5 Effective Ways To Get More From Your Business Networking

Either you run the day or the day runs you.
Jim Rohn

Take Charge of Your Networking Today!

The networking of your business should never be outsourced to an outside agency.

To gain lasting value from your business networking, you need to develop the skills in-house.

The range of networking responsibilities include public relations, relationship management, advertising, marketing, and departmental collaboration. Two of the most powerful campaigns you need to focus on are referral strategies and word-of-mouth advertising.

Here are 5 ways to start taking charge of your networking campaigns:

1. Expand Your Networking with Events

The key to getting the word out about your business is to get involved with events and organisations where you can develop stronger business relationships.

Make it a point to attend in at least two networking events every month. Once you attend these meetings, you have to make a commitment to follow up with anyone that you met at these seminars. Networking is vital for growing your customer base, and the biggest mistake you can make as far as networking is not following up after the meetings are over. This one area could have a huge positive effect on your business.

2. Build Relationships Consistently

In order to effectively grow your base, you need to reach out to those people that you met at least twice a week.

It might seem like a lot to make two calls each to every person you connected with, but in order to grow and maintain these relationships you have to be willing to put in the time. If you are too busy to stay in touch with these contacts, how can you possibly expect that relationship to grow?

Make time each week to make these personal calls, regardless how short they might be. These calls will help to grow the relationship and strengthen the bond in this business relationship.

3. Use Cards To Connect in a Personal Way

During the course of the year, you need to stay in touch with these contacts in other ways. If you were lucky enough to get their birthday, send out a card in the mail.

Send postcards to just say you are thinking about them. Mail greeting cards for the holidays, and don't just do like everyone else and hit the big holidays. Mix it up a little and really grab their attention by sending out a little card for Halloween, Labor Day, Anzac Day, and Christmas! If you have fallen out of contact with certain clients, try to reconnect by sending them postcards with an offer to reconnect in the near future.

4. Grow & Maintain Your Database

As the person in charge of networking, you need to guard your database of contacts like it was gold.

This database is your key to connecting with all these individuals.

Whether you have all the information in a binder, postcards, or an online program, it must be something you can access easily and that is well organized. If need to reach out to an individual quickly, these contacts need to be organized in a way that is optimised. A good database management software can explode your referral system. Here you can lists contacts that are connected to your contacts, to help you reach people higher up on the business ladder.

5. Learn the Power of Thank You

The power of the thank you cannot be understated.

If someone took the time to refer you to a client, they do assume you are grateful. That should not be taken for granted. You need to make an effort to thank them in a unique way.

Understand that this new customer could generate a significant amount of money for your business, the least you can do is find time to thank the referral with more than a simple email.

This person has feelings just like everyone else, and by taking the time to acknowledge what they did for you, you give them reason to want to do it again in the future. If they feel like their efforts made an impact and they were rewarded for it, they are more likely to help you more in the future.

The thank you is the simplest thing to do, but it will have the biggest overall impact long-term in your marketing efforts. 

These simple networking tips are not too difficult to implement. If you set aside a small amount of time each week you can easily pull off the job as head networker in your company.

ARE YOUR UTILISING THE POWER OF NETWORKING TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS?

At Roundhouse, we understand that every successful business is built upon successful relationships. We work closely with every client on a 'one to one' basis and strive to serve their needs and exceed expectations. Our goal is to build proactive relationships for the long term. To learn more about how to use networking to grow your business, please get in touch.

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