101: Strategic networking
Hopefully your organization recognizes networking as an important part of relationship-building, whether with clients, prospects or partners. Good networking is the opposite of entering a room of strangers, awkwardly burdening them all with your business card and leaving. You should set goals, understand building relationships is a gradual process, and be ready to do your part.
Schedule networking goals, big and small. By keeping active in the networking cycles in your area or in your industry, it keeps the chain of give-and-take moving along – the give-and-take that good relationships need. Try one or two new groups a month, if possible. “Attend every function you can that synergizes your goals and customer/prospect interaction,” advises Entrepreneur.com. And then set goals to meet five or six new people at each event. Greet newcomers. Approach those you don't know.
Meet, greet and let it simmer. Relationships can't be forced, says Joe Apfelbaum at BusinessInsider.com. Finding common ground is a launch point, and that may take seeing that person a few times first and asking questions. “Try to stay away from religion and politics … Do talk about sports, wine, relationships, business, cars and anything else that excites you!” he writes.
Know it's not all about you. Networking and fostering relationships takes work, awareness and common courtesy. Proactively reach out with kindness whenever you can, and when someone does the same for you, thank them publicly or via social media, to make the recognition resonate. “If a colleague has a new book out, I'll invite them on my podcast and tweet about it,” for example, says Amanda Abella at Inc.com. “If someone at an event has a question … I'll step in to help if I can.”
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