A great way to help the people you meet business networking

Whether you are at a structured or unstructured event you will often meet someone who presents their business and leaves you with no idea what they are talking about.

I recall meeting someone regularly and getting to know him quite well. Over time I got to like and trust him & would definitely have referred him if I knew what he did. At one event we were chatting over a coffee and someone else joined us. Neither of us knew the other and eventually she turned to my friend and said "so what do you do?".

"This will be interesting" I said.

He explained what he did very vaguely to start with and then in ever more complicated fashion! That's not unusual. To her credit our new acquaintance said.

"It's probably me, but I don't really understand what you mean".
He then tried to explain again, but what came out was even more complex. He noticed her puzzled expression and said

"That's meaningless to you isn't it?"

Her face said it all, and he said, "Have you ever experienced situations at work where people need the equivalent of their heads knocking together?"

"Yes" she said.

"Well, I help teams resolve those situations."

Crystal clear all around!

So the next time someone you like isn't explaining themselves very well could you ask some questions to help give them some clarity?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast

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Are you prepared to go out of your way for others?

At an NRG-networks lunch meeting yesterday someone asked me how you get others to advocate you.

Someone else shared his view and said "When I meet someone I try and find out as much as I can about them and their business. That allows me to connect them to the contacts and information they need. Recently I met someone from a fantastic conference venue. They were already doing some business with a top four accounting firm and I was able to put her in touch with someone very senior in the organisation to help cement the relationship and gain further opportunities. She subsequently gave me a great referral to a partner in another accountancy firm."

A great example of how you develop networking advocates. A networking advocate goes out of their way to recommend your goods and services without being asked or expecting anything in return. Take time to develop the relationships with key members of your network. Go out of your way to connect them to key members of your network and introduce them to people who might benefit from their services. Become an advocate for them. And, guess what? What goes round comes round. People will eventually become advocates for you – and this is where the networking dividend really pays out!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast

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