Knowledgeable Networking

You’re flying to an industry meeting and the person in the seat next to you begins talking. Do you: 1) pretend you’re asleep? 2) hide behind the most current issue of PCT magazine? or 3) introduce yourself, learn as much as you can about the person and share information about what you do?

If you chose number 3, give yourself a bonus — your networking skills are excellent! Your list of networking contacts is probably extensive, up-to-date, active and it regularly results in new business for your pest control company. You actively seek new contacts everywhere you go and you genuinely like people. You look first for what you can give the new contact, not what you can get from them. This is where your network becomes a valuable and powerful business asset. The value of networking isn’t merely in developing your own network, but in having the type of relationship that enables you to tap into the networks of your network. As you expand your own network, it increases exponentially as their networks connect to your own.

Some people may feel that networking for more business is manipulative, but this assessment is based on their attitude about networking. The true value of your network isn’t just bringing in business. It’s a reciprocal arrangement where you help solve problems both you and your contact each experience. Zig Ziglar says, "You can get whatever you want if you help enough other people get what they want." If you view networking as a way to help your network instead of a method of getting from your network, it assumes a different face.

Networking, very simply, means the intentional development of mutually beneficial business relationships. Your network is your organized group of contacts and information from which you can find what you need and provide what your network needs. If your business focuses on commercial pest control, networking may be one of the most effective methods of marketing your services to decision makers in your targeted accounts.

Whether or not your network is computerized isn’t important. It is important, however, that it is organized and comprehensive, so you can easily find a name, contact number and information. A file box holding 3x5 cards or a palm-top Personal Information Manager can help keep information at hand. Choose the means of organization that is most convenient for you.

Setting up your network. Let’s get started organizing your network. The first step is to collect information:

1. Begin with your desk, dresser, wallet and table — wherever you deposit business cards you collect at various events. Pile these business cards into one pile.

2. Lay aside the rosters of organizations of which you are a member.

3. Compile your personal list — your family, barber, mail delivery-person, insurance agent, accountant, travel agent, banker, celebrities, mechanics, attorneys, doctors, dentists, friends, neighbors, former school friends, club and church members, employers and co-workers.

4. Your next heading, "business," contains a list of business associates, employees and customers.

5. When you have collected names, phone numbers, addresses and other information about a person, organize a database, either on a computer or on 3x5 cards.

increasing your network. Once you have assembled the database, plan to enlarge your contacts by a certain number monthly. Here are sources for enlarging your network:

• Leisure activities

• Gym

• School

• Your spouse’s network

• Community/business associations

• Toastmasters

• Networking groups set up for the sole purpose of
providing networking opportunities

• Charity events

• Public service oriented groups (Lions and Rotary Clubs)

• Seminars

• Alumni Associations

Networking tips. Here are a few ideas to network more effectively.

1. When someone introduces you to a potential client, after a brief visit, walk away after a few minutes to give them a chance to talk about you. Your client will promote you to the prospect. Then come back and resume the conversation.

2. Be aware of what others in your network can provide and refer potential clients to those in your network.

3. Always carry business cards.

4. Learn to remember names of those you meet by making a mental association between the person’s face and name. Repeat the person’s name when you meet to reinforce it in your mind.

5. Develop or improve your self-introduction. Learn to explain what you do in a 30-second description that leaves the person remembering you. Reveal something interesting about yourself and/or your business. Marketing consultant and speaker Fred Berns says, "...an individual typically remembers only one thing about another person several months after a chance meeting." Be sure the one thing people remember about you is your name and self-introduction.

6. Visit organizations and join the best, judging by your feelings about the organization and the people attending.

7. When accepting a business card, always write notes on the back of it to help you remember the person when you follow up after the event.

8. As soon as possible after the event, follow up with those you meet with a phone call or a note.

9. Volunteer for charities.

10. Every week go through your network list and contact five people you haven’t contacted in a month. Inquire about them, their business, family, interests, etc., and subtly remind them that you’re available to meet their pest control needs.

What you can do. You now have the foundation for a valuable database of information about your network. What can you do for them? Remember the 80/20 rule applies in networking. Twenty percent of your contacts will be closest to you. The task, then, is to identify that 20 percent and make a plan for keeping in touch with them.