“I’m no good at networking” is something that we all hear once in a while. If that’s how you feel, take heart – nobody was born with perfect networking skills. If others can learn how to get out there, so can you.
Here are five ways you can get over your fear or networking:
1. Don’t go on your own. If you’re having trouble pinning someone down who will go along with you, offer to give a testimonial about them at the event – even if it’s just recommending them to one other business owner over coffee.
2. Attend structured events first. Business For Breakfast allows you to break the ice by discussing the food – something everyone’s got an opinion about!
3. Don’t even try to sell. Instead, think of some interesting questions you can ask the other participants: ‘Do you go to other events?’ ‘Is this area a good place to do business?’ are the openers to real conversations that will make you forget you were ever nervous in the first place.
4. Use Twitter to make some sort of connection with other networkers before you go. ‘I think I’m following you on Twitter’ is a great ice-breaker.
5. Practice your elevator pitch. Just concentrate on 2 or 3 benefits of your business. Many people ramble too much when they are nervous, and everyone always appreciates a bit of brevity.
The best advice is just to dive in and have a go. Networking is more about building connections over time than it is about quick results. This should take the pressure off you to somehow ‘perform’. Think business relationships rather than sales pitches.
First ever networking event that I went to (just after starting up my IT consultancy 9 years ago) was at a car dealership in Saltney (organised by Chester Chamber of Commerce). I walked into the crowded showroom and knew nobody. I pushed my way through the crowd until I reached the far side (still not seeing anybody that I knew) and decided to "hide" behind one of the big banners that hung from the ceiling. I thought that I would be able to watch what was going on from there but not be too obvious. To my surprise there was already somebody hiding there. This guy knew nobody either and had exactly the same plan as me. After introducing ourselves and having a drink for courage, we braved the floor together and "broke into" one of the larger groups. After speaking to one of the members of that group I got my first ever "job" as a self employed person.
ReplyDeleteNow a few years down the line and a lot of networking events under my belt (and in a different business) I have an opening line which makes most people want to know more about what I do and the confidence to talk to most people who I come across.