Wednesday, February 24, 2010

10 Pointers to Remember When Networking and Following Up

1. Don’t forget your torch!

2. Most people are nervous.

3. Walk in with your head held high knowing you’re as good as anyone else in that room.

4. The vast majority of people will be polite, courteous and respectful.

5. You’re there simply to build new relationships and develop existing ones.

6. It’s more about being interested than interesting; we learn nothing by talking, only by listening.

7. If you do spot a potential opportunity to move the relationship to the next stage, get a business card and ask permission to call.

8. You’re following up to offer help and add value, not sell for just the sake of it. If they say no, they’re rejecting the offer of your help; don’t take it personally!

9. If you don’t follow up and they did want to hear from you, you’re damaging your brand for which you are the ambassador.

10. Always focus on the end result to get a meeting to move the relationship to the next stage.

1 comment:

Robartisan said...

Will,

a good point on following up - I think you need to allow time to make those calls and meetings.

Networking, done well, is time consuming as you have to follow-up. Would you say pace yourself, only do as much networking as youcan hope to follow-up professionally?

Rob