How long have you been networking? I’ve been at it since July of 2000. For over 8 years I’ve joined various groups, visited dozens of others, and given my “elevator speech” so many times that I can recite it in my sleep. I’ve been hugely successful in my networking. Not because I’m a genius, but because I’m patient. Many times I speak to people that are either quitting the networking group they belong to or not renewing their chamber of commerce membership. Although I understand that there are times when the group or chamber is the issue, the vast majority of the time the reason for discontinuing is the person hasn’t gotten results. Funny thing is that whether you succeed or fail at something, you have gotten a result.
I always ask about the details of the supposed failure, and the answers are fairly consistent. The person who hasn’t gotten results from networking, generally hasn’t put in either enough effort or time into the endeavor. On some occasions, they lack the skill-set to facilitate positive results (check out my earlier posts on the subject). Overwhelmingly, however, it comes down to sowing and reaping. And, yes, it has to be in that order. And, just like with crops, there has to be an understanding that your efforts will not yield results immediately. As I like to say in my networking seminar, the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.
A few years ago, I heard a great story from a gentleman who was frustrated with his first year of networking because he didn’t get any referrals from anyone in his group. He couldn’t figure out what the problem was. He worked for a reputable and huge investment firm, he attended regularly and connected with everyone in the group. On the surface, he seemed to be covering all bases. After digging a little deeper for the details, the issue became clear. He was networking a lot, but he wasn’t networking well. Essentially, he was showing up every week with his hand out. His fellow group members didn’t get the sense that he was there to contribute. He was just looking out for himself. They were right.
So, he decided to revamp his approach. As Moshe Arens said, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” He decided to meet with every single one of his fellow members again. This time, his goal was to find a way to contribute to each member. He told all of them individually that he wanted to learn everything he could about their business, and provide them with 3-5 of his contacts. Smart move. In fact, within a couple of months of employing his new approach, he got his first referral from the group. The referral turned into a piece of business that earned him over $100,000.00 in commission. How’s that for a comeback story?
In my early days of networking, I made a major mistake. In fact, I have come to refer to this as the cardinal sin of networking. I prejudged everyone in the group. On my first day in the group, I was given the group roster. As each member gave his presentation, I would put a check mark next to the ones I thought would be most likely to give me referrals. Because I’m in business finance, I paid attention to the usual suspects, bankers accountants, attorneys, etc. I made it a priority to meet with them first. I eventually met with everyone else as a matter of course, but I didn’t expect anything to come of it. In my first year at this group, I got 41 referrals starting after about a month into my membership. Most of them came from a makeup artist. That’s right, a makeup artist whom I dismissed when I first got there.
Those are two example of strategic mistakes. Luckily, they were not permanent mistakes, because in both cases, we stuck it out and made adjustments. In my case, not only did I eliminate prejudging, I also made it a point to meet with everyone who showed up at my group. Visitors, substitutes and competitors—I met with them all. Since 2003 I’ve been a representative for a vendor who was a competitor of mine. He wasn’t allowed to join a group I belonged to because they didn’t allow competition. I made it a point to meet with him and learned that he paid more commission than the vendor I was representing at the time. Nice.
I see no other way to succeed in networking than to put in the time, effort and persistence. Add patience to the mix, and you have a recipe for long lasting rewards. Networking is the only way I’ve grown my business, and what I do every day in one way, shape or form. I know it can get tedious and even boring at times, but I have found ways to make it enjoyable for myself. If you haven’t had networking success so far, hang in there and consider the words I live by from Paul J. Meyer, “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon… must inevitably come to pass.” Talk to you soon. Until then, Decide, Commit, Conquer.
Francisco J. Acosta
Executive Vice President
Internal Business Consulting
212-330-0300
www.ibcglobal.net
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