10 Mistakes we Make at Networking Events and How to Avoid Them by Mac Cassity & Glenn K Garnes - HTML preview

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Table of Contents

Introduction A note from Glenn and Mac
Mistake #1 We misunderstand the purpose of networking Mistake #2 We only hang out with the people we already know
Mistake #3 We talk too much about ourselves
Mistake #4 others We don’t describe what we do in a way that is meaningful to
Mistake #5 We don’t have an effective follow up system
Mistake #6 We don’t meet the host/centers of influence Mistake #7 We are not good matchmakers
Mistake #8 We show up just to be seen
Mistake #9 We don’t ask the right questions Mistake #10 We don’t attend enough networking events
Resources

Introduction A note from Glenn and Mac

Networking. For some, a fear inducing melee of half drunk, over-talkative salespeople vying for each other’s attention. For others, an absolutely vital revenue producing and ENJOYABLE activity. No matter which camp you are from, one thing is clear. Networking, if done correctly, produces results. The problem is, all too often, folks DON’T do it correctly. That is why we’re here.

You see, we used to be in that first camp -- the folks afraid of the event. At times, we were even the ones producing the fear for others. We’ve made our mistakes. But, we now know what works, and simply want to pass that on to others. If we had had someone in our corner teaching us what to do at these events from the beginning, we wouldn’t have wasted countless hours, doing the wrong things. Using the trial-and-error method, along with some fantastic wisdom from some of the referral and relationship experts of our day (included in the resource section) we have developed what we consider to be THE go-to guide for anyone who is interested in becoming more effective at networking events.

Why do we attend networking events?

 

TO MAKE AND BEGIN CULTIVATING MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL REFERRAL RELATIONSHIPS.

Ok, we may have lost a few of you there. I know some were thinking TO MAKE SALES, or TO MEET PEOPLE. Ok, all of these things can and DO happen at networking events, but the bottom line is, the people in that room can be a part of your team IF YOU recruit them the right way. Selling to them the first time you meet them, annoying them with meaningless chatter, or offending them with your lack of people skills won’t make it happen. Putting their needs first, showing them you care, and having a Go-Giver attitude will. So sit back, relax, and read through the list of the 10 Mistakes We Make at Networking Events and How to Avoid Them. Memorize it, take it with you to events. If you master this list and use the principles we teach you, you WILL increase the amount of referrals you get.

Your partners in Referral Mastery,

 

Glenn K. Garnes Mac Cassity 00002.jpg00003.jpg00004.jpg00005.jpg

Mistake #1 We misunderstand the purpose of networking.

Imagine you have just opened the double doors of a large and vibrant networking event,

 

let’s say it’s your chamber of commerce’s annual gala. Before you stand two hundred well-to

 

do, connected, and most importantly, strangers. What do you have in your mind when you see

 

all of those people? How do you view them as it relates to your business? Those that tend to

 

see all of the attendees as nothing more than dollar signs ruin it for the rest of us who are truly

 

interested in meeting professionals and developing mutually beneficial referral relationships.

 

How many times have you heard “You absolutely MUST try my product!”, or “I can help ALL of

 

your clients, call me." These kinds of people are more interested in shoving their business card

 

down your throat before even getting to know your last name, much less what it is that's

 

important to you. They prey on the folks who attend these events. If they walk away with a sale, they consider it a success, no matter that most were turned off by their approach and in

 

the future will do what they can to avoid them. This is NOT why we attend networking events,

 

of course. This results in Mistake #1, We misunderstand the purpose of networking.

 

As we said in the introduction, the goal of networking is to MAKE AND BEGIN

 

CULTIVATING MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL REFERRAL RELATIONSHIPS. That’s not to say that

 

someone won’t have another immediate purpose, i.e., finding a speaker for an upcoming event,

 

locating a sponsor, or, if the offer is real and the timing is critical, a sale may well occur. But,

 

our primary purpose is and should be relationship building. What you want to do is not view

 

everyone in the room as merely a dollar sign, but rather, as potential long term relationships

 

and a source of possibly "endless referrals" for your business. If you were to view fellow

 

networkers with the bigger picture in mind, you might just treat them with a little more

 

respect. Realize that if treated the right way, instead of making 200 SALES your goal (if there

 

were 200 attendees) you would make developing 200 referral sources your goal. Which would

 

you rather have: 200 sales or 200 individuals sending you 5-10 referrals a year?

 

Sure, it makes sense, but look around the room at the next event you attend, You will

 

see someone looking back at you as if you were that dollar sign. If you DON’T see that person, that person could be you…now STOP THAT!

Mistake #2 We only hang out with the people we already know.

Now, this is a tough one. You get to a networking event, and immediately you spot your

 

buddy. You go over and talk to him/her and jump right into the swing of things. “How’re the

 

kids, the job, did you watch The Apprentice last night…blah blah blah.” A couple of drinks later,

 

a bite of food or two, another friend shows up, then another. The next thing you know, you are

 

having a ball! What a great event, right? WRONG! This is Mistake #2, We only hang out with
the people we already know
.

 

When we discuss this one at seminars, we hear the same things over and over again.

 

People want to FIGHT for their right to hang out with their friends at networking events. They

 

are extremely adamant that this makes sense as they are trying to deepen those relationships.

 

Well, we say this, “If you knew ‘em going in, you will know ‘em going out." As long as you didn’t

 

ruin the friendship by doing something stupid, it will be intact as well. Yes, you want your

 

friends to still like you and send you referrals, but chances are, they already do. You can do

 

whatever you choose to at these events, but if you want to increase the referrals you get, you

 

must follow these rules. There IS a way to respect your friendships AND get more referrals at

 

the same time for both you and your friends, so try this at your next event. When you are at a

 

networking event, and you see some friends you know, say this: “Hey, great to see you John.

 

Look, don’t be offended if I take off to meet other folks. You see, since we already know each

 

other, I want to go and meet some of the other people here and see if I can identify those

 

individuals who might be good power partners or referral sources for you. If you do the same for me, maybe we can meet back here at the end of the event and compare notes.” See what

 

you just did? You were respectful to your friend, explained what you were doing and how it

 

would benefit him, and then you sent him out into the crowd to work for you! Now THAT is

 

leverage. Your friend is going to know you care about him even if you only spent about 30

 

seconds talking, and in turn, he is going to identify good referral sources for you as well. It’s

 

really that simple.

 

We have found that this technique does two things very effectively. Number one, it

 

keeps you on task as to your true intended purpose and two, it gets your friends ON task in the

 

first place. Remember, at most networking events, folks are either trying to sell everyone they

 

meet, or they are merely socializing. There are usually very few as savvy as you will be and this

 

practice probably just reminded your friend why he/she is there in the first place. Consider how productive the events you attended would be if everyone quit making Mistake #2. 00006.jpg00007.jpg00008.jpg00009.jpg

Mistake #3 We talk too much about ourselves.

Q. What is the easiest and most effective way to tell if you might be saying the wrong thing at a networking event?
A. If you can hear your voice and you are not asking a question.

 

This mistake, like some of the others, seems obvious, but just about everyone commits

 

this error. The reality is, everyone loves to talk about their favorite subject: Themselves. We

 

want you to recognize this mistake before you make it and to give you some tips on how to

 

avoid it.

 

The last thing people really want to hear when they first meet you is your life story or

 

why your company/product/service is the best and how it will change their life. People don't

 

immediately want to hear why your customer service process is superior and that if they did

 

business with you, you would make it an experience they wouldn’t soon forget. We all have been guilty of this one in the past. Almost EVERYONE has until they train themselves the right

 

way. It is so easy to launch into your sales pitch when someone asks, “What do you do.” Sure, if

 

someone asks what you do, you answer. But keep it short and sweet. Then turn the dialogue

 

back to them. We will address how to answer the question “What do you do?” in a concise and

 

meaningful way later when we tackle Mistake #4. For now, we will focus on trying not to talk

 

so much about ourselves.

 

The way to avoid this mistake is simple, get the other person to talk about themselves. If

 

you do your job right, then this is what you will eventually start to hear over and over again,

 

“I’m sorry, I have been talking so much about what I do, but can you tell me again more about

 

what it is that YOU do?” Even THEN you don’t want to go into detail. We will help you define

 

your meaningful job description next, so once you have that, just restate it. Focus on THEM,

 

what is important to THEM, not what's important to you. If you can be respectful, develop

 

rapport, and start to build a relationship with this person and say AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE,

 

you really will be ahead of the game.

 

If you have moved into a conversational mode, and you are talking freely about subjects

 

OTHER than your work, then you’ve REALLY made some progress. The talking too much rule

 

mainly applies to talking about yourself and your business, not necessarily talking in general.

 

We make this distinction because some people will take this too literally and show up at the

 

next event having taken a vow of silence. SHEEESH, you wouldn’t think we would have to explain this...we do.

Mistake #4 We don’t describe what we do in a way that is meaningful to others.

What comes to mind when you hear the question, “What do you do for a living?”

 

If you are like most people, and I mean almost EVERYONE, you answer with a job title:

 

“Realtor.”

 

“Mortgage Broker.”

 

“Sales.”

 

BORING!!!!

 

If you want people to remember you, and what you do, you have to describe it in a way

 

that paints a vivid picture in their mind of what you do. How many people do you know who

 

“sell insurance?” If you attend networking events regularly, I’ll be you know a few. But how do

 

you refer to them? Probably as “that guy I know who sells insurance.” But how many people do

 

you know that, Spend time with clients helping them to identify risks that could prove financially
devastating to their business or personal life, and show them simple and inexpensive ways to
avoid the risks
? That is a description of an insurance agent, but one that is MUCH more

 

meaningful to a potential client or referral source than just “insurance agent.” There are 200

 

people in a room, and you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd without setting

 

yourself on fire. Chances are, there is someone else in the room who does exactly what you do.

 

I mean, unless you train one armed Brazilian wombats, the people you talk to will probably

 

know someone else who does what you do. But if you are able to paint a vivid picture in their mind of exactly what you do and why it is meaningful to the people you serve, they are much

 

more likely to find opportunities to make referrals to you.

 

Anyone can come up with this type of description of what they do, it just takes a little

 

thought and a hint of creativity. The key again is to describe exactly what you do in an

 

informative way that paints a picture in the listeners mind. Then follow the description up with

 

why that particular service is of value to the clients you serve. For example, when we are

 

networking locally in Maryland, or abroad, we could easily answer the question of what we do

 

by saying “marketing consultant." Instead, we might say something like, “we identify individuals

 

or businesses who are interested in having a large stream of income coming directly from

 

people who are sending them qualified referrals day in, day out, 365 days a year, and then we

 

teach them how to do it.” That does more to excite prospects we might meet than saying

 

“marketing consultants” wouldn't you agree?

 

As part of our more in-depth program, The Referral University Mastery Program, the

 

two of us will actually work with you personally via email to come up with several of these

 

meaningful and more importantly MEMORABLE descriptions to make certain that you get on and STAY on the minds of your referral sources. 00010.jpg00011.jpg00012.jpg00013.jpg

Mistake #5 We don’t have an effective follow up system.

Ever come home from a networking event about 2 lbs heavier, because of the huge load

 

of business cards filling your pockets? We have. It’s kinda scary to know that a whole family of

 

trees gave up their lives so that we could have 18 business cards from a Realtor named Bob.

 

(You see, Bob was so interested in telling everyone about what HE does that he forgot he

 

already met us earlier at the event…See Mistake #3).

 

So, there sits the stack of business cards on your desk, looming like a towering monster

 

staring at you day after day until FINALLY…you throw them away. Be honest! You know you

 

have done this; we certainly have, and it’s a shame. We met the right people, had the right

 

conversations, got their contact info, but we didn’t follow up. Why? Simple. Because of mistake

 

#5 We don’t have an effective follow up system. If we had a system to get back in touch with these people within days of the event, in a meaningful and memorable way, and it only took us

 

a few minutes, that would make life pretty simple AND productive, wouldn’t it? Those systems

 

exist, and we can show you how to use them. A system could be as simple as:

 

1. Get a business card

 

2. Send a greeting card

 

3. Schedule one on one meeting

 

4. Add to follow up newsletter campaign

 

Now, if the above contacts are meaningful and NOT just sales-based, you can help to

 

deepen your relationship with that person. If your materials are just sent to try to sell your

 

products, don’t even bother sending them. You are better off sending direct mail to people you

 

don’t know. We are talking about developing referral relationships here, not selling everyone

 

you meet…remember that.

 

Another key principle to note here is that proper follow up can be individual. What we

 

mean is, having an effective follow up system for you may be different than it is for someone

 

else. For example, based on the nature of our business, it would be impossible for us to follow

 

up with and schedule a one on one with every person we meet. Trying to do so would be futile

 

and there is no way we could truly give value to everyone. We do, however, regularly maintain

 

a group of 100-150 close, mutually beneficial referral relationships. This allows us plenty of time

 

to be able to add value to those individuals and get to know them each on a more personal

 

level. We are more likely to set up a one on one meeting with an individual or business we are looking to develop a referral relationship with than just to keep them at arms length with an

 

email or snail mail campaign. That doesn’t mean we don’t do some of this, we just try to

 

maximize our time by being a little more selective.

 

Not everyone you meet at a networking event will be a good fit to add to your network. For

 

instance, if you know 10 Realtors, it would be hard to add 10 more to your network and give

 

them all value. What we have done to be of service to the largest number of people is develop

 

a program that can teach anyone how to be more successful with respect to building and

 

developing mutually beneficial referral relationships. The Referral University Mastery Program

 

goes over in detail through audio, e-book workbook, AND monthly seminars exactly how you

 

can make these systems a part of your every day routine. From what to do to how to do it, we

 

go over it all. If this information is overwhelming, the Referral University Mastery Program can

 

help you tie it all together in a simple, easy to understand, effective system. If you want more

 

information about everything included in this program, visit our information page at www.RelationshipMarketing101.com.

Mistake #6 We don’t meet the host/centers of influence.

Sometimes at events we get so caught up in what is going on that we forget to meet the

 

really KEY people that are there. If you are standing in a room full of 150-200 people, shouldn’t

 

you meet the person who got them all there? Yes, you should. If you're not sure who that is,

 

look at the entrance . . . they’re usually standing near the door greeting people as they come in.

 

If a person has the influence to get that many people to a mixer, then who do you think they

 

could introduce you to? Meet the key, influential people at the events you attend, and offer to

 

help them in any way you can. Make a friend, show them value, and in turn, they will introduce you to their friends. 00014.jpg00015.jpg00016.jpg00017.jpg00018.jpg

Mistake #7 We are not good matchmakers

One way to be a hit at an event is to learn how to become a good matchmaker.

 

Introduce people you meet to others in a meaningful way and you WILL be remembered.

 

Oftentimes, we have found out later that the people we introduced became clients of each

 

other and some large deals ensued as a result. If you are the one that made that relationship

 

happen, you have made a meaningful impact on BOTH parties, perhaps for life.

 

Unfortunately, what happens all too often is someone will be standing alone at a

 

networking event. They are not involved in a conversation, yet no one pulls them in. It’s up to

 

THEM to make that entrance, and the folks who are a bit shy or not good at segues find this difficult and sometimes just walk away. The reason why is because of Mistake #7 We are not
good matchmakers
. How about YOU decide to be the person to engage others? Pull people

 

into conversations. Make it a point to be a matchmaker for as many people as you possibly can,

 

while being respectful of their time and goals.

 

What we do when we go to an event, and you can too, is something that w