Networking can be a great advantage when assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your offering to the market. In any market place to succeed you must have something that sets you apart, better customer service, a personal touch, better quality products, more competitive pricing or a quicker response time? Because, if there is no special difference between you and other providers, then people have no reason whatsoever to choose to work with you. All you are is what some people call a ‘me to’ company. As in we do that and we sell that, why should people use you over the competition? Look again at how you describe your business offering or yourself as a person, what's different or special compared with all the others?
If there is no difference, it is important for your long term prosperity that you find a way to create one.
Sometimes this is as simple restating or placing different emphasis on what you already are and already do.
Your difference must be something that plenty of people will find appealing. It is a killer if you can also make it irresistible. If you are struggling to find a difference or market advantage, look at your competitors and talk to your customers, and find out what's missing. Better still find out what can be improved to give you the edge. There is always something you can improve, often as simple as bundling two or three market advantages together.
This difference needs to shine out in your elevator speech, and be echoed in your subsequent discussions whenever initial interest develops towards supplying something, or putting a collaborative project together.
Always set your sights as high as possible when thinking about and expressing yourself and your aims. Remember though to be realistic, but aim to be the best and to lead in some way, in whatever specialism you operate in.
Your aims should also suggest what you are seeking from business networking - otherwise, there's no reason for you to be networking.
One of the 7 keys to successful networking are mutually beneficial one-to-one meetings, where each party gets something from the other. These can, if you are not careful turn into selling sessions. And as we know Networking is telling and NOT selling.
One-to-one meetings work best when you exchange information and connections. This is building a strong network through connections that are helpful for your aims.
Top-Tip Take your contact list with you when you next have a one-to-one and share your top three clients with your networking colleague.
Business networkers want to work with other networkers, especially those who are ambitions. It makes sense to align yourself with those who are going places. The sort of people who are always looking for things that will enhance their offering and help them grow. Sometimes called change, .but the end result is improved market offering.
These attitudes make things happen.
Isn’t it great to meet like-minded networkers, who you can share these attitudes with? Why, you know, your network will grow because they'll see you can make things happen too. So remember you have two ears and one mouth, please use them in that proportion and you will be successful.
Paul
Helping Real people do Real Business through Real networking
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