Leadership Viewpoint

Networking with colleagues has long been key to small business success. Hence the saying, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” Building and nurturing key relationships is common sense, yet many people have no idea how to do it well. They stuff their sales materials or business cards into strangers’ hands, thinking that they are out making connections. It’s more likely that their outcome will be rejection, yet they persist, learning painfully slowly. Recently our Northern New Jersey ASTD chapter held a meeting where numerous consultants tried to find their way into corporate offices via pushy and inappropriate ploys. It did not end well.

Appropriate networking involves real relationship building, and a genuine providing of value. Of the various books on the subject, my favorite is a simple read by Bob Burg, Endless Referrals. In it, he expounds on the simple concept that people do business with those that they “know, like and trust”. Bob takes you through constructive ways to build those connections so that people really can come to trust you and do business with you. He even includes a series of questions that are trust-building, making the process easy, even for a shy person. Read it for lots of usable tips.

Perhaps the most important key to successful networking is to enter relationships prepared to ‘give’ of yourself. Too many people arrive looking for what they can ‘get’ from their mark. Arrive instead with ideas, services, etc. that you can give away without any quid pro quo. In fact, the payback is likely to come down the road, often from unexpected sources.

The computerized networking sites, like LinkedIn and Xing, may change the face of networking among certain circles in the long-term. While they are a good way of identifying people that your friends and colleagues know, it is unclear as to their usefulness in making real business connections long-term.

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