soho-life.com

I was at a breakfast a few weeks ago and the speaker was talking about the benefits of networking and the right and wrong ways.  She opened up for questions at the end of the session and someone from the back asked a question I’d never even considered before.  “What if people don’t want to connect and are avoiding your calls?’” The speaker told the person asking the question that it might be simply a case of the other person being busy.

I was surprised when the question was asked. I’m no wallflower and it just doesn’t occur to me that someone might be avoiding me , however, I realised that for some the fear of someone rejecting them could be very real.   So I want to encourage you here, if that’s you, please consider that people do get busy and often networking, or follow up (very few people do follow up) isn’t foremost in their agenda. Other things are.

You can do simple things to make the process easier for yourself:

• Send an email introducing yourself and reminding them of where you met and when (do this a few days later, not a few weeks). You could also suggest that you will give them a call in a few days.
• If you don’t hear back from them in 2 or 3 days, you could elect to ring them and ask them if they got your email and just continue any conversation you might have had when you met.  I always write on the back of their business cards anything relevant so I’m reminded of a topic I can continue.
• If they don’t answer the phone but you can leave a message, simply say you’re ringing as promised in your email to them a couple of days ago.
• Then let it sit for awhile.  If you come across emails (not jokes or warning messages) or media articles that might relate to that person, simply forward them on, saying that that article reminded you of them.

You may get pleasantly surprised with a return phone call or return email.  And have their details close to hand so you can grab it quickly if they do ring which will save you from being tongue-tied.

Networking isn’t as fearful as some might think and once you’ve done it a few times and discovered that no-one is going to bite your head off or something worse, then you should be set to establish a pattern of regular networking and follow up.  And if someone doesn’t respond, don’t worry – it’s their loss, especially if you had something of value for them.

networking, follow up, fear, relationship building

Tags: Networking // Add Comment »