Читать книгу Business Networking Simplified - Les Garnas - Страница 25

This reflective thinking process will help you to identify the networking partners who are most likely to help you achieve your personal goals. Sociologists point out that each of us knows 200 or more people who pass through our lives with some frequency, so you’ve got a pretty big pool of potential networking partners to start with. And as you learned earlier, the six-degrees-of-separation nature of the internet networking source LinkedIn gives you the ability to expand your associations through introductions by people you already know and people you don’t yet know. Add to this the ability to search LinkedIn associations by looking at companies and reverse-searching for people you know who are connected with people in those companies, and you could easily expand your network by another several hundred potential networking partners.

Once you have organized your contacts, connections and future contacts into a sort of networking genealogy you should have a road map on how to proceed with assurance that you are on the right track. Separate your networking universe into segments based on each segment’s level of importance to you now, in the near future, in the intermediate term, and in the long term.

For your immediate use, you should consider having a small but effective networking group of twenty-five to thirty people. The people whom you select should be close by so that you can interact face-to-face, to build familiarity and interest in each other. The rationale for keeping the group close by and manageable is simply this: If psychologically you think the group you want to work with is a “can do” opportunity, you will do it. If it seems daunting, you will find ways to avoid pursuing the details that will make your networking experience successful. As you work thorough your manageable contact list, you can add a few new contacts at a time—when you see networking advantage in doing so. Thereafter, your networking partner list expands as you are ready to actively work with new participants. Another reason for establishing relationships with contacts that are close by is that, especially among the networking contacts you don’t know well, it is important to gather information about them. You need to learn all you can about your networking partners because that’s how you practice the give and take that networking requires for success. If you don’t know your networking partners well, you can take their help, but it is hard if not impossible to give, as you don’t understand the others’ priorities well enough to be useful to them. Doing your own homework before meeting with a new networking partner is essential to having a valuable face-to-face conversation. Once again, LinkedIn can be a valuable source of information. The “profile” section of any individual’s home page usually lists title, responsibilities, goals, background, education, associations, clubs, hobbies, connections, and more.

Armed with this information, you can establish a fruitful relationship with your networking partner. Don’t misunderstand. This does not mean that in a face-to-face conversation you steer the conversation away from seeking information and insight from your future networking partner. It simply means you will be better prepared to suggest how you might work together effectively. In starting your exploratory conversation, you should be prepared to “model” the conversation you would like both of you to have.

Using your intelligence gathering, highlight your own experience, skills and abilities most likely to complement your networking partner’s experience and possible interests. Spend no more than two or three minutes reviewing your information, then turn the conversation to your potential networking partner. The reason for setting a definite time limit for yourself is that it’s so easy to get carried away with your own story that you start to bore the other person. To guard against this, demonstrate to your networking partner that you are a good listener. Your partner will notice and appreciate this attribute of yours and find more value in supporting you because people who are truly good listeners are relatively rare.

Also, having modeled a useful conversation, he/she is likely to use the guidelines you have revealed in highlighting her experiences. At the conclusion, be prepared to ask clarifying questions that would help uncover additional insight. Here, you are looking for a good fit between the two of you that would make networking together not only useful but productive. Highlight, if you can, what you bring to the networking relationship that would be useful to your partner, and what you yourself would like to achieve if your partner is able to help you. What you have done is to set the tone for next steps and what both parties could do to get off to a good networking start and lasting relationship.

The next step is critical: Volunteer to help your networking partner with her networking priority—first. Look at it this way. Each of you could wait for the other to offer a networking contact first. A virtual standoff could mean that nothing might happen for quite some time. You both may be right in expecting the other person to make the first move, but to what useful end is waiting? My suggestion would be for you to make the first move to support your networking contact. After all, you have a plan for yourself (perhaps your networking partner doesn’t), you have short term and longer term priorities (they won’t happen until you make something happen), and you have a need (if you don’t have a need, why are you bothering to network?).

The best time to start is right after the networking conversation where you established a clear picture of your networking contact’s needs and priorities and asked clarifying questions to create a visual picture of what she wants. End the conversation by suggesting next steps. Say something like this: “_______(name)______, now that I have a clear picture of what kinds of networking help would be useful to you, I will think over your needs and find ways to help you connect with______________(people/companies)__________ that would help launch you. Would that be helpful to you? Or would an alternative approach better fit your needs?” After discussion, end with something like: “I think I can accomplish this task within the next two weeks. I will give you a call on next steps to get you started with these networking contact(s). Is that O.K.?”

The goal here is to be specific, which again is an opportunity for you to model how you would like your networking partner to support you in addition to a plan for your support of her. Making the first move and being specific demonstrates that you are serious and that you seek ways to make your relationship goal oriented.