This is something that when I started in business I didn’t really appreciate.
The idea of going to a networking event to meet new people, to talk about their businesses, just didn’t interest me. I was so focused on what I was doing, I couldn’t understand how going along at 7am in the morning to a breakfast meeting would have any benefit!
Then one day Steve who fix’s my computer talked me into going. He was the chair of the local Chamber of Commerce group, and had been going on about it for ages. So off I went, slightly apprehensive and wasn’t really sure what to expect.
Well… Why hadn’t I gone sooner? I came away from it with 4 business cards to follow up, I couldn’t believe it, NETWORKING WORKED, and what’s more I actually enjoyed it. What I found was that everybody there was there to work with you as a local business in your area, not work against you which was one of my concerns in the first place.
Networking is not just about turning up at a breakfast meeting once a week and telling people about the product you are offering there are many types of marketing that in my opinion fall under the ‘networking’ umbrella.
To explain further, my definition of networking is…
“To work with other like minded businesses to increase awareness and sales for my business but also to increase awareness and sales for their business”.
If you stick to this ethos in any sort of networking you do networking will work for you, you have to put the effort in to reap the rewards, other business owners will only want to help you if you help them. You need to build relationships with business owners, gain each others trust and respect and most importantly understand what each others business does, how it operates and the USP’s (Unique Selling Points) of the business.
So, where to network…
Traditional networking groups
These are groups like BNI, 4Networking, Business Referral Exchange, which are traditional networking groups with regular meetings held where members work together to help each other to get business.
To find out what networking groups are available in your area ask your local Business Link or Chamber of Commerce or do some research on Google.
These networking groups require commitment and dedication, other members need to see you there each week, they need to build a relationship with you, maybe have a meeting to share ideas about how you can work together to get more business, it is not just about turning up and talking about your product or service and getting business, you need to put effort into the other members businesses too.
It can take weeks/months of attending the groups before business starts to come your way, do not be despondent, if you use the networking philosophy correctly it will generate a great level of business for you. What you are actually doing is building a relationship with the client and gaining their trust.
Let me give you a scenario from when I was a BNI member years ago.
One of the members of our group was a kitchen fitter, we didn’t talk much at the group as our businesses were different sectors (me primarily business to business, him business to consumer) so we didn’t really generate much business for each other, however, one day I was at a friends house who mentioned that they needed a new kitchen, had had a few quotes and didn’t like the price or didn’t feel comfortable with the company who quoted them.
It was at this point that I recommended my BNI colleague saying that I had heard great things about his service etc at my networking meetings and said they should get him to quote.
I immediately rang the BNI member, he traveled the 20 or so miles to their house and a week later provided the quote.
He got the job (a £10,000 kitchen) and my friends were extremely pleased with their new kitchen, the service he provided and the price.
The kitchen fitter from my BNI group would never had got this job without being a member of the BNI, £10,000 worth of work!
And guess what, the kitchen fitter made sure he spoke to his friends, business colleagues, suppliers etc to find out if they needed any of my services and he recommended me.
NETWORKING WORKS
But remember, it is not a quick way to success, it requires hard work and effort but the rewards can be fantastic.
Local networking with businesses
I always say to people networking is not just turning up to a breakfast meeting waiting for leads, it can take many guises, how many of you have networked with local businesses to help each other get business.
An example of how this can work is…
Lets say you offer website design, have you considered speaking to other local, small businesses who offer complimentary services to small businesses, say a local printer or a local bookkeeper? Let’s use the local printer, and for arguments sake it is a 2 man band, printing letterheads, business cards, stationery etc for small businesses in your area, they don’t offer website design because they focus on what they are good at, printing. Talk to the local printer, ask him how many of his clients don’t have a website (he will know, he prints their letterheads) and ask if you can contact them through him offering your services, the printer can recommend you, get your ‘foot in the door’ and open up a really warm lead that has been recommended your services by their printer.
The scenario continues… you build the business a website and then recommend they now need to promote their domain name and email addresses on their stationery, business cards etc so guess what, the printer gets more work! Now, take this a stage further, the printer is probably an established business and so has many clients he can recommend to you, however you probably can’t offer a similar client base to him, BUT…
The printer works all day every day printing in his business and has no time to canvas for new business.
You are out talking to small businesses on a daily basis (his target client base) about websites and guess what, you can recommend the printer to anyone who buys a website from you for all their new letterheads and business cards.
Everyone’s a winner, you get new clients, the printer gets new clients and the customer is happy with their website and printing and RECOMMENDS BOTH OF YOU. This is just an example for a web designer, however use this and apply it to your industry it really does work.
Don’t wait like I did for someone to talk you into get along to your next networking event!
The internet is also a great place to network, with all the social network sites out there, why not use them to grow your business? Exactly how you do that will be something I discuss soon, therefore please be sure to check back soon.