Читать книгу Knockout Networking for Financial Advisors and Other Sales Producers - Michael Goldberg - Страница 42

Networking is one of those terms that is a bit nebulous and ambiguous. It's a concept you don't learn in school and is not part of MBA programs, although it should absolutely be taught there. In fact, I believe networking should be taught in public schools to children as part of their elementary education. Imagine if third and fourth graders learned how to better connect with teachers, principals, fellow students, and even their friend's parents?

Here's my official definition:

Networking is a proactive approach (although sometimes it can be reactive) to meeting quality people to learn and potentially help them.

Learning, helping – that's it! If you focus on learning from and potentially helping the right people, they will help you back. Networking is a collaborative effort toward helping one another achieve a goal – selling a product or service, landing a job, solving a specific problem, learning about something, volunteering for a cause, or meeting the love of your life.

Networking is much more than simply meeting people, “working the room,” and giving everyone you meet a business card (which you should never do). I'll discuss this in more detail in Chapter 8.

Networking is about meeting the right people (those you like and have some connection to the clients you want to work with), going to the right events or venues (where do these right people hang out?), and saying the right things (intros, questions).