By Bruce Newman Mid-Atlantic Bureau Chief (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia)
I posed this question to subscribers of LinkedIn, my personal network, the companies and consultants at The Productivity Institute, and the subscribers of The National Networker and received many responses.
I also asked a friend of mine who is a very successful technical sales person. After asking the question, he looked at me with amazement in his eyes and exclaimed, “Of course you attend events and meet with a client or prospect. It’s the only way to gauge people and gain an understanding of their needs and motivations (and vice versa). Furthermore, you learn many things from them. For example, I found out about a golf game that I was able to join and interact with a very hard to reach executive”.
The responses I received to this question all agreed with this view; that even in our highly competitive and time-challenged workplace, it is still critical to attend events and meet with people. That despite the huge strides forward in technology, nothing replaces good eye contact and a warm handshake. One respondent stated that instead of meeting other people, we are desensitizing ourselves by being on the Internet and constantly creating text messages and emails. She felt that this enables us to maintain relationships but not create new ones or allow existing relationships to progress. Many respondents stated that attending events allowed them to meet new people and renew existing relationships, helping to ensure that their name and company name remain in the forefront.
However, there were caveats. Several people noted the increased number of networking opportunities that are currently available and the importance of being selective concerning which events or meetings to attend. Interestingly, many of them found the events to be unproductive, yet they still attend them.
Attending events is easy. Anyone can go to some event, pay their money (if necessary) and Poof!, they’re an attendee. That’s the easy part and where most people stop. Working an event is hard. Leo Goetz, who I interviewed for a prior article describes the need to actively work an event as being essential for success. He considers the trading of business cards as being passive and usually unproductive if that is the sole measure of the interaction.
What is needed is to realize that networking is an ongoing process that stretches from the initial contact stage through the development of a relationship. Creating a networking plan – complete with goals – in conjunction with a clear understanding of the purpose of an event is required for consistent success. Conversely, attending events unrelated to your area of interest or your goals helps explain why so many respondents cautioned against attending events just for the sake of attending events - and their frequent disappointment. Hope, at any time is important but rarely sufficient – and certainly not a reason to attend or keep on attending unrelated events. A networking plan also includes a rapid follow-up with almost every contact you make at an event since learning more about them and what they do helps build a relationship from which both parties can profit.
I have attended numerous events where I have told an individual or some company that I am interested in their product or service. And yet, more often than not they don’t contact me. Here’s a potential sale before them and they don’t act on it. Why attend or exhibit at an event if you’re not prepared and don’t take the necessary action?
Unfortunately, this passivity is all too common. An expert consultant hangs out a shingle and expects the world to come to him (or her). A company produces a great product but has no resources for marketing, blindly expecting a few announcements to produce enormous results. These actions represent hope – that’s important, but insufficient and unrealistic.
So, is attending events important? The almost unanimous answer appears to be, yes. The insightful answer is also yes, but only with a clear purpose and plan that allows an individual to focus on relevant and effective events while adhering to their plan's goals and actions. All of which explains the success of careful, active networkers and my friend, the technical salesperson.
Bruce Newman is a consulting guru and the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC (http://www.prodinst.com/) which provides prodinst by matching the specific software products and services needs of companies to rated outstanding consultants who can meet those needs. Any company that wishes to improve their productivity can sign up for this free service and be contacted by up to five rated outstanding consultants.
________________________________________________________
Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newletter, go to http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/.
I also asked a friend of mine who is a very successful technical sales person. After asking the question, he looked at me with amazement in his eyes and exclaimed, “Of course you attend events and meet with a client or prospect. It’s the only way to gauge people and gain an understanding of their needs and motivations (and vice versa). Furthermore, you learn many things from them. For example, I found out about a golf game that I was able to join and interact with a very hard to reach executive”.
The responses I received to this question all agreed with this view; that even in our highly competitive and time-challenged workplace, it is still critical to attend events and meet with people. That despite the huge strides forward in technology, nothing replaces good eye contact and a warm handshake. One respondent stated that instead of meeting other people, we are desensitizing ourselves by being on the Internet and constantly creating text messages and emails. She felt that this enables us to maintain relationships but not create new ones or allow existing relationships to progress. Many respondents stated that attending events allowed them to meet new people and renew existing relationships, helping to ensure that their name and company name remain in the forefront.
However, there were caveats. Several people noted the increased number of networking opportunities that are currently available and the importance of being selective concerning which events or meetings to attend. Interestingly, many of them found the events to be unproductive, yet they still attend them.Attending events is easy. Anyone can go to some event, pay their money (if necessary) and Poof!, they’re an attendee. That’s the easy part and where most people stop. Working an event is hard. Leo Goetz, who I interviewed for a prior article describes the need to actively work an event as being essential for success. He considers the trading of business cards as being passive and usually unproductive if that is the sole measure of the interaction.
What is needed is to realize that networking is an ongoing process that stretches from the initial contact stage through the development of a relationship. Creating a networking plan – complete with goals – in conjunction with a clear understanding of the purpose of an event is required for consistent success. Conversely, attending events unrelated to your area of interest or your goals helps explain why so many respondents cautioned against attending events just for the sake of attending events - and their frequent disappointment. Hope, at any time is important but rarely sufficient – and certainly not a reason to attend or keep on attending unrelated events. A networking plan also includes a rapid follow-up with almost every contact you make at an event since learning more about them and what they do helps build a relationship from which both parties can profit.
I have attended numerous events where I have told an individual or some company that I am interested in their product or service. And yet, more often than not they don’t contact me. Here’s a potential sale before them and they don’t act on it. Why attend or exhibit at an event if you’re not prepared and don’t take the necessary action?
Unfortunately, this passivity is all too common. An expert consultant hangs out a shingle and expects the world to come to him (or her). A company produces a great product but has no resources for marketing, blindly expecting a few announcements to produce enormous results. These actions represent hope – that’s important, but insufficient and unrealistic.
So, is attending events important? The almost unanimous answer appears to be, yes. The insightful answer is also yes, but only with a clear purpose and plan that allows an individual to focus on relevant and effective events while adhering to their plan's goals and actions. All of which explains the success of careful, active networkers and my friend, the technical salesperson.
Bruce Newman is a consulting guru and the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC (http://www.prodinst.com/) which provides prodinst by matching the specific software products and services needs of companies to rated outstanding consultants who can meet those needs. Any company that wishes to improve their productivity can sign up for this free service and be contacted by up to five rated outstanding consultants.
________________________________________________________
Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newletter, go to http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/.
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