The Networking Click- Andrew Mullings

I decided to explore networking in further detail and talk a little bit about the problems I have experienced. Now networking is a very valuable tool to any business and the ability to sell yourself face-to-face to potential customers can build strong relationships that lead to orders or potential recommendation of your products or services.

But from my experience of attending networking events as a Lead Creators’ employee and in previous employment roles, I experienced a number of obstacles with networking as a whole.

The first obstacle I came across was that events hosted by a networking company their goal is obvious; they would like you to become a member and pay a yearly / monthly fee to attend exclusive events. But obviously it is always important to attend a few events to ensure they are relevant for your business, especially if your target customers are hard to come by. I also always ask the question to the hosts prior to attending, “so who’s attending the event in my target sector?” but I found I was never given a definitive answer from any of the networking companies I dealt with and an attendees list was only normally only available on the day.

The second negative I found with networking events was what I call “the networking click”. Now for me networking is strictly business; it’s not a social event whereby I would attend to drink vast amounts of alcohol and mingle with the woman with the best legs and really let myself go. I am attending the event on behalf of my employer or in your instance you may be representing your own business, so I would ensure at all times I represented my employer as best I could. Due to my professional approach I found that some networking events where not right for me I was not looking for an event where the same people attend week after week to meet socially. Instead I was looking for events that my target customers would attend and every time I attended I had the opportunity to meet new and interesting people with a view of meeting people who had a need for our products or services either now or in the future.

So how can we overcome these obstacles to ensure networking is used to meet potential customers?

 Plan your networking calendar well in advance
 Research all events you feel are relevant for you and your business
 Ask the host of the event plenty of questions:

o Who’s attending the event in my target sector?
o How many businesses will be there?
o What type of event is it? I.e. sit down lunch, breakfast, mingle, or speed networking
o Will there be guest speakers?
o What is the topic of discussion?

 Set up meetings in advance via email, or call to ensure you do not miss the opportunity to meet with a potential customer
 Dress accordingly and make the most of all potential opportunities at the event – and don’t forget your business cards!

If you require further information on Lead Creators’ Networking Support service please feel free to contact me – andrewmullings@leadcreators.co.uk.
@andrewmullings