Business networking requires skill, determination, and patience, especially if you intend to attract noteworthy results over an appropriate period. The majority of new business owners spend so much time questioning whether they are sinking enough time and resources into their business networking efforts that they rarely take the time to understand where they might be failing and how their mistakes might be affecting their networking goals.
+Business Networking Mistakes to Avoid
Mistakes are fairly common in the networking arena, especially among new business persons, still attempting to find their footing in their respective markets. For the most part, mistakes can prove to be quite the powerful teaching tool, especially if one takes the time to learn from them, those most prominent mistakes inundating the business networking field including the following
-Failing to create a plan
All areas of business require proper planning and strategizing to deliver the required results, and networking is no different. A considerable number of individuals embark on their networking ambitions before even setting any goals or determining what they intend to achieve out of their networking efforts or even figuring out the practical steps they will have to take to bring about their intended objectives.
Taking the time to organize one’s business networking efforts, creating a plan that sets out your intentions and operations can work wonders for your business.
-Attending networking events to get clients
Certainly the objective of most businesses is to attract clients; however, you would be remiss to attend business events with the intention of converting every curious guest into a loyal customer. You are bound to irritate your audience as opposed to endearing yourself and your brand to them.
Networking events provide an opportunity for business persons, not to sell their wares to people, but to make connections. The right people might not purchase your products, but they could send clients your way, but only if you take the time to develop relationships with them.
-Expecting Immediate results
Few elements in business are as destructive as an over-zealous attitude. People that engage in business networking with the aim of achieving results overnight rarely recover from the heavy blow of disappointment. The number of people that become disillusioned with networking after attending an event or two is surprisingly large.
The fact that you failed to sell anything of worth (or simply couldn’t gain any useful leads) doesn’t mean you failed in your endeavors. Networking is a long-term game. Creating stable relationships with people takes time, and, more often than not, you are working to acquire contacts that might not serve you for quite a long while.
Those individuals that attempt to craft quick shortcuts to the top are often the first to give up; which is a shame because, when done right, networking strategies almost always deliver on the goals for which they were initiated.
-Selling at every opportunity
Beginners in the networking arena have a tendency to treat each interaction at an event as an opportunity to make a sale. Beginning every conversation by launching your sales pitch will not win you any friends or contacts.
Seasoned professionals understand the importance of injecting friendly conversation into every encounter, the idea being to build trust with your target, making them more amenable to your message when the time to discuss your business comes around.
Because networking is such a powerful and effective tool, one is always encouraged to persevere even through these mistakes and more, if only to acquire the experience needed to masterfully spread the word about their business in the future.
