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Why attending networking events won’t change your business overnight
Andy Lopata Business Networking Strategist
“In Recommended I share the story of David Baum. David came to me for a coaching
session on his networking strategy. And I knew that he networked a lot, so I asked
him how much and he told me he was going to five breakfast meetings a week, two
lunch meetings and even the occasional evening session. I said, “How’s that working
for you?” He said, “It’s great.” But I dug deeper and when I dug deeper I found
he wasn’t getting referrals from his networking,
he wasn’t getting business from it. In fact, he employed a cold calling team on the
side and was looking to recruit more people because he wasn’t getting enough
business through.
So I made a simple suggestion to David. I said, “If you’re happy to go to five
breakfast meetings next week, drop two or three of the formal groups and just call
people you’ve met a few times and go to meet with them. Spend more time with
them, build the relationship and get to know them because all you’re doing at the
moment is saying hello to people on a regular basis but not having any more in depth
conversations.”
A few weeks later David contacted me and he said the approach was already
working. Instead of going to networking groups every day he was meeting and having
more in depth meetings with people in his network and, as a result, he’d already had
the opportunity to present alongside someone from the Bank of England and had a
workshop booked, which was ideal for his business.
There comes a time in your relationship with people where they are ready to refer you.
They trust you, they like you and they understand what you do. And yet so many
people spend their time, like David, trying to build a bigger and bigger network. First
you should look at the network you already have. How many people know you, like
you and trust you and would be happy to refer you, but you never ask because you’re
too busy networking?”