June , 2009  Issue Number 47

Networking Made Easy

I can not express enough the importance of networking to a successful business. Networking is perhaps the most affordable and natural form of marketing you can possibly commit to.

There are several common expressions I can think of that describe what networking is.

• Giver's Gain
• What Goes Around Comes Around
• Do Onto Others As You Would Have Them Do Onto You

As you can see the at its core the concept of networking is as old as dirt. To some extent everyone networks each and every day, often without realizing it. The trick is to put forth some effort to maximize the results!

Don't Sweat the Details

If you are attending "networking events" handing out a business card here and there to a total stranger and saying very little beyond what your name is and commenting on the weather . . . you are doing more to "tottle tea" than network. But don't be despaired if that describes you, I will explain right now how to change that with little or no pain.

The idea behind networking is to be remembered . . . and to be remembered in a positive way. Here is a quick list of things to do when networking:

• Give advice
• Give referrals
• Give people the time of day
• Give people a positive experience
• GIve People the chance to participate
• and above all else . . . Give a Damn!

Give Advice

Don't be afraid to give advice when you have something relevant to say. If you happen to be the person that helped them "click" onto an idea, they will remember you and be willing to let other people know you are a "go to person".

Giving advice can be as simple as using the "Forward this email to a friend" link on a newsletter . . . say like, on  this one. ;  -)

Give Referrals

If someone is in need of a product or service and you know someone you trust can provide that product or service, help them get in contact with that person. You can give them a business card and/or ask them if you can have the person you are referring them to call them, but somehow help them make the connection. Both parties will remember that you helped them, and they will often return the favor!

A word of warning, make sure you can trust the people you are giving a referral to. If they create a bad experience . . . you will be remembered for that as well.

Give People the Time of Day

Networking does not mean that you need to spend a great deal of time with each person, but spend enough time for them to remember having seen you that day.

When you approach a group greet everyone in some manner, not just the person you are looking to talk to. It can be as simple as this, "Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to see all of you. George, I wanted to mention to you . . . " An important side note hear is to include everyone present in the conversation, if it is something only George will have any interest in  . . . talk to him privately later.

Give People a Positive Experience

No one likes to listen to someone whine and complain. If you are putting someone down, people are likely to think you may talk about them badly when they are not around as well. This does not help to build a high level of trust.

It is difficult to follow this rule, it seems to be part of human nature to dwell on the negative. In fact, to some extent the negative things that happen must be discussed . . . how else can they be dealt with? Just try to keep it as positive as possible.

If you hear someone comment that they are going to hire xyz company to do some service work and you know they are a bunch of bums, you can say something like this, "Hey, I used abc company to do the something similar. They did a great job at a great price, here is how you can get a hold of them." 

Give People the Chance to Participate

Sometimes the best way to give is to receive. Ask people for their advice, it is a great way to make them feel important. If you are looking for a particular product or service, ask if they can refer you to someone. It really shows that you value their opinion!

Give a Damn!

Pardon the language here, but you really need to be sincere. Don't project an image that you want to get referrals to satisfy your needs, but could care less about helping others with their own needs.

The majority of the time you will give and give and give without seeing an immediate reward. You need to trust that the things you have done for others will eventually find their way back to you. You will do well to keep in mind that often you will experience returns from your networking and never know it. People will often be refereed to you and not mention that George sent them your way, that is OK too.

The process is what matters most, a positive end result will follow when it is done right.

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Tip of the Month!

The Importance of Good Customer Service

I will try to keep this as positive as possible to keep with my advice provided in our main article today.

I had an experience a couple of weeks ago that really left me shaking my head. We had an emergency plumbing situation late at night that left my family of 5 without any plumbing. This is what happened when I called around to get some help.

The first person I called was a client of mine. The technician on call informed me that it sounded like it was a main line clog, but he wouldn't be able to help me. He went on to tell me that they don't have the equipment to drill out a main drain line, but he did provide me with number to call for someone they know does a great job with drilling main lines.  He referred me to someone they trust, but I chose to look other places first since this person was an hour away.

The next person I called was drunk, I know this because he was slurring his speech and he told me was. This is a particularly bad customer service experience and really bad way to market a business. But I will say that I was appreciative of the fact that he told me he chose not to help me out because he shouldn't be driving. I thought that was a responsible thing for him to do.

The next person told me I wasn't going to find anyone to come out that late at night and told me where I could go. Clue: It isn't anyplace you can buy an airplane ticket for . . . or would want to. Again, a very bad way to market your business.

The next person said it definitely sounded like a main drain clog . . . but the equipment he needed wasn't in the truck he had that night. Too bad he couldn't have switched trucks and help us out.

Many calls went unanswered without so much as an answering machine to let me know I had reached the right place and others had a machine that gave me their hours.  People aren't required to provide 24 hour service, and I did appreciate the fact that they said they would answer their messages during regular business hours.

We ended up going without that night . . . I will leave the seriousness of that to your imagination.  The next morning we called a couple of local people back that provided an answering machine, but their schedule was full. Good to be busy.

So we called the person originally referred to us during our first call, he fit us into his schedule and did a great job on our drain. I mentioned we went without all night and he told me, in all sincerity, to call him anytime day or night when something like that happens. I told him I would have except he was an hour away . . . he said it doesn't matter, he understands the importance of working plumbing to a family.

I immediately asked him for a couple of business cards so I could refer business to him should the opportunity arise!

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Success Stories

Lost Forever!?

We received a phone call from an organization that was concerned because their website had disappeared.

They had hired a "basement programmer" to put the website together for them a year or two earlier. He had since relocated with his full time day job and they had no way to contact him.

They were completely unaware of where the website was hosted or why it had suddenly disappeared.

I investigated for them and soon discovered that their domain name had expired and had been returned to the pool of available domain names. We could not discover who the hosting company was, it was most likely hosted through an account maintained by the part time developer and was abandoned when he relocated.

I immediately registered their domain name for them and rebuilt the website using screen shots from a web archiving service that happened to have indexed most of the website some months earlier.

They have been loyal clients for the past 5 years now and we have redesigned the website making many improvements since we rebuilt what they had once thought was lost forever.

I look forward to taking care of their web development needs for many years to come.

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