Avoid getting too personal too quickly. Allow relationships
to grow slowly and naturally. There may be a few people
who you instantly click with, but most relationships
will take time to develop.
Networking
is about building genuine relationships, based on
trust. Pay serious attention to the person you are
speaking to and ask questions, be interested in what
they say, regardless of whether or not you think they
could be a useful contact for you.
Always
have business cards to hand, but avoid giving them
out to just about everyone on first meeting them.
Don’t appear desperate; establish a reason for
giving them your business card first.
You
are likely to meet a number of contacts at a particular
property network meeting or event, so it can be a
good idea to write a short comment or note actions
on the backs of the business cards you receive. This
way you are certain to remember what you agreed to
do for each person.
Don’t
expect conversations at such events to last for the
entire evening, everyone in the room will be working
along the same lines as you and they also want to
meet as many people as they can in the limited time
allowed.
Don’t
just slip away when the conversation trails to an
end, it is important to bow out gracefully. It is
better to effectively bring the conversation to an
end by saying “Good to meet you” –
or even better by reinforcing any action that you
had agreed while talking – e.g. “I’ll
email you that article in the morning”. If you
do wish to move on, try not to make it too obvious.
One way of ending a conversation is to introduce the
person you are talking to, to somebody else in the
room. This means you can make a courteous exit. Another
way to politely end a conversation is to say something
like: “It’s been great talking to you,
good luck with that project you’re working on.”
In
order to build on your initial first contact and subsequent
discussions with someone and get the most out of your
property networking experience you need to dedicate
time to reinforce the trust you put the hard work
into establishing. The only way to build meaningful
business relationships is by following up any promises
made and keeping in touch. This shows that you are
dependable, responsive, organised and courteous.
If
you say you are going to do something for someone,
then it is essential that you follow through and keep
your promise.
•
Take immediate action following the initial meeting
or contact. The recipient will be pleasantly surprised
at your promptness, and confident that you are a person
of action.
•
Set up a reminder to yourself. Write a note on the
back of a business card, leave a voicemail message
for yourself, or send a text to complete the request.
•
Use email if you are passing on some simple piece
of information, such as a telephone number or a website
link or even just to say how much you enjoyed meeting
the person and are looking forward to meeting up again
soon
•
Follow-up your initial meeting with a telephone call
if you wish to discuss something in more detail
There is no point building your power team through
networking if you are not going to use it. You need
to be proactive in supporting the people you network
with, and in turn, accepting the support they offer.
Become a trusted source of information for your network.
Provide others with links, articles or tools that
you’ve found useful.
Attending
a property networking event can have a very positive
impact on you and your business and I would recommend
attending an event near you soon.
Don'f forget to check out www.mypropertypowerteam.co.uk/networking_networkingevents.asp
for an event near you this month
Mike
Clarke
