you should know, the why. No matter what your company does these days someone somewhere is having a conversation about you. There really are only two choices, do you get involved in the conversation or do you allow it to go on with out you. By getting involved in the conversation there is much to be gained. You can: • Shape the conversation – In the past through marketing and advertising our companies controlled the conversations about themselves. They used ads, flyers, post card mail outs, news releases, PR firms, and sales staff. Now, the conversation is out of our firm’s control. All we can truly hope to do is to steer it or be involved in it. In the public format, we can have discussions with those who are talking about our companies and try to address their concerns. Done correctly, we may create advocates or champions. • Gain market intelligence – If they are talking about your company, they are talking about others. Often information is discussed in the social media long before it is on the street, published in paper print or broadcast on the television. Many social media tools will allow you to follow people and companies, getting email alerts when something is posted. Frequently, as I follow a company that has multiple offices, that I have gained a contact opportunity with someone in the local office just to offer them congratulations on something occurring in one of their other offices. More often than not, they were unaware of the news. • Minimize negatives – Let’s face it, if we are in business very long, someone is going to have something negative to say about us. In the past, they would tell their friends and maybe their friends would tell a few people. This had the potential to damage our reputations but it was minimal. Now when a company offends, they will likely be the subject of a blog or multiple blogs. We must push those negatives about our company off the search pages. Most of us when doing a search never go beyond the second page. If we can create enough good traffic about our companies to force the negative off the first page or two, it is a victory. • Shape your on line reputation – Reputation (brand, image) is very important. Through blogging and being involved in on line discussions these things can be shaped. We can post presentations, photos, video and other. Used skillfully these things can enhance our image. • Create public awareness – Most of us, unless we are working for a global giant, are not foolish enough to think that everyone knows our company. Company pages and blogs are a great place to educate the public about your company. Caution, I am not telling you to sell in a social media context. It is frowned on and we should all be thankful of that. However, most of us are creative enough to highlight our company’s attributes without sell. • Become relevant and/or the expert (thought leadership) – For most of us, who have been in our industry for anytime, familiar with the trade publications. Many companies in different industries push their staff to try to publish in these journals to establish the person as an expert in the industry. After all everyone wants to work with an expert to solve their problems. I am not saying that the journals are going away, nor am I saying that being publish is not worth while. What I am saying is as paper publications loose readership, the true though leaders will be those who blog about the important issues within their field.

Who Gets the Prize?

Times are hard and competition is intense.  This is no new news to anyone out there in the business world.  The biggest question is how do you get from being one of the pack to being the leader of the pack?  As anyone who has been in business development for a while can tell you, there are no silver bullets. There are literally thousands of pieces of advice that a business development professional can find on how win the prize.  Here are four keys to setting yourself above the competition.

1. Be relevant.  The old saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” is something we have all heard over and over.  Admittedly there is a fine line between being the squeaky wheel and being a pest.  But if those with the work have not heard from you in a while, you can bet that the same can not be said about you competitors.  If it is not you on their mind, who are they thinking of?
2. Be in the right race.  We have all seen track and field competitions.  During the Olympics we watch runners who excel at the short race, we see runners who are supreme in the marathon, and we see those who do things like the pole vault.  Rarely do we see some one who can do it all.  Your businesses are the same.  Your have to know your markets and your skills.  When you try to go beyond what you do better then all your competitors, you set yourselves up for defeat.   
3. Be prepared.  I know this sounds so obvious.  We all try to be prepared.  The question is how do you prepare?  When you go to meet a client, have you really done your best to know all you can?  Much can be learned from sports.  The night before the big game, what is Peyton Manning doing?  I know, he is a little over the top, but there is much that can be learned from him and professional like him.  Take time to know your clients business.  Know their needs, how their business works, what makes them a success and most of all, how it is that you could possibly help them be more successful.   
4. Be valuable.  How can you help your clients win?  How can you help your client look good to his/her boss, be a hero, get their bonus, get their promotion or help them help their client in the same way?  Forget value added lets just talk about value.  Why would you want your client to think that just for them you have to add value?  You want them to think and know that this is what you always bring to the table.  They should know you always play your “A” game. 

 

Many businesses are becoming way too commoditized.  All of us lament the fact that it always comes down to price.  Truthfully, price should be a factor, but it is rarely the deciding factor, unless the competitors have given no other criteria for the potential client to use.  When those responsible for getting the work have maintained relevance, are in the right markets, are prepared and offer real value, price becomes a much smaller factor in the overall decision.

Eleven Important Things to Remember in SMN

Of course there is a tremendous amount of push for all of us in the business development world to be involved in social media networking.  We can not avoid it. It is one way conversations with us and about us, are taking place.  If we don’t join in, we might as well be burying our heads in the sand.  However, much like anything else, doing it the wrong way, is certainly no better than not doing it at all.  Truthfully, a lack of understanding may do more harm than good.  There are at least 11 things to remember when getting involved in social media networking.

1. It is networking.  All of the rules of networking apply. It is not about you. It is about them, it is about the community. If you need help understanding networking, suggested read, Never Eat Alone,  Keith Ferrazzi.
2. One must give far more than you ever expect to receive.  If you are keeping score, this is not for you.  You will always feel like the score is one side, as it should be. 
3. When you are involved in the social web, you are part of community.  Continuous interaction is best.  You are expected to contribute.  If you do this hit or miss, you will be seen as uncommitted at best and untrustworthy at worst.
4. Most people in business are on social sites to do business, but selling is a no-no.  Be honest and open about what you do, but openly selling is frowned upon.
5. Know the community you are getting involved in.  Each social site and groups within sites have specific cultures.  Know these cultures and you will get far more out of these groups and communities.
6. Each group has rules.  If you want to be a part of the group you have to know the rules. Best case scenario when ignoring the rules, you will be ignored.  Worst case, you can be kicked off and banned. 
7. For those of you who are doing this in your company’s name, remember this has to be part of your company’s overall strategic plan, marketing strategy and social media plan.
8. Be altruistic.  Remember what Zig Ziglar says, “The way to get everything you want out of life is to help enough other people get what they want.” 
9. It must be genuine.  Fakers will be found out, and frowned upon.
10. A few years ago, a solid campaign slogan was, “it’s the economy, stupid”.  With Social media, it is the content.  Offer something of value. 
11. Finally, and most important,  whatever you put out there is for evermore out of your control.  Once it is out there it is out there.  Consider the long term ramifications of everything you post.  If pictures are worth a thousand words, make sure all of them say what you want.