When you go to a networking event have you taken time out of your busy schedule, spent money on the ticket and driven half way across town because (i) you want to find someone to SELL you something? or (ii) because you are looking for new clients and more business?When I ask this question at networking events more than 95% of people tell me the second. Fair enough too - networking is an investment in growing your business and it should provide a positive return on investment. But therein lies the problem. Look at it this way - if everybody is there to sell and nobody is there to buy - who is going to have their goals met? So how do you create a WIN WIN outcome?
Networking is all about the WIFT NOT the WIFM.
Networking is about building long term WIN-WIN relationships NOT about making a quick sale. Who are you the most likely to want to do business with on an ongoing basis or to refer a valued client or colleague to? The person who was only interested in your problems so they could sell you something, or the person who was genuinely interested in finding out more about you and your business and who cared about the problems and issues you were facing?
So the next time you are at a networking event why not try focussing on the WIFT (What’s In It For Them). Instead of telling people you meet about your business, what you do and how you could help them or their clients and colleagues, find out about THEM.
Networking is about building long term WIN-WIN relationships NOT about making a quick sale. Who are you the most likely to want to do business with on an ongoing basis or to refer a valued client or colleague to? The person who was only interested in your problems so they could sell you something, or the person who was genuinely interested in finding out more about you and your business and who cared about the problems and issues you were facing?
So the next time you are at a networking event why not try focussing on the WIFT (What’s In It For Them). Instead of telling people you meet about your business, what you do and how you could help them or their clients and colleagues, find out about THEM.
Ask them about:
• what they do
• what makes their business special
• who their target market is
• what their goals are and what challenges they are currently facing in their business
• what they are hoping to achieve from the networking event.
And most importantly don’t do it from a perspective of looking for an opening for getting in there with what you have to offer. When you ask questions be genuinely interested in their answers. Look for ways that you may be able to help them, perhaps ways you could work together to grow both of your businesses, people you know that you could connect them with to help solve their problems.
If they do have a problem that your products or services could help them solve the networking event is NOT the time to go into sales mode. Ask for their card and follow up with them later.
Try it next time – you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.
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