Is your networking and referral strategy an integrated part of what you do every day or is something you do when you have time?
Do you put some rigor and discipline behind the process of networking and generating referrals OR is it more a function of hope and luck?
Worst of all, do you confuse the process of networking with "pitching" or "selling"?
Will Kintish, on his Kintished Blog, makes the following claim:
Some say networking is a core business skill. I see it as something we do every day. it is simply building new relationships or on existing ones. It is not just a skill for sales and marketing people but also a skill for everyone in whatever line of business they are in. Since it has become a 'must-do' part of business it has however been adopted by people who confuse it with 'selling'. They hand out their business card as though they are on a mission to beat a record they created at the previous event. A numbers game for many, 'networking' is now a functional task, something we can switch on or off…all so wrong.
Generating great referrals from networking is very easy when you put rigor and discipline behind it, AND you separate pitching/selling from networking. In your last 20 conversations with members of your network, whom you were not trying to close, how much of the conversation was "networking" vs. "pitching/selling"?
If you would like to read the full article on the Kintished Blog, click here:
I Can't Be Bothered to Network Today
Barry Deutsch
