By personal visits, by email and telephone is one of the planned services to members in 2008
MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
Should your business need to move forward or plan for the future, or just a chat about issues, let us know, We will put you in touch with a
Qualified Business Mentor who is based near your business!
More news soon as it happens
NETWORKING
Networking is Rather Like Farming!
I find in networking that some go for quantity. They are prolific networkers and show up at the opening of an envelope! Yet some never seem to develop the depth of relationship that leads to abundant referrals. Others network in a very small, select group - perhaps their local breakfast group meeting. They get some referrals but they are limited because the group are not making new contacts.
Using a farming metaphor, if you want to grow a good harvest, you need to sow seeds liberally and nurture selectively. The process of thinning out and nurturing allows your crops to grow strong. The same applies to networking.
Sowing is the activity of meeting people and initiating relationships. It is how you interact in networking situations, how you communicate your target audience and proposition, and how you follow up after the initial meeting. Its not just about doing enough activity, its about doing enough of the right activity. Standing up for a minute at a breakfast meeting once a week is probably not enough to ensure lots of quality referrals. Aggressively processing people you meet in the search for qualified prospects is probably not that effective either, especially if the person you are selling is you! Remember - relationships first, business second. In selling know how, the relationship is at least 50% of the sale (normally even more) and it's the first 50%. Sowing is incredibly powerful with your existing clients and contacts as well as with new contacts.
Once you have sown your seeds they need to be looked after and nurtured. Most will probably not germinate but some will and you need to notice those that are germinating and make sure they are looked after until they can sustain themselves and begin bearing fruit. Some of your plants will bear fruit quickly and most will take a little longer and if you do enough sowing you will very quickly find you always have plants ready to bear fruit. If you continue to nurture and not kill off the plant they will bear even more fruit in bigger quantities!!
I see a lot of people seeking to reap where they have not sown and others looking to reap before the plants have taken time to produce good fruit. What is really sad is where people sow and nurture but fail to harvest and have nothing to show for all their hard work.
May your crops be plentiful!
REMEMBER TO LOOK AT THE WEBLINKS PAGE FOR DETAILS OF HELPFUL AGENCIES AND ORGANISATIONS!
Networking is THE essential skill for the Owner/manager or SME it is a behavioural and organisational skill and can therefore be learned.
Some definitions:-
Networks are people talking to each other to share ideas, information and resources.
Networking is the process of connecting people who can help each other meet their objectives 2 most important skills listening and communicating
Networking involves creating opportunities through meeting people, making contacts and building strong relationships
Networking is the power of co-operation
Networking is about being natural and being yourself and using the essence of who you are to build long term successful relationships with other people, the value of this is compounded as the network increases
Networking is the passing along of information, ideas and contacts from one person to another and then possibly to more people
Networking is a specific marketing tool that is very effective in getting the word out to people
A network is a group of people with links to one another
Networking is a reciprocal process
7 Ps of networking.
1. Purpose you have to know why you are networking
2. Preparation for example make sure that you have plenty of business cards to hand out, and have a pen to write notes on the backs of cards given to you.
3. People Skills Be interested and interesting try being light hearted, informative, fascinating and true.
4. Probity Do what you say you are going to do, in the time frame you said you would do it, and at the price you agreed. (Thats better than 75% of companies).
5. Patience it takes time to build your relationships and credibility
6. Persistence attend events on a regular basis to maximise the benefits
7. Practice practice and practice it makes perfect.
And of course there is also PLANNING Plan your work, and work your plan.
If you keep the above points in mind your networking will be all the more successful.
Always act on any referrals you are passed as soon as possible the longer you leave them the cooler they become. It's always a nice touch if you let the person who gave you the referral know how things turned out, Even if you did not get any business, it will give you an additional opportunity to more fully explain to that person exactly what you are looking for.
Ask lots of questions
. Have you been on holiday recently?
. Who does your printing?
. Who do you bank with?
. What's your biggest business expense?
. Who is your best customer?
. Who are your biggest competitors?
Never assume that certain individuals aren't worth wasting time with.
Don't forget they will also have potentially lOO's of business contacts.
Remember:
The Business League can help you with how to get the best from networking your business successfully!
together our members succeed and grow