BUSINESS COACHING & GROWTH STRATEGY for purpose driven women entrepreneurs




BUSINESS COACHING & GROWTH STRATEGY for purpose driven women entrepreneurs


How Do I Network?

Is Your Networking “Working” For Your Business?

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The HEART Sell Blog
with Dora Rankin

With the rise of digital marketing and prevalence of social media, you may want to believe that networking is outdated and has gone the way of the landline telephone. No more awkward small talk around a crudité platter or overthinking your handshake? Sign me up! 
In reality… 
Networking is fundamental to building a successful business and connecting with others (building relationships) is more important than ever to increase your sales and profitability. 

The reason many of us think networking is “dead” and wonder if we even need to be doing it anymore is because we’re confusing genuine networking with our outdated perceptions of networking. Many picture a crowded room, stuffy suits, exchanging business cards and a handshake, and conversation that doesn’t go much past discussing, “This weird weather we’re having”.

If you’ve ever had a networking conversation go anything like this, you know exactly what I mean:
Them: “Good evening! I don’t think we’ve met before, I’m Joe! Nice to meet you”
You: “I’m Dora, nice to meet you!” 
Them: “So, what do you do, Dora? I’m a financial advisor (not-so-discreetly slips you a business card) with Big Money Makers.”
You: “Oh, that’s interesting, I’m a business coach for women entrepreneurs. I teach them how to make more money.”
Them: “Wow, it’s always great to connect with others in the industry. Welp, it was nice to meet you! I think I spotted my coworker, Bill, over there and I’m going to say hi!” 
Just because this is how networking may have gone for you in the past doesn’t mean that this is how it needs to continue to go for you. This isn’t the kind of networking that leads to building real relationships and increasing your sales and profitability. Leaving an event and never talking to someone again after meeting them is ineffective, at best. 
If you consider networking a waste of time and you’re tired of having the same old small talk about the hummus dip on the buffet, this blog is for you!

Let’s Redefine Networking to Partnership Development

Real networking (what I like to call partnership development or centers of influence strategy) is the art of making and maintaining connections with others for professional purposes. In authentically networking with others, you build relationships, forging meaningful and collaborative partnerships, exchange information and ideas, and connect one another to opportunities. 
Do you need to be networking?
I’m not one to tell anyone they need to be doing anything, but I do know from years of experience that strategic partnership building and relationship selling is the number one way to grow a profitable and successful business. Networking can help you, no matter your industry, no matter whether you’re business to business, business to consumer, or direct to consumer. 

How Do I Network? Focus on Partnership Development 

If your networking hasn’t been “working” for your business -meaning you’re not growing your connections, not following up with people, and not building relationships that increase your sales and profitability -it’s time for a new approach. 
When networking, your focus should be to create strategic partnerships with non-competitive professionals with the goal of referring customers to each other on a weekly or monthly basis. 
For example, if you’re a banker, a perfect non-competitive alliance would be accountants because you offer different services within the financial industry. Or, in the networking script I shared above, the financial advisor would’ve also made a great strategic partner. This is where to focus when building strong one-to-one relationships.
A partnership development strategy is a mindful, intentional plan to connect with these individuals and begin to build rapport and relationship with them. 

When networking, there are a few things you’ll want to do as you implement this new approach:

how to network dora rankin

1. Prepare before you go

When people ask me, “How do I network?”, they’re usually looking for talking points, how to deliver a good handshake, and how to introduce themselves to new connections. That’s part of it, but good networking begins before you even arrive and decide to swap business cards with someone. 
Before the networking event, conference, or meeting, ask the organizer to see a list of attendees if possible. If you reassure them that this is for the purposes of intentional networking, and you’re not just adding all their attendees to your database/email list, they’re usually very open to this. In some cases, the list might be available online or there is a forum, group, or app designed to allow attendees to connect prior to the event. 
Spend time with the names on this list, look at their LinkedIn, check out their websites, and actively identify who you’d like to make a connection with. Remember, you’re specifically looking for who would make a strategic partner for you, or even a client.
When you’re at the event, be intentional about making contact with the people on your list. 

2. Build rapport

What do you say to the people you meet? 
I realize that most people enjoy small talk about as a root canal, but there’s usually a brief element of it in most social situations. Think of it as “building rapport” if the term small talk makes you cringe. 
If you’re an introvert, and really dread engaging in conversations with prospective clients or strangers at events, a great place to start is with a light icebreaker. Consider sincerely sharing a common interest to propel the conversation into action. For example, “I love your earrings!” or “This homemade salsa is delicious!” It’s an easy way to get the ball rolling and open up the conversation to introduce yourself. Another way to break the ice is to use research you’ve done on them beforehand to create the authentic connection, “I noticed from your LinkedIn that you have a new goldendoodle puppy! Are you loving being a new dog mom?” 

3. Set the agenda 

This is one of the steps in my Heart Sell process and can be adapted to a networking event, both in person and virtually, (where you might have less time with someone) easily. 
Transition from small talk to sharing intentions for your conversation. Instead of opening it up with what do you do, and who you serve, change the narrative to, “I'd love to hear about some of your projects or priorities on the horizon for your business this year.” 
Why would I suggest you ask the question this way? You open it up for discussion but with intent and a pathway that doesn't lead to "social hour" aka a waste of your time.
You want to determine whether or not you share the same ideal client and see if you both would find mutual value in each other’s services. 

4. Nurture those contacts! 

After initially connecting, it’s time to continue building the relationship by nurturing your new contact. It takes some legwork -especially in the beginning, but if you’re building a business rooted in purpose, this process will start to become more and more enjoyable as you nurture these relationships and watch your business grow as a result. 
At the event, or soon thereafter, set up another time for you and your new connection to meet again. Together, strive to build a team that works to promote one another and creates a win-win alliance and long-term relationship. 

Main takeaways:

● Networking is alive and well, if it feels like it’s getting stale and you’re not seeing results, change your approach ● Approaching networking by focusing on strategic conversations with intent will help you to move past those one-time interactions and shallow connections ● Prepare for networking events before you go ● Explore the topic of how you can be mutually beneficial to one another at the event ● Follow up with your new connection and continue to build a relationship

Ready to learn more about building strategic partnerships and selling from the heart? In my book The Heart Sell and The Heart Sell Course, I guide women, like you, through every step of the way to building a relationship-driven, revenue-rich, successful business! 
Ready to give Heart Selling a try? Download the Heart Sell Non Salesy Sales Conversation Guidebook (it's free).

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Hey, Dora here!
Leveraging my 25 years of sales and business development experience and my signature HEART Sell method, I help women in business build relationship driven, revenue rich businesses they love without relying on social media or paid marketing. If you think you may be ready for 1:1 support, I recommend checking out my work with me page or booking a call with me here.
If you want to dabble in my world a little bit, my favorite two resources, The HEART Sell Course and The HEART Sell Conversations Guide are linked below!
Thank you for being here.

The book is here!

the heart sell book dora rankin
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