By Hector CisnerosI have been actively networking in a number of organizations since the early 1980’s. My experience, tells me that most people get out of social networking what they put into it. People often come up to me after a speaking engagement and ask, what is the magic formula for networking success. How can they become successful as a social Networker? My answer is always the same, it’s not a magic formula, although many perceive it to be a secret, a powerful principle or other hidden system of techniques. My answer always state that the secret is in plain sight. Look at the word “network” and the answer is in the title itself. The first parts of this series addressed the relationship between face to face networking and social media. Part two addresses the secret aspects of Giving. In part three of this series, we will discuss the habits that must be acquired and followed, in order to become a consummate Networker. We’ll be looking at 15 important habits which will guide and drive your success. So let’s get to work and begin by dissecting the term Social Networker.
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(1) Its Net Work! – The term Social Network
is made up of three words. Social, Net and Work. Word of mouth marketing means that
when you go out, its net “work”, not net “sit,”
“eat,” or “socialize.” I don’t mean being unfriendly or uncordial, but you
have to be focus. Is your conversation about football or the evening news or is
it about networking? Ask questions related
to networking. Ask questions like: How can you help them out? What are they looking
for? Who are you looking for this week? Who are they working on this week? What's the biggest challenge you faced this week?
Likewise, let them know who you’re looking for when they in turn say – what are
you looking for? By the same token, if you are engaging in social networking online,
you have to stay focused. Don’t get distracted by all of the posts. Do your work
first. Thank your referral partners, influencers, and testimonial givers first.
Post you’re curated and authoritative post before socializing with your friends
and family.
(2) There is no such thing as “least effort, most
gained.
- In networking, most effort equals most
gained. Even when you have leverage, like when speaking to a crowd, you still have to be prepared. Cutting corners, skipping meetings, winging your short presentations, dressing
inappropriately, wearing wrinkled clothes, being late, etc., won’t help you be successful. Being successful requires effort. Not only right
effort, but attention to detail and consistent effort. There is no substitute for
serious effort.
(3) It's Not a Meeting, its Marketing – Remember, word of mouth
is marketing, not just a meeting. You have at least four opportunities at most networking
events to network with others. The first, open networking before the event begins.
The second is when you get to stand up and give your short presentation. The third
is when you are a spotlight speaker, and the fourth is after the networking event
where more open networking takes place. Don’t waste any of your marketing opportunities.
(4) Everyone is not your potential referral partner
or client
- Another myth about networking is that you have the potential to pass referrals
to every business in the group and likewise also receive business from everyone
in the group. The reality is you can probably do lots of business (about 70% of
your referrals, passed and received) with only a few members of the group. This
is usually a select few, around seven people that you meet regularly with. The rest
of the group will at best provide about 30% of your referrals (both passed and received.)
Even if you have a product or service that “is used by all”, it doesn’t mean they
are your potential client or referral partners. They may already have pre-existing
relationships that will preclude them from doing business with you. The only way
to find out for sure is to put in the time necessary to meet all the members of
your group and explore how you can help each other.
(5) Meeting with people one on one is the best way
to get more referrals. Listening to
other short presentations and discussing current
needs during open networking is helpful, but it’s no substitute for a one on one
face to face meeting to explore how you can help each other. The face to face meetings
also need to be focused both on education and on learning what's important to each
of the parties present. You not only have to learn about each other’s businesses,
you also have to learn what drives each of you to get up in the morning, what motivate
each of you to succeed. Both the business education and the personal motivators
need to be explored if you really want to help each other. Lastly, it’s important
to learn about the personal aspect of your referral partner’s lives. Things like
their kids and spouse’s name, hobbies and past times they like to engage in. Learning
these aspects and then taking them into account when interacting with your partners
also helps to strengthen the relationship. This is why I think so many sales are
made during golf outings.
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(6) There are many Networking Skills that need to
be mastered.
- Being skilled at working a room or presenting will not take you to the top two
percent of all Networkers. You need to have a givers mindset to start with and a
willingness to do whatever it takes. You also need to learn other skills as well. First, you also have to have good communication
and selling skills. I don’t mean closing tricks or techniques, but solid business
consulting, listening and solution-designing skills. You also need to ask for the
order. Another way of giving is being active in the management and production of
the network itself. What I am referring to here is being active in the group’s leadership.
Serving the group gives you more visibility, and this can eventually lead to more
referrals. However, doing a poor job in a leadership position can also lead to less
business as well.
(7) Specific is Terrific. - When presenting at a
meeting or online, being specific will increase your results drastically. If you’re
asking for a referral, being specific can be the difference between failure and
success. It can mean the difference between an easy qualified referral and a referral
that not only is a lead, it’s a bad lead. Being specific is most effective when
you have already built trust among the members of a networking group. However, it
can also help you find what you need when posting on your social networks. I often
see Networkers ask for a specific referral by name and then another members of that
network respond by saying, “I can connect you with that person.” This is very common
in BNI and on LinkedIn. By the same token, if you post a question asking for help
with a specific issue on a social network you will almost always get that help.
Even if you’re asking for one more sale to reach your goal. Again, this assumes
you have taken the time to build trusting relationships with your social networks.
(8) Practice Improves Performance. - You would never pay a radio station or TV company
to “just wing” your commercials. So why do
so many Networkers’ just wing it when doing their short presentations? Spend time
every week writing down and practicing aloud your short presentation. This should
be a “Must Do” item on your networking checklist. I spend about 20 minutes writing
out my 60-second presentation for BNI. Once
written, I then practice saying it aloud. I then practice it again the night before
and the morning of the meeting, each and every week. Practice is an easy way to
improve your performance. Don’t be lazy, the practice will improve your ability
to get more referrals.
(9) One-sized Presentation don’t fit all Networks. - Every Networker needs
to create and practice a 30-second, a 60-second, a two-minute, a five-minute, and
even a 15-minute presentation. There are many networking opportunities and each
group has its own rules. Being prepared gives you a leg up on the competition when
it comes to building your credibility among the other members. By having these five
different presentations ready to go at all times, you will be able to step in with
short notice and take advantage of more speaking opportunities.
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(11) To be the best, you have to PROVIDE the best. – Always deliver the best
product or service you’re capable of for the money being paid. Most companies provide “just good enough” products
or services for the money they receive. Exceeding your customers' expectations should
be your goal. I’m not saying to give away the farm, but to be considered the best,
you have to provide the best. This, however, does not mean you charge the most for
your product or services. It means you provide the best value for the money spend.
People shop value not price. Be more valuable!
(12) Networking as a team works best. - When attending networking
events, it’s best to team up with another referral partner where you both know each
other’s objectives; this allows you to “split the room” to work it more efficiently.
Let each team member know who you're looking to be introduced to and vice versa,
be ready to help your partners find their and introduce prospects to them. I generally
set a goal of finding one or two new prospects/referral partners every 10 to 20
minutes. My goal is not to sell anyone anything but instead to set up meetings at
a later date to have a more meaningful conversation that allows us to find mutual
benefit.
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(14) Always bring your networking tools with you. Never attend a networking
event without a name badge, something to write with, your business cards, a list
of potential prospects, and a how can I help you attitude. On the social media side,
always make sure your profile is complete, answer all engaged followers, help all
influencer and provide useful, relevant and
timely content, preferable your own authoritative material daily.
(15) You should calculate what your time is worth. - If you understand the
time value of
money, you can better measure how effective you are when spending
your time at networking events. You can come up with this figure in many ways. I
look at my annual production rate in dollars and divide it by the number of working
hours that I spent to produce that dollar amount. Some people take their annual
pay and divided it by the amount of time they spend networking. Others look at the
total cost of networking activities (including drive time, parking fees, meal, meeting
fees and organization fee, etc.), add that to the hourly value of time they spend
networking to come up with a figure. If you do this exercise you will realize the
word of mouth and social media networking are not free. First of all, it’s not cheap
because there are hard cost (membership fees, meal fees, parking and other travel
cost), and lastly they actually consume a considerable amount of time and energy
(which also equals money)! That means you have to be efficient as a Networker, otherwise
you’re throwing your money away. This will make you understand the importance of
delivering a polished and practiced short presentation. It will make you realize
the value of effectively engaging in meaningful one to one meetings. It will also
make it perfectly clear the value of leveraging your long presentations when you
get to deliver your message to a large group of networking enthusiast.
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In this article
I have provided 15 specific Social Networking Secrets & Best Practices that
will elevate your social networking performance to new levels. These 15 best practices
will provide the reader with an effective way to increase their networking efficiency
and improve their social networking effectiveness. Yes it will help you get more
referrals. It shows how teamwork, practice and planning can mean the difference
between coming up empty handed and walking away with several referrals and new referral
partners.
That’s my opinion.
I look forward to hearing yours.
This
article is a part of a three part series. I recommend reading parts one and two as well to
make sure you get
the big picture along with fine detail. If you found this article useful please
share it with your friends, family and co-workers. If you have a comment or a different
opinion, join the conversation by adding it to the comment section below. I recommend
checking out "Six Cardinal Rules of Social Media Success"
or "Seven Secrets of Social Media Magnets",
“12 Secrets of Social Media Success
“ and "How to Win Friends and Influence People in
the 21st Century.". You can also search for other related
articles by typing in “word of mouth or social networking” in the search box at
the top of this blog.
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Hector Cisneros
is a partner, COO and Social Media Director for the award-winning, Internet-based marketing firm, Working the Web to Win,
in Jacksonville, FL. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube. He’s also the co-host
of BlogTalkRadio’s “Working the Web to Win,” where he
and Working the Web to Win’s co-founder, Carl Weiss, make working the web
to win simple for every business. He's a published author of three
books, "60 Seconds to Success"(available
at Amazon and B&N), and "Internet
Marketing for the 21st Century," which you can get by filling
out the form above. He’s also the co-author of the new book, “Working The Web to Win,” which is now available on Amazon.com.
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