Networking that works

With practice, you can make new business contacts with confidence

Networking is vital to your career and commercial success, but few people do it naturally. Being a confident and effective networker will, therefore set you apart from the crowd. In 2005, a survey found that 60 percent of the reason why individuals rose to the top in large companies was that they were seen more often by more people. Most people have to be pulled kicking and screaming to attending events that have the sole objective of winning new business.

The real problem usually stems from the following three factors:

• Fear of failure
• Fear of rejection
• Fear of leaving one's comfort zone

Overcome your fears
The way you think, feel and behave comes down to your self-esteem. The extent to which you like and value yourself often reflects the way others see you. When you attend social business events, what are your thoughts as you walk into the room?

• Am I good enough?
• Will I be judged and found wanting?
• Will I fail?
• Will I be ignored?
• Will I be taken seriously?
• Will I do or say something that makes me look stupid?
• Will I be asked something and not know the answer?

How nice are you?
Most people enter social situations thinking about their own imperfections and faults, rather than the fact that they are nice people. When you are attending events, being nice is more likely to mean that others will acknowledge and include you.

Walk into the room knowing that you are as good as anyone there, even if you are not the richest, most experienced or most senior person in attendance. Spend more time in a conversation being interested than interesting.

There are three fundamental steps to building relationships:

• Getting to know people
• Creating mutual liking (at the very least, concealing dislike)
• In the longer term, progressing to building mutual trust.

When you have low self-esteem, you can't like or trust yourself, and people will see this.

Basic preparation
Consider the fundamentals:

• Who will be at the event?
• Where will it be held?
• What will you wear?
• What is the format?
• Have you got business cards to hand out?

This is only the start. Before you walk into the room, give yourself a pep talk. Think about your strengths, your achievements and how you have achieved your present position. For example, you may have a service or product that is valuable to others, or you represent a business that is worth representing. If not, you need a new job- and what better time to make contacts!

Remember that everyone is there to create potential opportunities. They want to meet you as much as you want to meet them. Most people will be nervous as you are and most will be polite, courteous and respectful.

Follow up
When you ask the right questions and listen carefully, you will often hear something useful. Whether this is a new business opportunity, new information or the possibility of a new job, you need to follow it up. Meeting someone at an event is the start of a relationship. Ask the other person for his business card and permission to contact him after the event to arrange a further meeting. Where possible, agree on a date and write it on the back of his card so that he will expect your call.

Networking takes practice. But, with a little preparation and perseverance, it can make a valuable contribution to your career and your company.

Wisdom from Human Will Kintish