© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networkin g – 2006 www.speedbusinessnetworking.com
How many small business people or sales professionals do you know who would like to earn more? How many of your clients would like to be able to sell more products or services? How many would actually be grateful for your help?
We challenge you to identify at least 10 people whom you know could benefit from this book by studying and implementing the material in it, and ask them if they’d like you to email the pdf file.
Please do use your judgement when deciding who is suitable because those people may want to join Speed Business Networking to enhance their networking effectiveness, and it’s important to us to maintain the quality of the various working groups, especially the business development forums where members work to build their businesses.
If that person is a grandstander, a user/taker, not a giver, is someone who is simply out for all they can get, then please don’t pass this on. The members of our business community are not there to make money out of each other, but to help each other through sharing expertise, so that everyone is able to easily grow and improve their business.
Our whole focus is on building relationships based on trust and respect for principles and values. We hope this is what you’re looking for, and that you enjoy being part of our community.
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networkin g – 2006 www.speedbusinessnetworking.comSpeed Business Networking – the Manual 2nd Edition
©Christine Sutherland and The Lifeworks Group – 2006
The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd
PO Box 2018, Warwick 6024, Western Australia Ph: 61 8 9246 1977
Fax: 61 8 9246 1966
Email: info@lifeworks-group.com.au
Web: www.lifeworks-group.com.au
Also by Christine Sutherland:
Take Your Team to the Top: How to Double Your Sales in 30 Days from Implementation NLP in 10 Days: A Step-by-step Training Program.
Beat Cravings, Shift Fat! Easy Ways to Let Your Mind Do the Work for You.
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networkin g – 2006 www.speedbusinessnetworking.com
About the author: Christine Sutherland is a behavioural counsellor who has a counselling and training background of over 30 years, with a passion for research and development of innovations in training and therapy. She has been responsible for pioneering and developing neuro-linguistic and neuro-somatic therapy applications suitable for clinical and corporate services. Her books have been published throughout the Western world by McGraw-Hill and throughout the Arab world by Jarir. Her academic work has been peerreviewed and published in the Temple University journal Frontier Perspectives.
Christine is the CEO and founding director of The Lifeworks Group, and was responsible for the development of an innovative group treatment program for clinical depression, subjected to experimental trial in December 2000. Christine was also responsible for the "Get a Life" program for schools, subjected to experimental trial in April-May 2000, and a treatment program for unrelieved chronic pain, subjected to experimental trial in October 2001.
In her work as an internationally-recognised NLP trainer, Christine has developed a training program for Practitioner Certification the content of which is in advance of the current world standard and which is also available as an on-line distance learning program.
Christine is also a co -founder of BMSA International, a multi-lingual on-line resource for medical practitioners and other licensed health professionals, dedicated to bringing the best of modern research directly into supervised clinical practice.
This is in line with her commitment to bring new developments in health, well-being, communication techniques and human performance within the reach of as many people as possible.Early in 2003, Christine founded Speed Business Networking as a result of many years' investigation into the strategies of high-performing companies. To her frustration, she could not find a single business organisation which assisted SME's to network using proven strategies. Combined with her desire to invest the small business community with higher level management skills, this frustration led to a concept which would integrate better networking practices with practical business development support the like of which which had never been seen before in Australia.
Just recently Christine added another business to The Lifeworks Group portfolio, RecruitmentHeaven.Com, an innovative on-line jobsearch facility which provides business development services to recruitment agencies.Her range of expertise includes:
• QA & TQM (including audit)
• Financial Control
• Master Trainer
• Clinical Supervision (reg ACA)
• Small Business Development
• Marketing and Sales Methodologies
Dedication
I dedicate this book to the millions of business people who absolutely hate networking. Read on, because shortly you’ll discover that you and I have a lot in common, and I’m about to give you some really good news.
However all the good news, all the knowledge and information that I’m passing on right here, will do you absolutely no good if you don’t act on it! Over 90% of businesses fail, and one of the key reasons is that over 90% of owners/managers refuse to take the actions they know they should!
Why else would BNI (Business Networking International) actually have to FORCE members to turn up to networking events by threatening to “open their category” if they miss too many meetings?! Why else would I also have to bully and nag people to actually show up to Speed Business Networking meetings, even though each and every time people will take away solid information they can use to build or improve their businesses, for just seventeen lousy dollars?!
Let me share with you this quote by Michael Schrage, Teamwork Consultant with Knowledge Inc“I think ‘knowledge management’ is a bullshit issue. Let me tell you why. I can give you perfect information, I can give you perfect knowledge and it won't change your behavior one iota. …… Knowledge is not the power. Power is power. The ability to act on knowledge is power. Most people in most organizations do not have the ability to act on the knowledge they possess. End of story.”
So, my fellow friend in business, listen, learn, and DO, and not only will your business thrive, but your very life will change as a result!Sincerely
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networkin g – 2006 www.speedbusinessnetworking.comCould You Bring Speed Business Networking to Your Area?
We're currently looking for business leaders (including leaders of existing networking groups) in all capital cities to help spread the Speed Business Networking philosophy, which is that authentic business friendships/alliances/advocacies are the one and only way that any business can succeed, or even sustain itself. The quality of those friendships determines absolutely the level of success any business or business professional can achieve.
Most networking organisations make fundamental errors in the way they bring members together, and also in the structures set up to serve members. SBN provides both the structure and the training/information for members to network in such a way that authentic
friendships/alliances/advocacies do develop, provided that members actually utilise them of course.
We frown on the pressure placed on members of other networking organisations to bring referrals to meetings. To us this is the wrong focus and results in quantity over quality. Insisting that members refer only to each other, and not to those outside the membership is an insular and narrow view that is counterproductive to quality networking. Streams of warm and hot qualified referrals, which result in superb outcomes, are the natural product of solid, authentic relationships. This is where our focus is.
We give a high level of support to founders, who retain 100% of event profits, and 95% of membership fees. Founders set their own fee level, but this must be a minimum of $150 per year.Our view is that founders should be a role model to members, demonstrating the exponential business growth that is possible when the correct philosophies and methodologies are followed. That's why we also specifically work with founders to help to grow their own businesses. We do not charge for consulting to founders – our reward is watching their success!
We welcome existing networking group s who would like to join Speed Business Networking and gain all of the expertise and other advantages that membership offers.Please contact me personally if you believe you have the ability to undertake the role of chapter founder
- I look forward to discussing that possibility. I can be reached by telephone on 61 8 9246 1977 during business hours, or by email at info@speedbusinessnetworking.com.
Christine SutherlandFounder – Speed Business Networking © The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networkin g – 2006 www.speedbusinessnetworking.com
Networking is making links from people we know to people they know, in an organized way, for a specific purpose, while remaining committed to doing our part, expecting nothing in return.
Donna Fisher, author, “Power Networking”
Networking – The Number 1 Lead GeneratorWell over 70% of business is won not through advertising, but through word of mouth, via people who know us, like us, and trust us. In other words, over 70% of business comes via relationships. And not just any relationships, but quality relationships.
Each of us knows, on average, about 250 people. And each of those knows another 250 people, and so on. In only 4 degrees of separation (links or steps) we have potential access to over 3 billion people. That’s the power of networking.
Recently, in a research project in Brisbane, it was discovered that every single person in that entire city’s population was linked by a group of just 15 people. In other words, if you put this group of people in a room, and at random asked to be given a warm introduction to any human being in Brisbane, one or more of those 15 people would be able to do that. IF they knew you and trusted you enough to do so. That’s the power of networking.
However whether or not we get access to someone’s “group” depends upon one thing and one thing only: the quality of the relationship with have with that “someone”.Have a look at the diagram overleaf.
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networking – 20051www.speedbusinessnetworking.com
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Little chance of referral “Maybe” chance of referral
Huge chance of referral
The thickness of the line denotes the quality of the relationship in the diagram above. Whether or not we get access to someone’s “circle of influence”, (approximately 250 possible warm referrals) depends utterly upon the quality of relationship we have with them. A strong relationship, based on mutual liking, respect and trust, automatically produces referrals. No relationship – no referrals!
If we don’t network, we have no hope of building the quality relationships that so effortlessly lead to warm, quality referrals. In addition, if we don’t network with the right spirit, we will not meet people who want to refer to us anyway!
Why We’ve Learned to Hate Networking!Informal networking is both easy and fun for most people – we do it all the time when we spend time with family or friends. We’re “networking” even when we’re sitting on the couch watching television with our beloved, because “networking”, after all, is just a fancy word for spending time with and relating to people.
Formal networking has become another kettle of fish altogether because most people get it so very, very wrong. In fact most people think networking is standing around with a drink being bored to death by a series of 15-second elevator pitches and pretending to be interested in people just so you can give out as many cards as possible in the course of a couple of hours.
That’s not networking – that’s torture!The fact is, we’ve been taught a whole lot of networking “rules” that are not only rude (no wonder we feel so uncomfortable about it!) that are not only ineffective, but which actually do our reputation, and our business, HARM!
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networking – 20052www.speedbusinessnetworking.comGood News, You Don’t Have to Do THESE Rude Things Any More!
Sorry folks, this is going to be brutally honest! We’ve all been told to do this stuff but IT IS PLAIN WRONG!!!!
• Stuffing your card in someone’s hand the moment you’ve met.
Not only a waste of a card, but this is like greeting a blind date with a big sloppy kiss. Yuck! By the way, your card is NOT your 24/7 salesperson. It is far more likely to get filed in the “circular file”!
• “Working the room”, 15-second “elevator pitches”, or “selling at people”.Rest assured, there’s not anyone in that room who wants to be “worked over”! Neither does anyone actually enjoy your slick elevator pitch, or the fact that you’re so enthusiastically telling them why they should do business with you. Ever stopped long enough to see their eyes glaze over? This is the one I have the biggest trouble stopping people from doing because they’ve been so indoctrinated with the concept of “selling” themselves. Bragging is ugly, especially to a stranger, so don’t do it.
• Only being bothered with people who look like potential business for you.You will never know if someone can help you or not. There’s just no way to tell. Fact is, whoever they are, they know at least 250 people who could help you in ways you can’t even imagine. Be interested in EVERYONE and don’t make crass judgements before you’ve even come to know someone.
• Thinking you have to make yourself “memorable” (and whether your name tag is on the left or the right side of your jacket is a total red herring. It’s not even about their remembering your name!)
Wearing a big hat, or a colourful shirt, or some other gimmick to make you stand out, sure does make you stand out, as an idiot! Only wear these things if they are your normal business attire, and they truly express your style. Be YOU! Putting on a style that is not yours simply announces “I am a fake.”
• Having an attitude of “what’s in it for me?”You do this one and you may as well turn up wearing a neon sign across your head that says “I am an egocentric, selfish pig, and I am interested in me, not you!” Some 90% of your communication is non-verbal, and trust me, attitude comes over loud and clear! And no, you can’t fake it!
• Thinking that you must make an “impression” and keeping your “business mask” firmly in place.This is almost the opposite of the “make yourself memorable” concept. Rather than being honky, we’re trying to be “businesslike” whatever that means. If we refuse to relax and show our personality, to be seen to be human, then we actually refuse to fully engage. People want to get to know YOU. Let them know who that is.
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networking – 20053www.speedbusinessnetworking.com• Thinking that if you didn’t meet whom you wanted to it was a waste of time.
If you met 15 people, who in turn know 250 people each, you just had contact with 3750 potential clients. And remember it’s not about the number of new faces you meet! The best groups have lots of familiar faces (so you can continue to consolidate good relationships) and fresh faces, so that your network continues to grow! In meeting people, there is just no way it can ever be a waste of time!
• Thinking if you didn’t get a referral, make a sale, or arrange an appointment, it was a waste of time.The point is not to get a referral, or to make a sale, or to arrange a selling appointment! If that’s what you’re expecting to happen you are not only way off the mark, but you are also thinking way too small! Referrals, sales, have one thing in common: they are a PRODUCT OF A GOOD RELATIONSHIP! Your focus should not be on referrals but on RELATIONSHIPS!
• Thinking that the “wrong people” were there!They are only ever the wrong people if they are not “your kind of people”. For example if you are the sort of person who loves to talk about football, and they are a group who detests football and would rather talk about saving the whale, then obviously you have a mismatch. If you’re thinking that they’re wrong because they’re not “big players” and it’s only “big players” you want to meet, that is missing the whole point of building networks that work!
• Going into high-pressure sales mode because you believe you perceive a need for your product or service.This is one of the ugliest behaviours that can happen at a networking event. Some poor chump mentions that he has a certain problem and his networking “buddy” smells blood, going in for the kill like a ravenous mountain lion.
A networking event is NOT the place to actively sell yourself because there is no way you can take the time to ask the amount of questions you need before you can determine whether or not this person has a need and also properly qualify them.
A networking event is NOT the place to actively sell yourself because networking is not about selling: it is about relationship building. You are not there to seek short-term personal benefit: you are there to build solid relationships.
If you actively sell to your networking colleagues, trust me, they will freeze you out, and you’ll deserve it.Every one of these behaviours, attitudes, or beliefs has in common the fact that they are plain selfinterested and rude. In fact, if we attend networking with any of this operating we may as well turn up wearing a neon sign above our heads that says “I am rude and self-interested” - that’s how obvious it is.
And you know who will want to deal with us? Other rude and self-interested people! Do we want to deal with them? The other type of person who may deal with us is a naïve or vulnerable person who hasn’t seen our type coming before. Inevitably, that will lead to problems anyway. So there must be a better way. Thankfully, there is! So breathe a sigh of relief with me, and read on!
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networking – 20054www.speedbusinessnetworking.comA New and Better Way to Network
When people remember that business is part of life, and life is about relationships, they automatically behave in life-enhancing ways, humanizing and enriching the process of networking.
This results in gestalts of people working together for each others’ success, creatively looking for ways to refer or to assist. The outcomes are little short of amazing. And it’s easier and a lot more fun than the old, stupid, predatory style that is most commonly taught and practised today.
Read on to Chapter 2 for the new rules of networking. They’re a whole lot easier, a whole lot more enjoyable, and they’ll bring you results you could never have imagined!© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networking – 20055www.speedbusinessnetworking.com
The investment in time and energy creating a network will only be worthwhile if you are genuinely interested in the people in it - sustaining it for purely selfish reasons won't work.
Angela Abell
The New Rules of NetworkingProfitable and enduring business relationships cannot be achieved on the basis of a “deal”. As in our personal lives, success depends on liaisons built on trust and on shared principles and values.
In building business relationships, we should not be looking for obvious or direct benefit, because real benefits are a product of the quality of the relationship! Without an authentic business friendship, there is no real deal! Without an authentic business friendship, any deal made is likely to be one you’ll regret, because you don’t really know who you’re dealing with, and you have no clue whether they’ll let you down or not!
When you go networking:• Go with an attitude of giving
• Look at the person in front of you, not the potential deal
• Don’t give your card until asked
• Never make a presentation unless asked
• Know that every single person in that room could probably help you in some way, even that newbie business person who seems to be floundering
• Take off your business mask and just be you – if you’re clinging to an ego people can tell
• Realise that it’s about the quality of the relationships you are forming, not the direct deals you do
• Ask for other people’s cards and be genuinely interested in them, not just in what they “do”
• Follow up promptly after the meeting with a short personal note (and a small amount of marketing material only if requested!)
• Know what your own principles and values are
• Do deals only with people who share them!
• Notice whom you “click” with (NOT only because of their potential “fit” with your business) and make time to meet up with for a coffee or whatever in between now and the next event.
Good networking is not about doing deals. It’s about sharing goodwill and expertise with people you like and respect. If you do that, you’ll be shocked and amazed at the referrals and creative assistance you can give each other, because these flow naturally out of the quality of the relationship. Referrals are a product of the quality of the relationship.
The old way of networking is anathema to relationship quality and offends and devalues us as human beings. And now that you know that it is not the potential deal, but the potential relationship that you should be looking for, you also know that anyone who’d go networking looking for deals or instant referrals would have to have rocks in their head! Don’t let that rock-head be you!
© The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd and Speed Business Networking – 20056www.speedbusinessnetworking.comIf you want to quickly form authentic, enduring business relationships that flow quantum referrals to you whether you’re awake or asleep, at work or on holidays, then Speed Business Networking is the answer to your dreams, because on that on-line community, and at live events around the world that abide by our principles and methodology, everyone is playing by the same rules. (In the next chapter, I’ll describe how to run events “our way” so you can do this yourself! We’ll even help you set up a chapter of Speed Business Networking in your own region, or help you incorporate our methods and practices into your existing group, giving all the support necessary and of course still letting you keep 100% of the event profits.)
Just ask the people at Speed Business Networking who’ve done exactly what we’ve suggested, and have doubled and quadrupled their revenue as a direct result. Take a look at Appendix A if you’d like to know mo
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