I recently did a presentation on the Value of Networking and thought I would share it here.

First of all BE YOURSELF People buy from people they like and so being sincere and natural allows others to get to know and most importantly trust you.

BE INTERESTED Showing interest, listening and asking questions of those you meet will make them feel valued. Make sure you understand what their business is about.

BE HONEST People need to feel comfortable and establish TRUST before they commit to working with you or referring you to colleagues, friends and other businesses and even family.

DO what we say we are going to do. It demonstrates our integrity and confirms we mean what we say. Do it when we say we will because timing is important, in fact vital when building trust. Do help people unconditionally without strings attached such as leaving them feeling they owe us something.
HAVE faith in the power of reciprocation – help first and trust that we will be helped, the more we help, people notice and value us.

HAVE PATIENCE be a relationship farmer and not a hunter/stalker. For example farmers invest in time, energy and resources for the long term and gain a bigger return over a longer period. Hunters target, catch or kill their prey and need to keep repeating this task.

HAVE TIME FOR PEOPLE because everyone matters. Treat everyone with respect and be courteous. We never know who the contacts we meet whilst networking know and we judge people at our peril.

Committing to networking practices as above provides opportunities to pick up ideas and establish strong business relationships to grow your business and leaves you well respected and well connected.