Six Tips for Making Contact that Turn into Business Presented By : Punam Mathur, MGM Mirage & Amy Ayoub, Ayoub & Associates
Join one or two key civic, professional, or trade organizations that have members with whom you can do business. Make sure to join organizations whose members are either potential clients themselves or who serve your potential clients. Networking requires too much time and energy to become involved in groups that only marginally or peripherally address your market. Attend meetings regularly. Simply being listed in a membership directory or showing up at the annual awards dinner is rarely the basis for making lasting business contacts. You need to have repeated interaction to build rapport. Become an active member in the organization you join by participating in activities, serving on a committee and assuming leadership roles. Attend meeting to make contacts, but get involved to build relationships. Make a point of meeting new people who attend the organization's functions. Don't fall into the rut of talking or sitting only with those you know. The more people you meet, the more people you can build business relationships with. Balance your time between reconnecting with people you've met before and meeting others. Schedule one or more business meals a week to follow up on the new contacts you've made. At these meetings, find out how you can help them succeed in their business. Take the time to ask questions and listen to find out more about what they do. Your interest in them is what will make you interesting to them and them open to learning about what you do. Actively refer business regularly to those you meet. This is the most important point of networking. People refer business to those who refer business to them.
See How Your Networking Skills measure up! Take the Networking Strategy quiz. Excerpted and paraphrased from: Getting Business to Come to You, By Paul and Sarah Edwards & Laura Clampitt Douglas