Why Business Networking And How To Network Effectively

Networking is a scary word in Malaysia. It conjures up images of network marketing a.k.a multi-level-marketing. When friends and relatives invite us to a networking event, that's always the first thing that comes to mind.

If you Google 'networking', you'll see it is defined as 'the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.'

On 10th March 2020, I was asked by my real estate team leader to share my networking experience to a group of my fellow real estate agents. He says we must have multiple methods of generating business and he understands that networking is an important activity in order to generate new business and maintain good relationships for more business.

(Pictures courtesy of my team mate in IQI-Ace Group during our training)

Having participated in Business Network International (BNI) for the past 10 years, it was not difficult to speak on the topic. Sharing from one's own experience is the easiest technique.

Structured in an organised manner for easy understanding my sharing touched on 3W1H.

Why Business Networking?
Who To Network With?
What Networking Activities?
How To Network Effectively?

Why Business Networking?

For me, I prefer business networking to cold calling. Not that cold calling is not good or that it doesn't work. In fact, cold calling works. I closed my very first sale of a property worth RM 900,000 from cold calling. But I have yet spoken to a person who says they love cold calling and only does cold calling to gain business.

I specialise in marketing new projects and do not conduct any sub-sale activities. Personally I find the amount of time I spend cold calling generates lower quality prospects compared to the referrals I get from networking.

Why I don't prefer cold calling:-

I would made 30 cold calls in under 3 hours a day and usually end up with 3 appointments. I would send follow ups and reminders.
I would block my weekend to be at the showroom for said appointments.
One would be a no-show. One would be late and not answer my calls or text messages.
If it was my lucky day, 1 appointment will materialise. But it doesn't mean it's a done deal.

As a mother of two, I have daily mommy duties and chores. So my time for marketing is quite limited. Therefore, I have to choose the most effective method and go with it.

I use networking as my marketing tool to brand myself, to build great relationships and farm for business. I experience referrals that are generated from networking have higher quality and the chances of getting a done deal is much higher, compared to cold-calling anytime.

**Who To Network With? **

Highly dependent on who the target market is. Therefore, knowing who the target market is, where they are and how to communicate with them are very important aspects of marketing. Go where the target market is and network with them. Or, go connect with people who can connect you to your target market. Answer the question 'whom do I know who knows my target market?'

What Networking Activities?

Online - Facebook groups can be great if you like to type more than you speak face to face. However, the wrong FB groups are just wasting time. Again, know who the target market is and where to find them. If the target market shares a common interest like gardening, then perhaps joining a Facebook group on gardening will be more helpful, than blasting offers in a real estate group where the competitors are doing the same - hunting. There's also LinkedIn.
Online/Offline - Meetup.com and Eventbrite lists free and paid events, many of them are for networking purposes.
Structured, membership based like Business Networking International (BNI) is a fantastic platform to generate the referrals you want because that's the sole purpose of BNI - networking for business referrals.
Social - associations, schoolmates/college mates/university mates. It's a lot easier to network with people whom you already have a relationship with than with strangers.
Charity organisations - Lions Club or Rotary Club. Sometimes they organsie networking events and one should take full advantage of them.

How To Network Effectively?

Collecting business cards is not a networking activity, so stop doing it.

Networking is about having conversations with people and making good enough connections so that you have an opportunity to follow up.

Be approachable and easy to talk to.
Ask for the other person’s card. Don’t push your card first.
Listen and ask memorable questions during a conversation that sets you apart from everybody else in the room.
a) what do you do for a living?
b) how long have you been in this profession?
c) what do you like most about what you do?
d) how can I help you? (is perhaps the most important question of all, but please make sure you follow up!)
Maintain eye contact and show genuine interest.
Never sell during networking.

To network effectively just remember networking is not about you. It’s about the other person. Be interested in the other person than trying to impress him/her. So one has to leave one's ego at the door even though you're the top salesperson. Like the well-known saying, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

So there you go, my personal sharing on networking for business, a bulk of which comes from my experiences in BNI. If you feel you can put my method to use, please practice it and make it yours. Perhaps I get to hear from you in the future about your networking experience.

Happy Networking!

Disclaimer : Unless stated otherwise, all photographs posted in this blog are owned exclusively by Frances Aw.