Have you have encountered “That Guy” at a networking event or networking meeting?
You know the one…
“That Guy” was one of my first tough networking lessons in Chicago. There’s a financial firm downtown that teaches its sales reps EVERYONE is a potential client – whether they know it or not. Get a meeting, push the product then push some more. Unfortunately I didn’t know this when accepting invitations to networking lunches with people from this firm.
My first encounter went something like this: The rep invited me to meet for coffee to look into networking “synergies”. During the first 5 minutes of sitting down the sales pitch started. I told him politely I’m not in the market for his products but I’d love to look into other referral opportunities and ways to help each other out. He must not have heard me. After another 30 minutes of the product pitch the meeting was (thankfully) over.
Then he asked: “Did you find this meeting helpful?” I tried to be nice and said “Sure”.
His response: “Great. Can I have the names of 5 of your friends or family members to call to tell them about my services?”
I just met him. I didn’t know him, his business or have any experience with his company. I didn’t need or want what he was aggressively selling. Yet… He wanted access to my trusted relationships…
UGH!
REVERSE NETWORKING AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
No, everyone is NOT a potential client. For any product or service. BUT:
A LOT of people could be referral sources for your products or services even if they’re not clients or potential clients. I wasn’t a good fit for that sales rep’s services but I did (and still do) know a lot of people that might be. However I won’t unleash “That Guy” on my friends and family. When someone decides that every meeting is (only) a sales meeting they miss out on a lot of referral opportunities and potentially valuable business relationships.
The important part about getting quality referrals: You need to earn someone’s trust and respect before asking them to open up their database. You have to build relationships, and that takes time (sometimes it’s a day, sometimes it’s years. It’s entirely up to the other person).
Networking is building business relationships. “Reverse Networking” is burning business relationship bridges. How can you avoid this?
DON’T ASK FOR WHAT YOU HAVEN’T EARNED
Sometimes you just “click” with people when you meet them; other relationships develop slowly over time. There’s no way to force trust; you have to earn it.
Here’s a simple way to build a business relationship when there’s not an immediate opportunity to do business together (but you think you can do business together in the future):
- Ask them how you can help THEM. Who do they need to know? What problems are they facing that you can solve? What opportunities are they trying to create?
- Help them! Make a connection for them. You don’t have to open your “golden rolodex” right away; you can introduce them to a networking group, business organization that can help them with leads or a potential mentor to guide them.
- Repeat
This will help build trust or what I call “Emotional Equity”. You’re “walking the walk” when it comes to business networking by investing time in a relationship and building the foundation for great referral opportunities. You’re earning their trust and respect.
Have you ever met “That Guy”? How did that go?
Who can you build emotional equity with TODAY?
What relationship(s) can you invest a little time in today that will help everyone involved grow their business in the future?
