Have you ever come across Referral networkers who are basically so dull that watching paint dry is a day out at Alton Towers in comparison to talking to them? People whose idea of an exciting Saturday night consists of completing their tax return while pushing the boat out with two cups of cocoa.
The next time one of these walking cures for insomnia corners you at a meeting, don’t make your escape plans just yet. There are things you can learn from these people.
What is it that they are doing wrong? This is the question that you can ask yourself while listening to their pitch or chatting to them.
Is their tone of voice monotonous?
Do they talk exclusively about themselves and/or their business?
Do they concentrate on the features of their product or service?
Is their small talk only related to problems – in other words, are they professional complainers?
Do they lack social skills such as maintaining eye contact, the ability to listen and ask relevant questions about others?
Once you have assessed what causes them to be such bores, you can decide how you would improve their Referral networking skills.
There is also another question to ask yourself – how can you improve on your networking technique? Nobody is a perfect Referral networker, so before you mentally write someone else off for their lack of skills in this area, take a long, hard look at yourself and work out how you can do better.
One of the techniques I was taught was to, "imagine everyone had a sign round their neck with the words, Please make me feel important." By using this advice as a starting point, everything else should fall into place.
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