How’s your networking working? Better if you follow the rules.

/in , /by

I went to a networking meeting last week hosted by a formal networking organization called Business Network International.

Many of you know this group. They have meetings all over the world. This particular chapter meeting was in New York City, and is populated by sophisticated business people who are on fire.

NOTE WELL: NYC business people, in general, take no prisoners. This BNI chapter takes no amateurs. And their meetings are exceptionally well structured.

I went as a guest – without an agenda – just to meet people and provide value.

HISTORY: I began my networking career more than 25 years ago, so I consider myself a relatively sophisticated meeting attendee. This particular meeting is a pure networking group, rather than a social networking event, like a Chamber of Commerce meeting or an association meting.

The group predominantly meets to give business and get business. My interest was to meet new people, and observe how the meeting was run.

Before we get too deep into BNI and the NYC group, I’d like to review some networking imperatives in case you’re about to go to one of these meetings.

NOTE WELL: Most people take networking for granted, and think of it more as a place to meet friends and clients rather than capture an opportunity. They also fail to realize that people, whether you know them or not, are cultivating an impression of you – not just about you look like, but also based on how you act and how you dress.

Your physical presence, your physiology, and your communication prowess can determine whether the outcome is business or no business.

These are my top 9.5 rules for achieving positive and profitable networking results:
1. I shake and look. When I shake someone’s hand, it’s a firm grasp and a direct look in the eye.
2. I smile. Even in New York City. I found that by giving smile, I get a smile.
3. I ask before I tell. Whether I ask for their name, or a simple “how are you?” I want to hear the other person before they hear me.
4. I give before I get. I have always tried to make connections for others before I ask for one myself.
5. I don’t make small talk. I make big talk. I don’t want to talk about the weather. I want to talk about life and business life.
6. I want to make certain that I take a ‘next step’ if the opportunity is there. Anything from a simple exchange of business cards, to a cup of coffee, to an office meeting, to an invite to a social event, I want to make sure that my objective is achieved before I leave to talk to the next person.
7. Known or unknown? That is the question. I prefer to invest the majority of my networking time with people that I do not know. The reason is that I tend to make small talk with people that I know, and bigger talk with people that I don’t know. My personal rule has always been, small talk leads to small business or no business, and big talk leads to big business, or the opportunity for big business.
8. I like everyone and qualify no one. If you like people, it’s likely they will like you back. If you try to qualify people (by asking them questions about money or circumstance), their guard will go up.
9. Every connection need not be a sale. Make friends, build rapport, and provide value to everyone without prejudging or qualifying them. I refer to it as: “the rule of you never know.” And “you never know” has no time limit. Sometimes “you never know” happens in a week, and sometimes it happens 5 years later. That’s why it’s called “you never know.”
9.5 I am brief. Time allocation at a networking event is not an option. If there are 60 people in the room and the meeting lasts for one hour, you have 1 minute per person if you want to meet everyone. If you take 5 minutes with each person, you can only meet 12 people. The choice is yours, but be aware of time.

I’ve just given you the parameters, the guidelines, and the rules that I have personally been following for 25 years. There are other rules and you can find them in my Little Black Book of Connections, but these are the major ones that will make connections, make appointments, build relationships, and ultimately make sales.

Next week I am going to talk about why the BNI meeting was incredible, and how you can learn from it. Stay tuned.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

New Markets: Why Leaving Your Comfort Zone Is A Good Idea

/in /by

As a business owner, you will doubtless have particular markets that you sell your wares to. For instance, let’s say that you run a bicycle store. Your target market will be people that want to cycle for leisure and competition purposes.

You might have thought about targeting different audiences. Like people that want a bespoke bicycle, for example. Or those that want to buy recycled bicycles. You might have even thought about offering a vintage bicycle restoration service.

Of course, those new markets might sound lucrative, in theory. But how do you know that they will be in practice?

New Markets: Why Leaving Your Comfort Zone Is A Good Idea
Photo courtesy of Joe Mabel

As someone that runs a business, you will be used to taking risks. Entering your existing marketplace was a risk you took when you first set up your enterprise. But if you want to branch out, it makes sense to leave your comfort zone to help grow your business. Here’s why:

You don’t want your competitors to grow quicker than you

If you’ve thought about branching out into a particular niche, chances are your competitors will have too. That’s why it is important to strike while the iron is hot, as it were. The last thing you want is to be known as a follower. You want to be known as a leader!

Competition can often be quite tough, depending on your market and location. The business world doesn’t wait around for people to make decisions. One of the crucial facts of running a successful company is being willing to adapt to changing market conditions.

You want to earn more money by innovating and pioneering

If you find that you will generate more revenue in a particular niche, it’s best to establish yourself in that niche first. Otherwise, you could find yourself competing with a plethora of established businesses. And we all know how tough that can be!

Take Issa Asad from Florida, for example. When he first started in business, he introduced the concept of takeaway food to gas stations. Now every gas station around the world is doing the same thing! He also pioneered the prepayment PIN concept for mobile phone purchases.

You want to expand into new areas

My mother always used to tell me never to “keep all my eggs in one basket.” That rings true in the business world. The only reason today’s successful firms thrive is because they offer a varied choice of products and services.

It’s no secret that, in some industries, pinning your hopes on one flagship product or service can soon lead to failure. Consumers love innovation and will always flock to buy the “next big thing.” It’s your job to come up with that next big thing!

You want to create simple solutions to common problems

We all buy stuff because we want solutions to our daily problems in life. If we’re hungry, we buy food. If our car’s low on gas, we buy petrol. And so on.

Sometimes there are strategies for solutions you’ve identified that make it easier for people to solve their problems. But if you just stick to what you do now, you’ll never have a chance to grab that opportunity!

Leadership Inspiration – Purchasing the Future

/in /by

StrategyDriven Inspirational Quote“The future is purchased by the present.”

Dr. Samuel Johnson
(1709 – 1784)
English poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer

Take Charge of Your Meetings!

/in /by

Meetings are essential for any business. They give everyone an opportunity to share ideas and be kept up-to-date on important information. However, all too often, poor communication can turn a meeting into a drawn-out, ineffective waste of time. There are several techniques that you can master to transform your communication skills and conduct your meetings like the effective business leader you are. Here are five tips to help you transform your meetings from a waste of time to an effective meeting of the minds:

  1. Speech skills matter! It doesn’t matter how intelligent or innovative your ideas are if no one can understand you. Many people speak more quickly when they’re excited or nervous, which decreases the clarity of their speech. Keep tabs on your rate of speech and make sure you’re not running your words together. Also, enunciate all of the letters in each word, especially the sounds at the ends of words. Missing the final sound of a word can change the meaning entirely and cause confusion.
  2. Speak up: One of the biggest issues in a group setting is miscommunication. If you don’t fully understand someone’s point or miss part of what has been said, speak up and ask questions. Even if it doesn’t seem critical at the time, misunderstandings can be a big waste of time and energy in the long run, and odds are if you are confused, so is someone else. Asking questions and requesting clarification can go a long way towards avoiding long-term misunderstandings.
  3. Remember the two ‘C’s: When speaking in a business meeting, don’t forget to be clear and concise. Remember that the main point of a meeting is communicating information, not trying to impress your colleagues with your oratory skills or large vocabulary. Before you speak, think about what you are going to say and make sure you’re making your point in the shortest, most direct way possible.
  4. Make sure no one dominates the conversation: Everyone has different communication styles and different levels of comfort about talking in a meeting environment. Unfortunately, this can often lead to one or two outspoken individuals dominating the meeting, causing an imbalance in the conversation. While you don’t want to discourage open speech, it’s important to maintain some balance for an effective flow of communication and ideas. If you feel someone has dominated a topic, politely move the conversation along by saying something like, “It sounds like you have some great ideas, and I’d love to chat about them later, but unfortunately we’re a bit short on time right now so we need to move on.”
  5. Be a good listener: Often people are so focused on how they can contribute to the conversation and sound intelligent, they spend their time internally planning what they want to say instead of listening to the person who is actually speaking. This can result in missing key information and misunderstandings. Not only is it essential to really listen, but also to visually communicate to the speaker that you’re listening. Sit up straight, look directly at the speaker, and maintain eye contact. Never fiddle with your phone or check your e-mail or messages; this is not only rude, but gives the impression you’re mentally checked out of the meeting. Now and then, nod to show that you understand. These are all ways to let the speaker know that you are really listening. Remember, you listen with your whole body, not just your ears!

About the Author

Jayne LatzJayne Latz is an expert in communication and CEO of Corporate Speech Solutions, LLC. She has worked as a speech trainer, coach, professional speaker, and has co-authored two books titled, Talking Business: A Guide to Professional Communication and Talking Business: When English is Your Second Language. She was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal and on The TODAY Show.

If you are interested in learning more ways to improve your business communication skills, contact Jayne at [email protected] or visit www.corporatespeechsolutions.com.

Corrective Action Program Best Practice 14 – Establish Time Limits for Causal Analyses

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program ArticleDetermining the amount of time required for performing causal analyses is a balancing act. The depth of issue investigation should align with its significance. Consequently, more significant events require additional time to perform the more detailed causal analysis assigned to them. Countering this is the urgency to understand and correct the underlying causes of more significant events as well as to put into place those barriers that will prevent their recurrence. Thus, it is important to establish time limits for causal analysis performance that effectively balance these two opposing needs.

Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Subscribe Now!

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

 Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Corrective Action Program Best Practice 14 – Establish Time Limits for Causal Analyses for just $2!

Access the Article Now!

About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.