5 Common Networking Mistakes that can Damage Your Business

I went to my first business networking meeting in 1998 - because I’d heard it was where I should go to find new customers.

What I didn’t know back then was HOW networking worked. So I made all the mistakes I’m going to share here, and a few more that I’d rather not own up to!

You and I both know that networking isn’t a quick fix to finding new business, it’s more of a slow burn. Unfortunately many newcomers are impatient, so they make a lot of the same mistakes that I did at first. Here are 5 of the most common that I’ve seen:

1. Trying to sell within 30 seconds of meeting someone for the first time

Networking isn’t the time or place to try and sell and yet you see people trying to do it all the time, both online and offline. Not only is it the wrong approach, it’s also quite repellent. We’ve only just met and you want me to get my credit card out?!

Networking is for making connections and renewing acquaintances. It’s for getting an idea of what each party does. It’s for introducing people to one another.

2. Not being clear on what you do and for whom

If your business is selling products, it will be fairly easy to explain what they do and who they’re for. But when you’re selling services, it can be more difficult to get your message across, especially during those 60 second terror-filled pitches!

You can avoid confusion by thoroughly preparing and rehearsing before each event.

3. Talking only about yourself

When you do get the opportunity to talk about your business at networking events, especially if you’re passionate about it – it can be difficult to know when to stop. Most people are too polite to say anything, but if you watch carefully, you’ll see them glaze over …..

There’s a well known story about Dale Carnegie, the author of “How to Make Friends and Influence People” when he went to a party – another kind of networking opportunity. As people were leaving after the event, many of them said how much they’d enjoyed their conversations with him. His success secret was to ask them lots of questions and get them to talk about themselves. He had hardly said a word about himself.

4. Sticking with people you know

Did you know that walking into a room full of strangers is one of our greatest fears? So it isn’t surprising we often prefer to stick with people we already know. But that’s not what networking is about.

Oddly the opposite happens on the internet. If you do much online networking, you may have noticed how some people seem fixated on collecting as many new followers as quickly as possible. That’s not what networking is about either.

Split your time between renewing acquaintances and seeking out new contacts so as to grow your business network.

5. Not following up after the event or initial contact

Over the years I’ve often come away from networking meetings with a pocketful of business cards, which I put on my desk to go through the next day. Rarely do I receive an email from anyone I’ve given my card to, unless it’s to tell me all about their products or services. It’s a similar story online, although many people are polite and type a short ‘nice to meet you’ message.

Hardly ever is business done on the basis of one short meeting. Networking is the first step in developing a business relationship which may or may not eventually lead to a sale. Failing to follow up after an event could be seriously limiting your success.

If you’d like more tips on networking, here’s a short report titled: “Why Do Business Owners Need to Network?”.