CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: The Trouble with Networking Events......

Connecting Is Not Enough by Andy Lopata

Last month a member of the Business Matters Magazine Facebook Group posed a question.

“Networking events…….do they work?”

The questioner went on to explain, “Over the past year I have been overwhelmed by the volume of networking events that have been shoveled through my letter box but I have had a busy time so attending has not been a priority.

“Now times for business development are key, so what is the verdict on networking events to increase business?”

In the last column I discussed the problem of people attending networking events and joining groups because of an invitation, without a clear outcome in mind. This person has been inundated with invitations and is now asking the question, should I be going along?

In a similar forum recently, another contributor asked whether they should pay £500 ($700) for membership of a networking group. To him, it seemed to be too expensive.

The lack of a clear outcome that I discussed last month is building increasing disillusion with networking events, at a time when businesses need them more than ever. Visit any number of forums and you will find similar questions to the ones above, coupled with complaints about meeting people trying to sell at events, meeting the wrong type of people,

There can be little doubt that networking, whether formal or otherwise, plays a key role in the sustainability and long term of success of most businesses, particularly during tough economic times. Yet, as we have already explored, people are missing out by making the wrong choices and adopting the wrong behavior.

So how do you make the right decision? To which group or events should you devote your networking energies and how does price reflect quality?

It all depends on what you want to achieve. At the moment, networking groups seem to be defined either by whether they are online or offline or, alternatively, by the time of day they meet. While useful categories for identifying which networks are convenient for you to involve yourself with, and to which you can commit, they don’t necessarily help you make the right business decision.

To decide which networking group you want to join and whether membership will be expensive or tremendous value for money, you need to have a clear vision of what success will look like from your membership. What, in other words, is going to be your return on investment?

Any other business purchase tends to be accompanied by the question, ‘what value will this add to the business?’. There is no reason why networking should be any different.

First of all, focus on what your goals are. What do you want to achieve from your membership? The type of group that will suit you will vary depending on whether you are looking for peer group support, referrals, to enhance your industry knowledge or simply getting out of your ‘cave’ and meeting other business people.


There are a wide range of reasons why people network. Some of them people recognise beforehand, such as lead generation, in other cases, people find themselves enjoying the benefits passively. A proactive, considered approach to gaining these benefits can make a huge difference.

Take a sheet of paper and split it into four columns. In the left hand column, write down the ten major areas you need to see improve, either in your business or personally. Where do you struggle? Where do you need help?

Now in the second column, by each area of improvement, ask yourself how other people can help you achieve that goal. For example, if you have written down ‘more business’ in the left hand column, you might write ‘referrals’ alongside.

You now have a clearer idea of how networking can help you than beforehand, and that should help you pick the right group but we still want to know what your return on investment will be.

How many of these improvements can you place a value on? In the third column, write down the difference such an improvement would mean to you. Quantify it where possible; if you can’t put it in words. What would it allow you to do that you can’t now? What would it mean to your personal life? How would it affect your emotional state?

You now have a tool that will help you measure a network’s effectiveness for you, understand what success will look like from that network and, importantly, help you select the right network for you.

Instead of defining networks by their time of day or whether they are online or face to face, I split business networks into three categories:





The categories overlap, most networking groups will deliver more than one benefit. But the key is that you can look at each group and recognise what the key benefit they will deliver is. For example, BNI is a referral-building network. You will learn and get peer support (Brain Building) from BNI Chapters and your profile will grow as people talk about you but their primary focus is on generating referrals.

In contrast, events which focus around people from the same industry tend to be more focused on Brain Building, whether through learning, best practice sharing or mutual support. Despite this, my membership of the Professional Speakers Association of the UK over the last five years has provided me with some of my strongest referrals sources. It is, however, still primarily a Brain-Building network for me.

With this in mind, look at the needs and goals you have written down and ask yourself which networks will best help you achieve them? In the fourth column, write down ‘Profile’ ‘Brain’ or ‘Referral’ by each need.




You should now have a clear idea of which types of network will suit you best and where you should focus your time. Look at which types crop up more than the others, look at the value of meeting that need to you in terms of prioritizing where you spend your time.

Now when you look at the invitations you receive, you have questions you can ask the organizers.

“This is what I want to achieve from my networking, how will membership of your group help me achieve those goals?”

“What would I have to do within the network to ensure that I can achieve the return I’m looking for?”

You are much better placed now to ask the right questions and select the network that will work for you. And when you look at the cost of the network, it falls into perspective.

After all, if the need you have identified is met from membership, and if the value of meeting that need is worth £100,000 to you, will £500 seem so expensive?

The trouble with networking doesn’t lie in the events and groups themselves. They offer so much potential to businesses who, currently in particular, need that support.

The trouble lies with the lack of planning that prevents attendees and members realizing that potential.

Are you struggling to put an effective networking or referral strategy into place? Do you want to know more about how to ensure you get the maximum possible return from your networking?
Andy's new Audio programme 'Networking in Ninety Minutes' will give you the tools you need to make the most from your networking. Available in CD or mp3 format here.

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CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: The Trouble with Networking Events......

CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: The Need for a Strategic Approach to Networking

Connecting is Not Enough with Andy Lopata

It is something that we all swear by......but too many of us swear at.

It is something that we all recognise……but too many of us fail to understand.

It is something that offers us so much potential…...which too few of us manage to realise.

Some years ago, when I was the Managing Director of Business Referral Exchange, a national business network, one of our members, a bank manager, gave up his membership after a year.

“It’s been a complete waste of time”, he confided to his fellow group members. “I’ve only had six switchers from the group.” (A ‘switcher’ is a banking term in the UK for someone moving their account from a competitor to your bank.)

When this story reached me, I started asking contacts in banking what they felt a reasonable return would be from a year’s membership of one of our groups. I asked other business managers in the same bank. I asked business managers in other banks. I asked senior management figures in banking as well. They all shared the same view.

A reasonable return on investment for membership of such a group would be three switchers in a year. That figure would justify membership.

That’s right….three. Half of the figure the resigning member had achieved. He felt that his membership had been a “waste of time”, despite doubling what many agreed was a reasonable return of his investment. Why was this the case?

The answer would appear to be quite simple. The bank manager had not worked out what his return on investment should be. Quite simply, he didn’t know what success would look like.

This is all too common a problem. From talks across the UK at networking groups and events I have recognised two important factors that will prevent many businesses getting the most from their networking.

1 – Most people attend networking events or sign up to online networks because they are invited to do so.

2 – Most people join networks because they like the ‘buzz’, see a lot of activity or see other people winning business.

Neither of these are sound business sense. Neither suggests a purpose to membership, and that’s a major problem. Joining networks based on invitations and buzz does not lead to the right behaviour within the network. So many people go through the motions, with no thought to the outcome.

At a recent networking event I was talking to a slightly inebriated young lady who worked for a charity. She was there with a couple of colleagues and they were having a good time.

There’s nothing wrong with that of course; other than the fact that this was a networking event which offered them a tremendous opportunity to make some valuable connections.

“We don’t want to network!” she told me. “We’re from a homeless charity. What have we got to offer?”

Reading between the lines, I would think that her boss had sent the team along in the hope that they would spread the word of the charity and discover opportunities for partnerships and collaboration. But had that been communicated clearly to the team? The failure to communicate clear objectives allowed the team to push their own fears and self-doubts to the front of their minds, and gave them an excuse to focus on the abundance of drink rather than the abundance of conversation.

“You must go and network” is a common cry. The only problem is that it’s rarely followed by the question, “Why?”. People network blind, participating because others tell them that it’s a good thing to do, losing faith because they don’t know why they are there.

This is why so many people in business look down their noses at networking. Their experiences haven’t been positive. They picture small business owners desperately trying to sell to each other, the trepidation of walking into a room full of strangers, the frustration of not finding customers, This lack of understanding leaves people writing networking off, rather than looking at how they can make it work for themselves.

Over the coming months, this is a perception I want to try to change. My challenge is to encourage you to look at networking from different angles. My goal is to encourage you to set your goals from networking, know what you want to achieve, develop a strategy and measure the results.

The more focused we all are in our networking, the more we stand to benefit. Going to events with purpose, participating online with clarity and contributing to groups with vision will benefit all of us.

Looking at the wider picture can make a massive difference to our businesses as well. I want to move our understanding of networking away from a sales-based activity focused on events and specific websites and towards recognition of the benefits of collaboration, learning, peer support and knowledge sharing with connections from all backgrounds.

Networking is not just an activity for small business owners. It is an essential tool for leading politicians, the captains of industry, individuals within large firms and people looking for a new job.

As a business tool it needs to be considered and applied thoughtfully; allied to business goals with clear outcomes.

What I hope to demonstrate through this column is that networking is not just a numbers game. It’s not just about being at the event or what you do when you are there but why you are there in the first place.

Connecting is not enough. With the right approach, networking can be the most valuable tool your business possesses.


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Tune into Andy's weekly networking tips on yourBusinessChannel

___________________________________________________________

Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newsletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free, continuous RSS feed (available either by traditional RSS or by direct email), go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com. You are also invited to click our buttons:


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CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: The Need for a Strategic Approach to Networking