Networking

Networking is a very useful promotional activity both on a personal and business level and YNYCC very much encourages both female and male owned businesses and those employed in those businesses, to attend their networking events throughout the year. A previous perception of the Chamber events has been that they are male dominated, but we are happy to report that the project has been monitoring female attendance during 2004 and has calculated an overall of female attendance at 43%.

No one finds networking easy so be sure when you enter that room you'll be greeted with no small amount of sympathy and a great deal of warmth, and if that is not encouragement enough, we have quizzed a few of our more experienced networkers and gleaned a few tips to help make that first time a little easier:

• Persevere! Attend at least two or three times before deciding if it's for you. It takes time for people to know you and for you to know them, so stick at it - it's a commitment
• It is not about the hard sell. Don't go in there expecting a quick kill. You are there to cultivate relationships and to build up trust. It is also a chance to glean useful information
• Be yourself. Don't try too hard. People want to know about you and your business but they want consistency. It is not just about the people in the room but also their contacts and their contacts (you are only a few handshakes from someone who will be useful to you)
• Prepare a clear succinct message to deliver about yourself and your business, preferably not more than thirty seconds long. Be specific, don't waffle
• Study the delegate list and seek out contacts that will benefit you
• Organisers are there to help you - don't be afraid to ask
• Set a target for yourself of so many new contacts a meeting
• Observe groups of people, body language is important i.e. people standing face to face do not want to be disturbed; people standing forty five degrees are usually open to interruption
• Know when to pull away. Prepare a polite, scripted message which enables you to detach without causing offence or embarrassment
• Always take your business cards or information about your business
• Keep business cards and file them and do this while you can remember who's who. Take a quiet moment to visualise faces and connect them to names
• Follow up if you have said you will be in touch, always follow up and keep in contact without being pushy
  

Thank you for contributions from, amongst others: Julie Dodsworth, Chris Wilson, Frank Moss, Gillian Webster, Jane Craggs and Jane Johnston.

Further information can be found at:

http://www.chamberonline.co.uk/business_news/page/document?id=BEL1_Doing_0000000463