Networking – It’s All In The Follow-Up!
Last month I was at my weekly networking meeting with Professional Referral Exchange and met someone nice who also had something I was interested in, great rates on a business credit card.
We exchanged business cards with the promise of talking further during the week. Sure enough, the week went by and I never followed up. Neither did she…
So what happened? From my perspective, my need to change from my current provider to hers was not strong enough to take action. Other, more urgent activities jumped into my schedule. However, if she had called I would have continued building the relationship, looked at her offering, and maybe even bought her product. I needed her to follow up with me because after as little as one week, she was not top of mind. And let’s face it, this was her sale to lose.
How often do we make the mistake of making a great connection at a networking event, only to never speak to that person again? If you have the “thing” that someone is interested in, than it’s on you to initiate the follow up.
Here are a few tips to help you with the skill of following up:
- Maintain an organized business contact system. This could be a computerized database, index cards, a rolodex or another system that works for you. The key is to be organized. I admit it, when I wanted to reach out to this credit card contact again, I could not readily locate her business card.
- Look for opportunities to share information that is relevant to your contacts. Sending out an article, quote, or book that you have read is a great way to stay in touch and be of value to your new (and old) contact.
- Manage your time well. There are only 24 hours in a day so rather than manage your time, it’s best to manage your energy and priorities. If you are interested in learning how to do this I can send you a great article by Tony Schwartz.
- Look at following up as nurturing the relationship rather than “closing the deal.” People want to do business with people they know, like and trust. This does not happen overnight – it takes time to build the relationship. The structure of PRE is a great example of building relationships. We meet every week! We even go out socially an additional night per month. From our consistent relationship building efforts we get results in our businesses.
I challenge you to practice these four tips at your next networking event and I’m confident you will build positive momentum in your business. Feel free to post your successes with this on the blog.
Christine “Chris” Coward helps leaders in business and non-profit organizations leverage their strengths to improve their performance.
Chris’ services include Executive Coaching, Team Building and Facilitation. Individuals and groups that work with Chris report that they gain more clarity, increase their confidence and get more done. You can learn about about Chris by visiting her website: www.chriscoward.com