Creating a Successful Network – It’s Easier Than You Think!

incipioworkstg on June 10, 2019

Take a minute to think about when your business was first getting started. I’m sure it was a difficult time and that finding sales and potential clients felt impossible at times, but the good news is, you’re not alone! We’ve all struggled to make sales and bring in clients at some point in our business, but the key to solving these issues isn’t some big mystery, in fact, it’s something we do on a daily basis: networking!

The value of the relationships you build during networking is key to sales and life. The relationships become so important because these people get to know you, your character, the work that you perform, etc. They become your business associate, strategic partner, referral source and your friend. The value that one person can bring to your business can be immeasurable, but in order to find that out you have to get your feet wet and get out there!

I love people. I am naturally curious, and I love to learn from and help those I meet, but not everyone is like that, and that’s ok! What I’ve found is there is always a connection if you keep asking questions. You may not get business from someone you meet at a networking event, but you’ve made a connection and who knows where that may lead. A friend recently called me the “business cupid” because of my passion for helping people connect, and that’s the key; you don’t always have to be the best at what you’re doing, it’s your passion that people recognize.

Just Be Yourself!

A lot of people like to think of networking as an event, but that is very far from the reality of networking; opportunities are all around us! I have met and connected with people in every kind of industry, every kind of job from all over. My network has been created from business, personal, community involvement, church, my kids’ activities, business associations, and so much more. I’m always networking! Even if you are not a super outgoing person there’s always chances to build relationships even when you least expect it. Just be yourself because that is the most important aspect when it comes to building new networking connections.

Networking doesn’t have to be intimidating, in fact, don’t even think of it as networking. Think of it as just meeting someone new, asking questions, building a relationship. Don’t go in trying to sell a product or service. Just listen to the one you are meeting and let it go from there. Always follow up after a connection with a personal note, and make sure the person you meet remembers you. An important piece of advice I would give from my many years in sales is to work on your one minute story to brand yourself. That is what sets you apart from everyone else, and in a room full of hundreds of people that unique story is what will make you memorable.

Networking Doesn’t Have to be Intimidating

Early in my career I was intimidated by people of a higher status or position than me. However, what I’ve noticed is that often times they are there doing the same as you; looking for ways to grow and better their business. I have gotten over this challenge of intimidation by just continuing to meet people I don’t know by saying “Hi”, introducing myself, asking questions, and LISTENING! Don’t always just sit there waiting for an opportunity to speak. Really listen to what the other person is saying because it shows that you are there for more than just personal benefit.

Always remember that your network is your friend! You’ve got to continue to work it. Meet new people to add to your network. The friends that you make in your network are your biggest referral source. But make sure it goes both ways – you must continue to help those in your network by referring them and showing them that you are a reliable connection.

Build Your Network Now and Success Will Follow

incipioworkstg on June 10, 2019

Wherever you are in life right now, and whatever you know, is a result of the ideas, experiences, and people you have interacted with in your life.” This excerpt from Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone encompasses the value of networking and building relationships. As much as we may like to take all the credit for our own success, we would be nothing if it weren’t for our partners and the connections within our own network.

Many fear “networking” perhaps because they don’t understand that it is simply interacting with others, dinner with friends, birthday parties with family, talking with clients at work…all networking. These individuals will be able to help you in ways you never thought imaginable, but it’s all about the effort you put into obtaining and, most importantly, maintaining your network.

I pride myself with being authentic in my interactions with others, being the real me, and being honest in what I say and do. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are always acting in a way that appropriately, and honestly, reflects you and your business because our behaviors demonstrate who we are. Your connections, i.e., network, have gotten to know you by your actions and deeds. Are you a person who can be trusted, counted on, reliable?

Take the Time to Reflect

Staying true to yourself isn’t always easy, but on a daily basis I reflect on my interactions with others and check myself. Where was I my best self and where can I do better? The kind of person you are and the image of your business can be reflected in your network, so for those of you working on building your network or even updating it, keep this in mind as you look for those new connections.

For me, reliability is a factor that I find crucial within my own personal network. In my time in between jobs I always managed to find myself in a place where I knew I could count on my network. No one can do it all on their own, and as stubborn as we all may be sometimes, asking for help is OK! As important as reliability is for me, I always make sure to reciprocate my services to others within my network because, like any relationship, you can’t always expect to take, you have to be willing to give too, even if there is no benefit to you personally.

In my experience with a variety of companies, the thing I think separates them the most is their ability to build and nurture a successful network. If a business doesn’t have a sturdy network they could very well become the target of another company for acquisition or simply have to shut their doors. I’ve experienced this first hand and know it to be an unfortunate reality which is why building and maintaining relationships is a necessity and an important step in expanding your businesses’ network.

The task of building your own personal network can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Take a friend to lunch, join an association relevant to your career path, attend meetings and get to know people in the industry, volunteer in the community for a charity that you believe in,…there are so many ways to build a network. Find those that work for you and use them to your advantage.

Human connections are critical to success both personally and professionally. So get out there, be yourself, and don’t be afraid to show others what you’re made of and what makes you a valuable asset.

Internal Networking As Professional Development – Optimizing Information Exchange & Enhancing Relationships

incipioworkstg on June 10, 2019

Outside of a “networking event”, does networking have to be an event? Absolutely not, and if that is how it is being approached, reevaluate! What about networking within your organization? What is the value on that front?

Networking is the method used for exchanging information and developing professional relationships through interactions. Regardless of your skill or comfort when it comes to the practice, networking is a major conduit or “fiber”, the delivery medium, for communication in the business world.

One of the best ways to take the edge and formality off of networking is to integrate it into your business, top to bottom, as a means of ongoing professional development with ALL members of your organization. In doing so, you shift the perception of networking from something that is done externally with industry peers in other organizations, or with potential clients, to something that is required to optimize your business. So why is networking critical internally? While it’s easy to see that a networking strategy could improve your chances of landing a job or finding new clients, there is a more basic aspect of networking that can be applied internally to a business. When networking becomes a key part of an individual, team, or organizational-level professional development plan, a great deal of opportunity for improvement is created.

Let’s look at how networking as professional development works at various levels in an organization.

Front-Line Networking – Critical Information Exchange & Relationship Building

At the front-line level, whether that front-line is on a production floor, in a sales office, or with some other internal team in your business, knowing how individuals perform their jobs, what interdependencies exist, or other aspects of the business workflows, are all critical to optimizing outputs and improving existing processes. Then add in the value of understanding individual motivations, work styles, communication preferences, and a host of other aspects of how people think and operate. It’s difficult to argue against team members in entry-level or front-line positions putting in the time and effort to understand all of those information points. Networking is how that gets done!

Making networking part of the individual and team-level development plans are great ways to ensure accountability, clarity for results, and that your staff is coached on how to effectively get the information they need to excel in their roles and to do the best work possible. Team members that understand how the “big picture” works for their whole organization, AND how their own role plays into that, are much more capable of thinking “big picture”, which will begin to add strategic thinking into their daily work effort. They’ll have a more thorough understanding of their peers’ and direct leaders’ operating styles, and have much more efficient feedback channels for them to utilize as they perform their core job functions; the dividends paid from the investment in networking are significant.

Relationships In Your Business Network – Valuable Beyond Measure

incipioworkstg on June 5, 2019

A packed room of two hundred people at an industry conference. A table of five at a working lunch. An unexpected introduction at a decidedly non-work function. Ready to make it work for your business? Do you know what you have to do? Networking! It comes easy for some, yet can be painfully difficult for others. Putting yourself out there and meeting new people can be very intimidating, especially in business situations. The ability to build relationships through networking is a critical tool to getting both your name and your products and services out of your office or work area and into the public domain. By building a successful network, you have access to endless opportunities and tools that can improve your business.

So where does it start? The first step is communication, and the ability to effectively communicate with someone can make or break your network before it ever really begins to form. For me, it starts with a fundamental set of attributes; respect and compassion, checking your ego at the door, and truly listen, doing whatever has to be done to really hear what the other person is saying. The business world can be a scary place, but there is no way to get anything out of it if we are only concerned about our own ideas and thoughts.

As a business owner, I know it can be easy to get caught up in your work. It has a tendency to overshadow other things, but your relationships should be priority one. And like most things of value, they take a lot of work to maintain; get together, catch up, get to know them personally, and really understand them. Work to get beyond just the surface and work to build deeper connections. Life happens, and it is so easy to let our own needs get in the way of maintaining our connections, but when we recognize that networks have the power to transform individuals and businesses alike, the value proposition is easy to see.

A Network Relationship = Any Other Relationship

Networks, like any other kind of relationship building, take time and effort. They aren’t just things you can expect to fall into your lap or appear at the snap of a finger. For those of you new to networking or looking to build a personal network of your own, it takes some time, but you can start by asking for help. In a networking situation, people expect you to ask them for help. If you turn that around and just offer some support, your networking partner will be grateful and want to return the favor. We are all out there looking for the same thing; ways to improve our business. If you put yourself out there and offer your services you are bound to find someone in need of your support, and that one person can open doors to many other contacts and networking opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise know of if you didn’t venture out of your comfort zone.

A key aspect of effective networking, and to relationships in general, is that every interaction and transaction is not something that you are always going to benefit from. You don’t always have to gain something direct and tangible in a networking relationship. If you can introduce people who can benefit from one another, it’s just as effective. It is all about the give and take, and sometimes you may help facilitate something that in no way directly benefits your business right now, but will pay tremendous dividends in the long run.

Kicking it into Gear

Once you have developed your own personal network, it’s now time to develop a strategy for maintaining it. Networks and relationships are much more like gardens, much less like monuments; they need constant tending and care, and without that what you’ve worked so hard to create will slowly disappear. It’s important to take the person that you are making these connections with into consideration and be mindful of the fact that they are people too, not just business advancing opportunities. Get to know people for who they are and recall little fun facts about them; their birthday, their families, favorite foods. As I mentioned before, moving beyond the surface and developing deeper emotional connections is when the fun starts, and the value of the relationship you’ve built really starts to become evident.

It can be a warm and fuzzy feeling when you get a text or email from a coworker wishing you a happy birthday, or someone brings up a funny story you told them at a meeting a month ago, because it shows that they care. These are people that you can rely on to help benefit your business and it will only make the journey easier if you can truly value them as both a business relationship and as an individual.

I have worked hard to develop and maintain Incipio’s network and I’m constantly working to improve it even further. Networks deliver three unique advantages: private information, access to diverse skill sets, and power. Executives see these advantages at work every day, but might not pause to consider how their networks regulate them. We can often take these networking assets for granted, but for many successful businesses, their networks are their foundation and without them, they might not be where they are today. Networks are like a puzzle, and even when one piece is missing, the puzzle is incomplete.

Keeping Your Network in Check

Consider every relationship you have within your network to be just as important as the next; even if it may not offer as much to your business as others right now, at some point in the future it may prove to be invaluable.

To start, treat others the way you wish to be treated. We’ve all heard that before, but it carries a much stronger meaning in the business world, where potential clients or partners are all around us. Once you’ve established that solid relationship, it allows you to advance the relationship quality to the next level, where you treat them less how YOU wish to be treated and can focus more on treating them the way THEY wish to be treated.

Networking opportunities are everywhere, whether we are aware of it or not. This is why it is so important to always maintain the image of your business everywhere you go because you never know who you will run in to.

Networks have the power to work wonders, but they can also wreak havoc if managed inappropriately. We’re humans, and naturally we are selfish beings which is why it can be very easy to unknowingly overload our partners and networking sources with tasks and questions so that we can better our business. Once you start to develop your network it can begin to grow exponentially and it is our responsibility to keep it under control and prevent it from becoming a burden rather than a tool.

One of the biggest challenges that I have faced within my own personal network has been managing the growth and expansion of it. If people know you, then they have an ‘in’, and sometimes you don’t have the time to manage all the asks. Treat your network as if it was a significant other, establish boundaries and what you are and are not willing to do. This will prevent a lot of headaches in the future if you lay down your expectations at the start. This allows both parties to understand the perimeters before things get to be unmanageable.

We are all in this together, and as discouraged as we all may get sometimes, we all have our own unique assets that bring value to the bigger picture. If you run a business with a close-minded attitude and tend to only keep to your close-knit group of people, then expect to only have access to a limited amount of resources! There are so many opportunities out there, and to have a successful business it takes branching out and truly connecting with people. Speak, listen, and really hear what each other is saying. Don’t just wait for your turn to speak. Pausing to think about the words you just heard is OK. You never know what these people can bring to the table. If you’re only concerned with what you have to contribute to others rather than allowing others to be of support to you, then you’re only holding yourself, and your business back.

At the end of the day, the relationships that we build are the most important aspects of our lives. Thankfully this is no different in our work-lives; businesses are built by people and the relationships they form as those organizations are created. Those relationships expand further as partnerships are created, and this extends even more as clients and customers are brought into the picture. Investing in building strong relationships and expanding your personal and professional networks is critical to growing yourself and your business. Make sure you have a strategy to do both!

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Take the Time to Reflect

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