John Lydgate was a monk and writer in the 14th century, He was the first English author to write, "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.
I’m here today to disrupt your day and make you think. Some of you will think what I am about to say is aggressive, some will agree with what I say. Ultimately, you need to ask yourself; I am there to take part, not just fill a seat.
I am speaking of course of your networking meeting (weekly or fortnightly).
Some people describe their network meeting as a meeting of their sales force, some people describe it as the most important meeting they have each week, but I have some doubts that some people in your group right now are taking your meeting seriously.
When you train your staff to represent you to potential customers, do you prepare what you say, so they know what to say, or do you just make it up as you go along?
When you go to see a new client do you take a pen and paper to write information down, or do you try to remember all the details in your head?
Think of these points regarding your meeting.
Do you prepare in advance the message you want to deliver and the way you are going to deliver it? Do you reinforce the message with a prop to help fix a memory in the mind of the other people in your group?
Do you take a pen and paper so you could make notes of anything interesting that is said or any special offers you might want to pass on to others?
Do you think about your meeting from the moment you walk down the steps at the end of it until the moment you walk back up seven (14) days later?
Networking is a participation sport. You are involved, or you are in the crowd watching. If you are just there to watch, I suggest you might need to examine why you are there at all.
If you are there to be an active networker, if you want to get involved, learn, educate and benefit from all the opportunities that membership of your group and your wonderful members have to offer, fantastic!
If you are there to play actively, I have created a Networking Game for you to take away and use it is designed to help you keep score of your participation.
Please feel free to download it below. It is a simple grid to help you track your activity.
Thank you for listening and please remember Networking is about doing, it is about learning, and it is about educating.