Networking Is Not Selling
Networking is about meeting people and building relationships. Your focus should be on gathering information that you can use or pass along to someone else who can use it. When you are networking, selling should be the furthest thing from your mind. When done properly, sales will happen as a natural course, but if it is your focus, you are missing the point of networking.
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When you engage people in conversation, their body language will tell more about what they think and feel than what they actually say. If they make eye contact and lean toward you, they are interested. If they look around, fidget, or lean away, they are not. If someone is uninterested or uncomfortable, politely end the conversation and move on.
Building Relationships
People prefer to do business with those they trust, so focus on developing relationships with everyone you meet. If they are not potential clients themselves, they probably know someone who could be. Ask questions and learn as much as you can about them and what they are about. Look for commonalities between you to increase the comfort level and give you more to talk about; anything to help people relate to and remember you for your personality, not just your career. Discuss hobbies and interests, and maybe even share a funny story. The more you have in common with someone, the better chance you have to continue the relationship. In turn, your new acquaintance could introduce you to someone else who has similar interests. You are now extending your network. The more you network, the larger your circle of influence will become. One person will introduce you to two people, who will each introduce you to two more, and so on.
Give Before You Receive
If you focus on helping others grow their businesses, it will eventually come back to you. For example, say you hire a newly licensed electrician to do work for you and are pleased with the job he did. You then give his name to several people you know who are looking for someone to do electrical work. That electrician may then turn around and refer the CEO of the next business he works for to you. If you help people, they will want to help you. That being said, your sole reason behind giving referrals should not be to get them in return. Selflessly helping others feels good and will always yield positive results.
