In todays highly competitive world, being a confident and effective networker sets you apart from the crowd. You become more visible, feel in control and will always create more business opportunities than the average. Networking is about cultivating relationships with other business professionals. It’s about realizing the capital that comes from building social relationships.
To be a Tremendous Networker means that you can stand apart from the crowd, being more visible , feel in control & create more business opportunities than the average. There are various traits distinguishing a Tremendous Networker from the average crowd.
Follow up, Follow up, follow up
Following up on referrals is said to be the number one trait of successful networkers. If you present an opportunity, whether it’s a simple piece of information, a special contact or a qualified business referral, to someone who consistently fails to follow up successfully, it’s no secret that you’ll eventually stop wasting your time with this person. or you can just keep in touch by calling, emailing, writing, etc. And send handwritten notes and thank you’s to really stand out and differentiate yourself from others.
Develop a Positive Attitude
To become a Tremendous Networker developing a Positive attitude is a must have quality. A consistently negative attitude makes people dislike being around you and drives away referrals, also negative attitude results in a self destruction by demolishing your confidence in various instances. A positive attitude makes people want to associate and cooperate with you. Positive business professionals are like magnets. Others want to be around them and will send their friends, family and associates to them. A positive attitude makes you see every problem as an opportunity which inturn becomes a boon in Networking.
If you think right then you could figure out that the people who get the most referrals would be people who show more motivation & enthusiasm. It’s been said that the best sales characteristic is enthusiasm. To be respected within our networks, we at least need to sell ourselves with enthusiasm. Once we’ve done an effective job of selling ourselves, we’ll be able to reap the reward of seeing our contacts sell us to others! That’s motivation in and of itself!. Enthusiasm fuels you to go miles & miles with your business making you a Tremendous Networker.
Build Relationships
When you refer one person to another, you’re putting your reputation on the line. You have to be able to trust your referral partner and be trusted in return. Neither you nor anyone else will refer a contact or valuable information to someone who can’t be trusted to handle it well. Networking is more than just shaking hands and passing out business cards. It is mainly based upon building relationships. A worthwhile, meaningful & a long term relationship is mostly built by trust. Tremendous Networking businesses are not just built by a quick sale but through building relationship.
Communicate well
Actually the most important skill while dealing with customers is Good listening skills. Our success as networkers depends on how well we can listen and learn. The faster you and your networking partner learn what you need to know about each other, the faster you’ll establish a valuable relationship. Communicate well, and listen well. It has been researched that for an effective communication in Networking the ratio of listening to saying is 70:30. It means you have to make your customer talk about their issues and problems 70% of the time so that you can make an efficient sale relying on the acquired facts.
Never be off duty
Tremendous networkers are never off duty. Networking is so natural to them that they can be found networking in the grocery store line, at the doctor’s office and while picking the kids up from school, as well as at the chamber mixers and networking meetings. To become a Tremendous networker you have to get networking into your subconscious.
Gratitude is sorely lacking in today’s business competitive world. Expressing gratitude to business associates and clients is just another building block in the cultivation of relationships that will lead to increased referrals. People like to refer others to business professionals that go above and beyond. Thanking others at every opportunity will help you stand out from the crowd.
Have a helping hand
Tremendous Networkers always have a helping hand. Helping others can be done in a variety of ways, from literally showing up to help with an office move to clipping a helpful and interesting article and mailing it to an associate or client. Master networkers keep their eyes and ears open for opportunities to advance other people’s interests whenever they can. Doing something nice for people is always appreciated and remembered, but remember to always be genuine. People can detect insincerity from a mile away. Insincerity is like a cake without frosting! You can offer the help, the thanks, the listening ear, but if you aren’t sincerely interested in the other person, they’ll know it! Those who have developed successful networking skills convey their sincerity at every turn. One of the best ways to develop this trait is to give the individual with whom you’re developing a referral relationship your undivided attention.
Connect well
Tremendous Networkers always acts as a Hub/Connector. Find a way to connect people with what they need and you will be valued. If you meet two people at an event who you think would benefit from each other- introduce them. If they don’t click, they will just walk away. If they do click however, you will be the one they always remember as making that introduction.
It’s not net-sit or net-eat, it’s net-work, and Tremendous networkers don’t let any opportunity to work their networks pass them by. They manage their contacts with contact management software, organize their e-mail address files and carry their referral partners’ business cards as well as their own. They set up appointments to get better acquainted with new contacts so that they can learn as much about them as possible so that they can truly become part of each other’s networks.
All the traits of a Tremendous Networker tie in to long-term relationship building, not to stalking the prey for the big kill. People who take the time to build their social capital are the ones who will have new business referred to them over and over. The key is to build mutually beneficial business relationships. Only then will you be remembered as a Tremendous Networker.