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Can a Networking Group help you build your business?
02/17/2008 - By Charles J. Di Bartolo
Learn the principals necessary to succeed in networking. Networking can be a very rewarding way to increase business while helping your customers and friends. The right network can become a group of best friends for life. Learn more below.
Can a networking group help you build your business?
What is networking? Networking is businesses communicating with each other, sharing ideas, information and people. Top networkers don’t share their contacts with everyone they meet in networking. They share their contacts with other top networkers that have the same work ethic, morals, business goals and quality of service that they do. Before all this sharing happens the members of the network need to learn about each other. It’s imperative to find out how each member’s business operates and if they have the commonality for the right business relationship. If these businesses have moral, ethical and geographical links they can go further in sharing. Your favorite networking partners should feel the same way you do about servicing their customers. For your partners service should always come before sales.
Why network? If you are an extrovert that likes to meet and help people, and you enjoy promoting your business, networking can be the ultimate way for you to succeed. Growing your network with effective and caring points of contact is empowering. Networking is the most cost effective way to promote your business. Through efficient networking you will receive an ongoing supply of qualified referrals. Going to visit a referral is not like cold calling people. Referrals are warm prospects. When you start a visit with someone trusted that has referred you, your presentation is that much easier. The more you network the easier it becomes to get good referrals.
Once you find a group of people that own or run businesses and treat their customer’s right, you will find the confidence to share customer and prospect information with them. By doing so with the right networking partners you are providing those customers and prospects, a great service. Sharing excellent networking partners with your customers is the greatest compliment you can give them. It can enhance your career on every front while providing your customers with the best vendors they could have.
When I go to a networking party I may sift through one hundred people to find someone that shares the same goals that I do. First they need to target the same market sector that I do. In my case that is business services. It is important to have people that fit your vertical market. It doesn’t have to be your exact vertical but it should compliment it. For example, I offer merchant services to my customers. Some of the other services I offer are check services and gift card programs. A good industry vertical fit for a networking partner would be any other business service like accountants, communications, business equipments, bankers, business loan officers, second for me they should be a type “A” personality. I look for shakers and movers; they’re people that are not happy sitting around waiting for things to happen. They make things happen. They are not sitting with their friends at a table. They are walking around scanning the room for new talent. They are welcoming people as if they were hosting the party, but they’re not looking for handouts. These people are looking to learn about other people and their services, because they know how important it is to be the go-to person in networking by having as many quality networking contacts as possible. This is a super networker. Don’t mistake a “shark” for a super networker. What separates them is the conversation and the attitude. The Shark is only interested in him or herself. Sharks will circle their prey and pounce on fellow networkers. At first glance this can be deceiving from a distance these people look like they are socializing and learning about their peers but instead they are taking every opportunity they have to tell everyone what they do, give them a card and ask them for business directly. If that doesn’t work they ask who they know that can be of benefit to them. They don’t ask much about what the other networker does because their primary interest is themselves. If you run into one of these networking sharks, put a big red X on the back of their card. This is not networking this is hunting. A super networker will introduce themselves and ask you to do the same. He or she will ask you a couple of pertinent questions about your business style or target market to get an idea of how they can help you. They will fill in any awkward pauses with caring questions or important facts that will cultivate a growing relationship. They may mention or recommend other people in the group for you to speak to. This shows that they are promoting others and are not only interested in feeding themselves. The Super networker is not looking for a speed date. They are looking for long term relationships. If they like what you have to say they will enter you into their database and send you an article or information they think you may find interesting or helpful. The networking actually starts for them after a meeting. The networking meeting is a fact finding mission to help them weed out the people that are not worthy of being in their database. If you blow a networking interview by only talking about yourself, and asking for leads, you won’t have to wonder why the super networker never called you back. Here is the answer.
Join the right networking group. There are lots of networking groups out there. Try to find a group that doesn’t make their living from the membership fees. There are organizations run by local businesses that help other businesses in the community. There are networking groups set up through chambers of commerce. There are also professional organizations that make their money from the membership fees. While these organizations are effective, they are usually restrictive. My favorite type of network is one that is put together buy businesses for businesses. They should not be run for profit, but the companies involved benefit by referrals from the group. The less restrictions they have, the better. When a group limits their membership to one person per industry it gives protection to each individual. That doesn’t allow the group to evolve properly. If the group has one accountant, and that accountant doesn’t have the proper work ethic, morals or doesn’t present himself well, the group is better off without one. On the other hand, if the group has four accountants, the one or two best will prosper leaving the self serving, or unmotivated accountants to look elsewhere and eventually leave the group. Only the fit survive as it should be. This is the only way that you can be sure your group has the best in each industry.
Years ago I used to blast fax and email 4,000 business owners and C-level executives to get 50 people interested in networking to a once a month luncheon. This was the best networking group I belonged to. There were no membership fees. Everyone paid for their own lunch and 75% percent of the people were different every month. People had the freedom to come and go if it wasn’t working for them or if they weren’t happy with the quality the group was producing. The downside of this was that every once in a while there was a surge of self serving people in a particular industry. Simple supply and demand wore away at the less productive individuals leaving the more productive with the majority of referrals.
If you are not thrilled with the networking choices in your area you can always start your own group. Remember that experience in networking is a key factor to starting a successful group. Hopefully you have served on a board ad understand the inner workings of a good networking group. There is a lot of coordination involved in keeping a successful organization growing. The results are well worth it.
Once you have picked the group you would like to work with, how do you get started?
First decide what benefits you can bring to the group. What kind of customers are you dealing with, and can you refer them to other people. If you are struggling trying to get customers of your own you may not be ready to join a group yet. Remember you can’t start a fire without putting the wood in first. I understand that many people who get involved in networking do so because they need a customer base, so here are a few tips. If you don’t have a strong customer base you should build a list of all the centers of influence that you know. Then build a list of everyone that you buy from, and finish with a list of friends and family. Put these people into a database or card file and start contacting them. Let them know what you’ve been up to lately. In the course of conversation see what there problems are. This is usually a subject we avoid, but in this case you will become the problem solver. Questions like how’s business, how is so and so and other probing questions can be a wealth of information allowing you to become a problem solver. When you network you are constantly problem solving. In order to get what you want you need to help others get what they want. People love to talk about their problems Ask them if there is anything they need, then think about the people in your networking group. Can the mortgage broker help your friend whose mortgage payments are too high? Can your confused and disorganized brother-in-law business owner use some help from the well planned accountant in your group? Can the real Estate agent in your group help aunt Betty find that apartment she’s been looking for? The possibilities are endless. If you like helping people networking is for you. If not find another way to attract business.
Next, find out what your sweet spot is. What types of customers are you looking to attract? What type of prospect is a good referral for you? What geographic areas are you willing to work in? What size customers are you looking for? You must be able to convey this information quickly and easily. Develop an elevator pitch. You need to effortlessly deliver a 15-30 second presentation on who you are and what you do. It has to be interesting and informative. It shouldn’t be asking anyone for business. It should be followed by a few questions that will allow you to find out how you can help your fellow networker get what he or she needs.
Here is an example.
Hi, I’m Charles Di Bartolo. My company is National e-Pay Services. I set up businesses to accept credit cards and collect payments electronically. Most times I can save businesses a significant amount of money and increase their bottom line. What do you do for a living? What is your target market? What type of customers are you looking for? If I had a customer in the ______ business that needed ______ or_____ would they be a good prospect for you? What do you do for fun? What other interests do you have?
Notice that I explain briefly what I do. You may not understand everything about it, but I am allowing you to ask questions. During the course of conversation I may mention that I can offer check guarantee products, gift cards loyalty programs and cash advances to businesses, but it should be a give and take conversation. Notice the questions I am asking. They are geared to find business for that person. If they are only answering my questions but not asking me reciprocal questions, they may only be interested in helping themselves and may not be a good partner for me in networking. Only time will tell, but in this case, first impressions are paramount. If I am not getting qualifying questions from conversation I may offer a few facts and interjections to raise some interest. You also need to know what hobbies and interests they may have. If you or people in your circle of influence have the same interests a match can be made.
At this point I will take their card, offer mine and jot a few notes on the back. This is very important. If you go to an event and meet 25-50 people you must write down what you’ve learned about each individual or you have nothing by the end of the night. Remember that the socializing and fact finding that is done at a networking meeting is just the beginning of the relationships you are building.
The next step is to add this information into a database or card file. I personally like a database for networking. There are some great databases out there. A few that should be mentioned are Goldmine, Maximizer, or Act. There are many others but most of your choices will be based on personal preference. If you prefer to use a Card file that’s ok too, but it is much easier to contact the people in your file by email and faxes through a PC database. After you’re networking event email a thank you to everyone you met that you’d like to form a relationship with. It doesn’t have to be everyone, but that is your choice. Take out the business cards you collected and enter all of the information on the front in the database and put everything you wrote about the person in your notes. I like to keep records on Birthdays, anniversaries, interests, and anything you find pertinent about each person in their file. Later any articles, stories or information that pertains to each person’s interests should be sent to them by email, fax or regular mail.
Decide which individuals can make a power group within your network. Let me give you some examples of power groups. A real estate agent, a mortgage broker, an insurance agent, a banker and a home improvement specialist could make up an excellent power group. These people can feed each other constantly. An example of a business services power group could be a merchant services provider, a business banker, a business accountant, and a corporate attorney. Business referrals can fly back and forth through these individuals. Making power groups within your networking group can enhance the effectiveness of networking immensely. The people in your power networking group should produce some joint marketing advertising. This will cut down on expenses and make it easier for the people in that group to refer each other. Your power group is the most important aspect of networking. You will produce more referrals from here than anywhere else.
The key to keeping a successful networking circle is to keep in touch with everyone in your group. If you can’t physically meet regularly, call email, fax and mail to everyone that matters in your group. Keeping in touch over the years makes your referral group very strong. You will forge relationships that will last a lifetime and many of the people in your group will turn out to be dear friends. That is another great benefit of networking.
Never eat lunch alone. As someone who is always on the road, I always make sure I invite people I want to network with to lunch. Breaking bread together is a no-pressure way to get to know someone. Schedule time to get to know all the aspects of your fellow networker’s business. This can help you find them new customers and help you to figure out how to glean new customers from them or the people they know. Everyone benefits.
Networking is a rewarding way to gain customers and create synergistic business relationships. The results of this are friendships that will last a lifetime and a healthy growing business. It is extremely hard work in the beginning. Over time networking will become a natural part of your day, but in the beginning it takes motivation to get you going. It is well worth the effort. Give it a shot and feel free to email me with questions.
Charles J. Di Bartolo
President
National e-Pay Services, LLC
http://www.nationalepay.com
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