Some of you love the idea of meeting new people and making new connections but the majority fear it. A business person’s number one key to success is to network! It’s so important because in a world with such easy and direct access to services and goods via internet, you must stand out and be memorable to your future clients.
Even though I once feared networking, it has been an easy learning curve for me. It’s been easy for me because of my Latino culture. We are people who naturally build relationships, instead of getting right to business, which is the American culture. We like to get to know someone and build trust. Aone-hour lunch meeting can easily turn into a two-hour discussion that never covered the reason you met to begin with! But once you’re in, you’re in!We are loyal customers and we then refer our friends and family. Everyone benefits from building relationships instead of transactions. Here are my tips for efficient networking:
- Prepare your 30 second pitch/commercial. No one goes to a networking event to hear a one-hour story about you. They go to make as many connections as they can find. Personally, I like to set my own goal of making more quality connections instead of obtaining as many connections as I can grab. I introduce myself by using my full name loud, slowly, and clearly, I state the business I represent, I share my mission, then I ask the person a very important question that people always forget. I ask them: what can I do to help you succeed. If I help you succeed, then you’re naturally going to help me as well. And chances are that you’re going to share that with your network, which then becomes my network!
- Bring lots of business cards, and make sure they’re a standard size, which is 3.5 by 2 inches. Nothing annoys me more than a business card that doesn’t fit into my business card case or stack up evenly with the rest of the cards I receive. Remember, when you leave with people’s business cards, you’re going to have to file them or stack them up somewhere.
- Follow up! If you want to set yourself apart from the fifty-other people I just met, follow up. Wait a day or two and send a quick email thanking the person for sharing their business info. If there’s a real interest in doing business together, ask them to meet up for coffee. Once you accomplish your quick meeting, that’s when you start to build the relationship.
Jobany Bedoya,
Small Business & Latino Outreach Coordinator
GRCA
