The Foundation of Networking
“I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” “You reap what you sow.” “You get what you give.”
“We must give first; to expect to receive without having given is to violate the universal law.”
“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Zig Ziglar
Simple, yet powerful quotes. If you want to get the most out of networking, follow this advice.
What do we really do in meetings?; The easiest way to say it is: It’s a room full of business owners, sales professionals and entrepreneurs talking about their businesses. Is that all that’s happening? No. B2B members are building very powerful relationships, starting up strategic alliances, and arranging big financial deals, making great friendships and much more.
Ideas to help you with your Referral Group Efforts
- Listen closely when talking to others. Pay attention to their needs. You might know someone for their problem.
- Carry your networking partners’ cards with you. Give them out when appropriate.
- Meet with your networking partners outside of the meeting. Visit each other’s offices. Have lunch. Build rapport.
- Make sure your 60-second introduction clearly explains what you do for a living, and what a good lead is for you.
- Keep some of your networking partners’ cards at your place of business.
- Set a goal to bring 2 to 4 leads per month to each meeting. When going to networking events, set goals on how many business cards you will collect..
- If you know the best sales trainer in the world, Tom Hopkins, then you know this line: “Follow up, follow up, follow up on your leads.” Nothing is more important than following up in a timely manner with the prospect, and the person who gave you the lead.
- Report back to your group on business generated through the leads.
- Include as much information as you can on the lead cards.
- Show up early to the meeting. Stay late. A few minutes can bring a lot of business.
Policies and Procedures
Leads Exchanging
There are no hard-and-fast rules about coming to the group and exchanging leads. With that said, we certainly encourage you to go out and network. Gather colleagues, and their business cards. Develop business relationships outside of B2B. Then come back and share those contacts with your fellow B2Bers.
Attendance
Regular attendance is vital to maintaining good networking relationships. If you must miss a meeting, please give at least 24 hours’ notice (48 hours preferred). Missing 2 meetings in a row, with notice, is all right. Missing 2 meetings in a row without notice is not.
If 2 meetings in a row are missed without notice, we will discuss moving you to another group or ending your B2B Gathering membership. This is not normally an issue, since we only meet once a month. The B2B moderators and your fellow members rely on you being there as much as possible to help with the collaborations. We expect all members to schedule their monthly meeting into their planners, just as they would any other important appointment.
