Networking is important to growing any business at any level. Whether you attend a gathering intended for networking, or it is a social, exhibition or learning event in your industry where you will have the opportunity to connect with like-minded business people, the connections you make can be invaluable to increasing your flow of clients and revenue. Getting out there is one half of the battle for entrepreneurs: it’s what happens after the event that will determine whether your business will grow because of your efforts or if you wasted your time.

There are many ways entrepreneurs can go wrong after a networking or industry event that can blow their chances of acquiring new clients or launching new joint-venture partnerships. But we’re only tackling just a few below. See if you’ve made any of these mistakes before and follow our tips for making adjustments before you exchange business cards with someone again.

NOT HAVING A FOLLOW UP PLAN

Many entrepreneurs plan to attend networking events but don’t do so strategically. Even worse, once they’ve spoken to as many people at an event as they could and have collected more business cards than they can fit in their wallet, those cards (which represent potential money to be made) travel back to their home or to their office only to be misplaced, strewn about the office or neatly stacked in a box or placed in a business card holder, rarely if ever to be seen, let alone used again. If you don’t follow up, no money will ever be made. And if you don’t plan to follow up, you’re wasting your time going to these events.

How To Fix It – Create a system for identifying the people that you meet and place them into categories of importance that are of relevance to you. Make a decision before hand which types of connections are of priority to you and plan to follow up with them within 48 hours of the event. Decide what method you will use and what further action you will take if you do or do not hear from them within a certain time frame. Also, if it is a worthwhile connection, determine how often you want to stay in touch with them. What ever you decide to do, stick with it! Prospects and business partners respond to reliability, consistency and respectful persistence.

FAILING TO FOLLOW UP WHEN PROMISED

The last sentence I wrote bears repeating here: prospects and business partners respond to reliability, consistency and respectful persistence. The first thing that will destroy your credibility before you’ve even had a chance to properly build it is to not follow up when you have promised to do so. If you have a great conversation at a networking event and you tell someone you will call them tomorrow, do it! If they are not available, leave a voice message and send an email to let them know that you made every effort to make good on your word. Not following up is bad all on its own. But if you’ve given your word and you don’t keep it early in your interactions, it can seriously throw a negative shadow over future relationships.

How To Fix It – Don’t make promises you don’t plan on keeping. It is better to not promise than to do so and disappoint. Communication and following up is a business basic that starts at the initial point of follow up and continues throughout the client relationship or joint venture partnership. Make every effort to establish and maintain your integrity on this.

MEETING “EVERYONE” FOR COFFEE

I admit that when I first moved to Atlanta and I was on the hunt for clients, I was very eager to meet everyone I had a great conversation with for coffee or for breakfast. While these interactions were great and I was able to connect with some nice people, I have to be honest and admit that absolutely NO business came from it. (I know this may not be the case for everyone, but this is what happened to me.) When I began to tally up how much time and money it was taking (from going to the networking meeting, paying an entrance fee or paying for food, then for traveling to different parts of the city to meet three or four people from one event on separate occasions, plus the cost of gas and food) and the lack of business I was gaining in return, I had to put that practice to a grinding halt.

How To Fix It – Recognize that above all, your time is valuable. More so than the money wasted, I am more disappointed in the time lost, which is something that I can never get back. I began prioritizing my networking connections. Those who warranted further connection, I scheduled phone meetings with. Most people are receptive to this efficient use of time, and much can get done in a short amount of time without the distraction of food. Plus, it is easy to exit a conversation that is not proving to be fruitful. Face to face meetings are valuable, but I learned that such interactions will come naturally as a client, joint venture, or friendly relationship develops.

TREATING EVERYONE LIKE A POTENTIAL CLIENT

Business owners (particularly those in a sales related field such as Financial Services, Real Estate or a Networking Marketing business) sometimes assume that they have much wider of a target market than they think and have a tendency to think that ‘everyone” needs their products or services or will want it once they’ve skillfully presented their case. As such, these business owners tend to attempt to set up “coffee” sessions with just about everyone they get a business card from and burn through potential clients without properly pre-qualifying them.

How To Fix It – Learn to ask the right questions and listen before setting up a face to face or even a phone meeting with someone. If you’ve taken the time to truly determine who your best target market is, it should be easy to spot if you are talking to that person or if they interact with people that you’d like to speak to. Sure, sales and client acquisition is ultimately a numbers game, but treating everyone as just another number to blow through on your “no list” will earn you a reputation in networking and industry circles as the person NOT to talk to.

So after you attend your next networking event, don’t get caught by these common mistakes. Take the proper steps to prepare for a successful following-up to make sure your networking is profitable for your business.

To Your Success,
Denise Renee Phinn