A few weeks ago, I attended a couple of networking events – one was the City of Houston’s Meet the Buyers and the other was a Contractors Association’s holiday party. During the City’s event, a business participant says to me, “Helen, I see you everywhere. You really get around. Can you introduce me to the lady who just spoke about the high-speed rail project?” And during the Contractors holiday social, one gentleman said, “Oh, oh…if Helen’s here, there must be money in the room and deals to make.”
Borrowing from Oprah’s famous line, here’s what I know for sure: Networking is an overused term and many business folks toss this term around without knowing when to show up and which events to attend that strategically aligns with their business plan.
Networking is a powerful marketing tool to produce the results you want versus simply collecting business cards that eventually become lost in your vehicle or worse, the cards collect dust on the corner of your office desk.
Serious networking needs to be strategic and targeted toward specific market opportunities where decision makers and influencers will be in attendance. To help you in honing your networking success, below are three proven tips.
- Identify and target ahead of time two or three key business opportunities that support your business goals
- Research which associations and events to attend including using Linkedin and Eventbrite that align with your business growth opportunities
- Plan, by placing on your calendar, which events you will attend on a consistent basis. Your plan should also include a before, during and post event strategy to make connections.
It may be challenging for some business leaders to determine which networking events to attend and below are some possibilities to consider.
Industry Associations – Trade organizations and professional associations are ideal places to network as decision makers often attend and participate as keynote speakers at events, sponsors, or receiving an award or like you attending workshops to maintain their certifications.
Chambers of Commerce – Being a member provides the best access to key influencers. If you are not a member, you can still attend and participate events as Chambers provide a wealth of information, resources and facilitate introductions into government and commercial markets. There are thousands of Chambers in the U.S. and worthwhile to visit their web sites and upcoming calendar of events.
Government | Institutional – Government agencies often have pre-bid and preproposal meetings that is a part of their procurement process and this is a guaranteed place where you will meet decision makers at the agency and in the industry. As a caution, this is not a time to talk with agency decision makers about anything specific about solicitation for which pre-bid is being held it is considered to a no contact period after a notice goes out about product or service being procured. Nevertheless, this is a great time to introduce your firm and make contacts for future opportunities.
Alumni Associations – Alumni associations are a treasure trove of contacts and attending alumni events can lead to gold contacts. Do your homework on Linkedin, alumni directory, etc. and reach out to your university alumni, trade school, high school or other similar organizations.
Volunteer for Non-Profit Organizations – Identify organizations that where you can offer some time, sponsorship, etc. Often Fortune 500 companies are involved in non-profits from the CEO level to key management, thereby, making it doubly worthwhile to attend events such as fundraising luncheons, awards banquets, etc. Make sure to see who sits on the non-profits board of directors to make sure you are using your time wisely and you are in alignment with your business plan. Note: Valuable relationships with influential people often occur from involvement in non-profits.
In conclusion, while showing up at networking events helps to market your business, there is a chance you may miss connecting with decision makers at events. When this happens, stay in the game and suggest that you send a nicely handwritten note to the person(s) you were hoping to meet. Doing this 9 out of 10 times, leads to a door opening.
If you have any ideas on what has successfully worked for your business in strategically networking, I welcome hearing your tips. You can connect with me at www.linkedin.com/HelenCallier
