How are you at networking events?

I recently attended a reunion of of IBMers that I worked with over 20 years ago! Though many faces looked familiar (perhaps a little older), I’m thrilled everyone had name tags (with previous names if married, divorced, etc). Many had retired. A few had changed careers. Most still had careers at IBM. The group consisted of sales people, administrative people, and technical support.

I took this opportunity to watch how people networked. This was a great opportunity to rekindle relationships and find additional opportunties. I watched for:

1. How many people tried to talk to as many people as possible. Not many. Most talked to about 5 people out of the 162 that attended.
2. How many people talked about what they do before being asked. Most. I was the rare person that asked what others did and try to find a means of offering value first.
3. How many had non-traditional (boring) business cards? All but one…mine!
4. How many provided their business card without being asked. Most (even I made this mistake occasionally)
5. How many people walked away with something of value to pursue from someone else. Few. Not even a website, a book, or a contact for them to check out the next day.

Reunions are networking events. You never know who knows who. The goal of any networking event is to be remembered as a person of value to as many people as possible. You want to be someone that others talk about in a positive way (being remark-able).

To be remembered in a sea of re-connected individuals you need to be different in three ways:

• Talk to as many people as possible. I set a limit of spending 5 minutes with a person. If I recognized the person, I made sure I shook the person’s hand and introduced myself. I gracefully exited a conversation explaining that this is a GREAT networking event and that we should all talk to as many people as possible.
• Be a person of value first. I asked questions to uncover how I could HELP someone. I provided a lead to someone that he or she can check out when he or she gets home. The next day, I sent additional emails with additional information to be helpful.
• Be rememberable. I handed out the brightest business card I had (I have several different business cards to match the occasion and potential client). I didn’t hand a card out to all 162 people. I asked questions to see if I could be of value to him or her in the future or to someone he or she knew. The best way to hand out a business card is to be asked for one. Second best is to offer it. I never just handed the card to someone. (OK, I did once to someone that knew that I was being trained by a guru he knew.)

I never knew how to handle networking events when I worked for IBM. Now, I have a game plan. One that requires me to see who is attending, google specific people, identify ways to help BEFORE I walk in the door. Now I have business cards that stand out, I talk with people for about 5-10 minutes max, and I listen for opportunties to provide value first. Now…I’m memorable and remark-able.

Where did I learn these skills? From Jeffrey Gitomer and his Little Black Book of Connections. In fact, it was he that suggested the design for this business card…