What sort of conversations are you having?

When you go to a networking event are you:

• Counting conversations; or
• Having conversations that count?

Think back to the last event you went to. Did you work the room? Did you speak with as many people as possible? Were you handing out as many cards as possible? Have you had much work from this event?

If the answer to most of the questions is "Yes" but to the last question it's "No" then you were probably counting conversations.

Working the room like this is being a Hunter (see my blog entry: In Networking be a Farmer and not a Hunter) and will not do you much good.

Instead of counting conversations, why not have conversations that count? Okay, you don't get round to everyone, but those people you do meet, you will get a better understanding of what they do; but more importantly, they will have a better understanding of what you do! If they need your product or service in the future they will be more likely to remember you.

A good tip to remember is we have two ears but one mouth. You should be doing twice as much listening as talking. Don't dominate the conversation, in fact you can get more work through "passive selling".

What do I mean by this?

Well, you're having a conversation with someone and you are listening intently, being polite, asking all the right questions - you're not trying to sell anything to them. Then suddenly they say "But I'm really having problems with XYZ" this is where your ears prick up, your business can solve this problem quickly. Now is your chance. "Well, we can sort that out. I can pop into your office tomorrow and deal with it for you." How can they refuse? You've just offered to solve a pressing problem.

Now, would you have found that out if you had been blathering on about your business, not caring about the person you're speaking to or listening to what they say?

Finally, don't look to be in a rush to finish and leave. When I was looking for a new telephone system, I had a salesman who sells telecoms equipment try to sell me his. Yet he was in and out of our office within 15 minutes, hardly asked me any questions, and his parting shot was, "Great I'll be home early this evening!"

Erm, excuse me? It's 4:15pm. How the heck is he going to sell us a system when he doesn't know what we want? I can't help feeling that's all he cared about was what time he could get home. In the past I've met prospective clients at 7am and 8pm.

So take your time, listen to the person you're speaking to and remember to have conversations that count.