I have been in the breakfast networking game for a long time. I started out with BNI, scarcely knowing what it was when I first went. I cannot say that I gained a load of business from BNI, but I stayed a long time because I enjoyed the camaraderie and the support from members. However the business I was promoting was not well suited to a breakfast group, but I had not been successful in finding a seat for my principal expertise. My business support and management consultancy skills, which are considerable, were not a good fit being a business-to-business offering rather than the business-to-customer type of service which is always better suited to local networking groups.
So, B2C is generally better and my tax practice is well suited to my current breakfast networking. I have other talents which are better promoted via on-line means.
However, it is no good doing a one minute presentation every week at breakfast time and just expecting the referrals to come. You have to take the trouble to get to know the other members of your group to understand their needs; what they are looking for in terms of new business, so that you can look out for opportunities for them amongst your own clients or customers and amongst your friends. You also need to build a relationship of trust and you cannot know someone without spending time with them and knowing the quality of work they do, so that you feel comfortable referring people to them without the fear of embarrassment.
The whole point is that this trust rubs both ways. You cannot expect instant results from face-to-face networking. You have to be patient and wait to be trusted, and that means you have to build a reputation for quality work. Once there is trust, business should come to you in spades, but you need to put in months of work, because networking for business is a long game.
© Jon Stow 2009
Jon Stow, the author is a businessman living in South East England with his wife, Gloria and three cats. He is an accidental entrepreneur, owns a tax practice, and is also a measured business adviser and management consultant when asked to help. He is a director of Exemplary Consulting Limited, which provides hands-on help to small businesses and their owners in meeting the challenges they face.
Jon Stow's websites and blogs are here.
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