It was set up to be a vibrant morning for breakfast networking. The sun was shining, our venue was organised and ready for a good number of guests, when to my great surprise, Mike had arrived to join the throng.
We hadn’t seen Mike for a while, it must have been six weeks.
‘How are you doing Mike? Long time no see.’
‘Hi Charlie, yes I’m well, a little too busy that’s all. How about you?’
‘I’m all the better for seeing you Mike, have you been fielding my invitations to the networking, I did follow up via SMS as well?’
‘Yeah sorry, mate, I’ve had to take a back seat as we’ve a particularly needy client who has demanded all my time …’
‘Mike, how important is future business? We meet to nurture those relationships and reliability for the referrals. When someone isn’t communicating, the only message we hear is that they don’t care.
Not the way to treat future prospects is it… what can we do to help?’
‘Yeah, I know Charlie. I’m only here this morning to catch up with one or two … once things settle down I’ll make a return.’
Thankfully myself and others in the network, finding themselves in a similar situation to Mike understand that increased business is a by-product of networking. We expect to grow through regular contact and developed trust. To ignore your network due to being too busy for further business signals that Mike is a little unprepared for the results networking may bring.
Here’s some simple guidelines to ensure your time networking isn’t similarly wasted:
- Treat people how you would wish to be treated yourself
- Develop your circle of confidantes
- Stay in touch
- Be present for referrals (don’t be too busy for business!)
- Recommend network colleagues to friends and family
- Follow up on promises, so ‘cultivating the reliable’
Mike has always been a popular guy within the group although he hasn’t helped his future business prospects through neglecting the relationships.
Business is personal. By being reliable you make yourself referable.
CharlieKenny.me 