There are dozens of networking clubs and all of them operate in a slightly different way, but let me tell you about one approach I take at a particular event. Ironically people think it is fantastic, pioneering; I say ‘that’s nonsense, it’s just common sense!’.
The Chamber of Commerce event in question, has a series of tables, each seating about 10 people. Visitors are given a delegate list as they arrive and two table numbers so that half way through the event they can swap tables and meet a new group of people. At each table a Chamber of Commerce representative invites everyone to ‘pass their business cards round’. I used to do this but now refrain from doing so. I’ve come to realise that I don’t always want to do business with everyone on the table so do I really want to fill my e-mail box up with lots of spam. No! I hold back and, if possible, try to be the last person on the table to address the group about my company. However, I used to watch as people glazed over when I started talking; you could almost read their expression (I’ve done my bit and I’m not listening any more). So, I changed my tack and began with the following “This morning I would like to tell you about my company but I would also like to explain how I spend money with YOUR types of organisations’. The change was immediate, everyone began listening eagerly. Where possible I made a comment of some sort………Fred Smith of XYZ said that Levi Solicitors were excellent because they gave him a fixed fee approach and he loved that………to the university recruitment office I explained that my brother ran external bar company and needed to recruit 130 staff in Hartlepool for a forthcoming outdoor event…..and so on. People began scribbling and, do you know, they all seemed that much keener to help me afterwards because I had given them something first. For many years I was a member of Business Networking International (BNI) and I applaud their ethos ‘Givers Gain’. Learn to give first. You will not only gain in return, but people will be more inclined to listen to a ‘giver’ rather than the eternal salesman who never has his buying ears switched on!