Years ago, when I was working at an advertising agency in London, I was asked to help someone out.\u00a0 He was down on his luck and my husband thought, as we worked in the same industry, I could help.\u00a0 (I should mention that my husband was a Freemason and helping other Freemasons who were down on their luck is what they do, among other things.)\u00a0 I was reluctant, but decided to look at his portfolio.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t great, in fact it wasn\u2019t even good, but by now I was feeling sorry for him and thought he deserved a chance.\u00a0 I briefed him on a project and waited.\u00a0 He came back remarkably quickly but what he presented to me was beyond poor; he couldn\u2019t cut it.\u00a0 He\u2019d wasted my time, I\u2019d wasted his. \u00a0I was no further forward thanks to going against my natural instinct and dipping my toes into the murky waters of the old boys\u2019 network. \u00a0For some time to come it was impossible for me to disassociate networking with nepotism, using mates and generally subjugating quality for mutual backscratching.\u00a0 Was I guilty of double standards? A tetchy purist?\u00a0 Haven\u2019t we all tried to gain benefit for ourselves, family and friends through our contacts?\u00a0 Of course the answer is yes.\u00a0 But my reputation would have been adversely affected if I\u2019d accepted his work, and for me, like the majority of businesses, your good reputation is everything.\u00a0 It takes years to build and only seconds to destroy, as Gerald Ratner knows only too well.<\/b><\/p>\n
When I moved to Essex and started working in a small consultancy I became aware very quickly that networking is what businessmen and women do as effortlessly as charging their mobile phones.\u00a0 And the opportunities to get involved are endless.\u00a0 There are breakfasts, lunches, after work events, speed networking, mums\u2019 networking; Rotarians run them, so do the Institute of directors and the Chambers; enterprising business owners set up regular events of their own; magazines have been created off the back of them, venues make money out of hosting them.\u00a0 They\u2019re not always called \u2018networking\u2019, but that\u2019s what they are and there\u2019s something going on every day of the working week, which is replicated all over the country. This is a big business where the turnover is likeminded people, all wanting to improve their chances of success, and the profit is knowledge; knowledge about people, opportunities, issues, skills gaps, the marketplace, anything and everything.<\/p>\n
With my only experience of networking a negative one, I initially gave it a very wide berth.\u00a0 However, through my work I was always involved in hosting, running and attending client events and, whether I liked it or not, I was networking like a trouper.\u00a0 What was it about networking that was so good, when my one experience had been so bad?\u00a0 By meeting business owners and other professionals who weren\u2019t working in my field I was broadening my local horizons, but more importantly, like a fine wine, I was laying down relationships for future benefit.\u00a0 Leigh Hemmings, Creative Director of Stone Productions, is a networking devotee:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u201cPeople do business with people, not companies, so it\u2019s important that you get to know people and they get to know you.\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t have networking how would you do that?\u201d \u00a0In a way networking, if you do it regularly enough, helps you make decisions based on insight because you\u2019ve been able to probe more deeply under the skin of a fellow networker. \u00a0This is probably one of the best ways of finding out who you\u2019d feel comfortable working with and who you should avoid like a bout of Norovirus.<\/p>\n
But networking is a social exercise and, for some, being sociable in a room full of strangers is similar to death by a thousand cuts. \u00a0There\u2019s no doubt that the more you do, the easier it gets, but it helps if someone can show you the ropes at the outset. \u00a0Mark Howell, Operations Director of Capel Court and, like Leigh Hemmings, no stranger to networking, believes that\u2019s a problem easily solved:<\/b>\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for six years but at the beginning you can feel quite isolated.\u00a0 I used to be that person standing on the sidelines, gripping my coffee cup and hoping someone would come over to me.\u00a0 A mentoring scheme for new networkers would help make their experience less daunting and more positive.\u201d\u00a0 Whether operated informally or formally by the companies attending or by the host, a scheme like this would not just reduce the fear factor but could also stop bad habits.<\/p>\n
The biggest, baddest habit of them all is feeling the need to overtly sell.\u00a0 You can work the room, hand out as many business cards as humanly possible and talk 19 to the dozen about you and your company and you will have learned nothing at the end of it all. \u00a0But others will have learned that you\u2019re pushy and interested in number one, not them.\u00a0 You might as well just leave a flyer under the wipers of their windscreens for all the good it will do you in developing any form of trust, let alone a business relationship.\u00a0 Most businessmen and women already know that the best way to sell is to listen, so we should all be trying harder to form the listening habit while networking.\u00a0 \u00a0Before you start listening you need to join one of the groups, but what do you do if they\u2019re all locked in conversation?\u00a0 Take a tip from Damian Culhane, Director of Perceptions Coaching<\/b>, who says the secret is to just look at the feet:\u00a0 \u201cThe feet are farthest away from the brain and basically speak the truth about how a person feels about those around them.\u00a0 If you see two people whose feet are pointing towards each other, don\u2019t join the group; look out for someone with one of their feet turned out, they\u2019re either looking for an exit or would welcome new company.\u201d\u00a0 Body language should never be underestimated, especially when the time period is concentrated; those unspoken cues can make the difference between getting a relationship onto the right footing (doh!) and blowing it altogether.<\/p>\n
With the raft of networking opportunities open to all of us, it pays to be choosy, as Louise Dyer, Director of Dart Design<\/b>, has learned:\u00a0 \u201c<\/i>You need time to network and breakfast meetings are great because they don\u2019t interfere with your working day.\u00a0 My children are very young though, which means I have to be selective about which ones I attend, but I have won business as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning business and getting referrals all make the time spent networking worth it, but you need to use your time wisely.\u00a0 Not all networking groups will attract the industries important to you, or the right calibre of personnel and not all networking groups are good.\u00a0 Then again, if you want to be recognised nationally or internationally, you need to be networking further afield.\u00a0 The institute of Directors would be helpful here, as would the Essex Chambers of Commerce.\u00a0 For example, the Essex Chambers is affiliated to 52 other Chambers through the British Chambers of Commerce, and can let you have information on relevant events up and down the country. They also have strong international trade links with the Council of British Chambers of Commerce In Europe, where you can gain access to international trade events in member countries as well as support on exporting to them.<\/p>\n
Over the past few years I\u2019ve gone from stone cold detractor to lukewarm \u201cI know I\u2019ve got to do this but\u2026\u201d.\u00a0 Now I\u2019ve reached the stage where I find the right kind of networking events (usually based on the calibre of the speaker) incredibly useful to me.\u00a0 I have made excellent contacts, some of whom have become dear friends, and I\u2019m still learning.\u00a0 As the founder of McDonald\u2019s, Ray Kroc, notably said, \u201cwhen you\u2019re green you grow, when you\u2019re ripe you rot\u201d and I\u2019m proud to be green.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t just look at the feet when I\u2019m networking either.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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