I am delighted to welcome Roy Sheppard as a guest contributor to The Directors’ Centre online Business Club. (If you haven’t yet signed up for membership then click here for Lite/free or Full Membership options to boost your business sales and profits).
Roy Sheppard is a specialist
conference moderator and a speaker who brings men and women together,
professionally as well as personally.
As with all Business Club contributors, he wouldn’t be here if I didn’t personally rate him. See what he has to say and do follow him up.
Robert
Networking In A Downturn In a downturn, every potential client and customer makes sure that every purchase is a) essential and b) value for money. Taking on untried, untested suppliers becomes too risky. Therefore, we as buyers rely even more on the opinions of those we trust – our network.
These are contacts who we have developed and nurtured in less challenging times. It is these people we protect and look after, and they do the same for us.
Make a point of reconnecting with your existing network. Do it before you HAVE to.
There’s nothing so disheartening when you only hear from people in your network when they want or NEED something. Don’t be perceived in this way yourself.
Contact key people in your network and find out how you can be a resource to them in these increasingly challenging times. Build up your own ‘business protection clubs’. Stick together, look out for each other’s best interests. Agree between you what business you are most interested in attracting today – and make a point of sending business opportunities to the most valued people in your network. In other words, make deposits in those relationships today. Future ‘withdrawals’ will be more willingly given in more difficult times when you have demonstrated your commitment to their success too.
As for expanding your network – do it now.
Make the decision to get out more. Attend more business events.
Decide that you are going to meet new people at those events – not just spend time ‘clumping’ with people you already know bemoaning the state of the economy.
Scan the delegate list to identify people you would like to meet. Find them and introduce yourself. Or get someone you know to make the introductions for you.
Make a point of volunteering to introduce people to help others. Make sure you get everyone’s names right!
Bite the bullet – go up to strangers (even though our mothers tell us not to!) As author Susan Jeffers says “Feel the Fear and Do it Any Way”.
Stay until you have met and connected with a pre-determined number of people. Start with just one or two – as your confidence (and success grows) build it up to five or six.
Think more about what help you are looking for. So when you’re asked – you know!
Think about the needs of your best contacts – how could you help them achieve their needs through any of the new people you meet.
If you can, get to talk to the speakers before they speak. Most speakers value any insights they can get from audience members ahead of time. It’s also nice for them to see ‘friendly faces’ when they are presenting.
Stand up. Sitting down at a networking event doesn’t work.
Give your name first. It helps put people at ease. Then ask for their name.
Listen more carefully to others’ names. Repeat the name until it is lodged in your brain. If you didn’t quite catch their name ask for it to be repeated, rather than ‘letting it go’.
Imagine a close friend will join you and stand there waiting to be introduced. This will force you to pay more attention!
Starting a conversation can be daunting for some people. Talk about common interests – what they want from the meeting, how long they’ve worked for their company, what they like about their role, what else they would like to do, are there any speakers they are particularly keen to hear, what they think of anyone they’ve already heard?
Focus on finding ways to be of value to others – initially, forget what’s in it for you. Do this by offering opportunities to others – information, referrals and recommendations with little or even no desire for ‘a return favour’. Offers with strings attached are not offers.
In order to help others, you need to know what they want. To find out, ask lots of non-threatening questions about them, share stuff about you too so it’s not seen as an inquisition.
Don’t spray your business cards around like a tomcat! When you meet someone interesting – COLLECT their business card.
Don’t dismiss support or junior staff such as secretaries, assistants, waiters and waitresses, security guards and those who deliver the internal mail because they can all be HUGE allies, or your biggest enemies. Spouses also have FAR more power and influence than some imagine. Nurture them. Get to know them as people. Look after their interests and they will recognise and reward you by providing access to their decision-making ‘superiors’.
Think of relevant questions to ask the speaker after their presentations. Then take the opportunity to do so if invited.
When you meet new people, find out enough about them to have a valid reason to follow up with a call, SMS message, or email. Perhaps you can send them some appropriate information that you promised.
Enjoy yourself.
Roy Sheppard 2011 _____________________________
Roy Sheppard is a specialist
conference moderator and a speaker who brings men and women together,
professionally as well as personally.
He is a trained therapist and the author of the books; Rapid Result Referrals, Meet Greet & Prosper, How to Be The One, Venus: The Dark Side. For more information visit www.RoySpeaks.com.
