Business Networking Tips

June 16th, 2010 by jmangion
  • Pre-plan your personal greeting. Planning a 30-second personal greeting beforehand will allow you to attract a person’s interest right away. You need to sell yourself before you can sell a product or service.
  • Be first to arrive and last to leave. The longer you stay, the more contacts you will meet.
  • Be aware of how you smell. Sounds funny? It’s really a very important part of how people react to you. Do not smell like a cigarette. Likewise, too much of strong perfume and cologne can be overbearing, force people away and offensive.
  • Be positive and enthusiastic. A positive attitude will increase positive results. Enter the event in an upbeat mood and keep smiling.
  • Spend time with people you do not know. Spend the majority of your time meeting new people. Networking meetings should enable you to expand your contact list.
  • Say the other person’s name three times. A person’s name is a pleasing sound for them. In addition, repeating the name will help you to remember it. People are impressed when you remember their name the next time that you see them after you had only met briefly before.
  • Collect business cards with a purpose. When you leave you should have a stack of business cards with notes on the back. Each one should generate a follow-up call.
  • Learn what the other person does. Not only do people love to talk about themselves, but it will give you time to understand their needs and how you may be of service.
  • Dress for success. Attractive people receive attention and anyone can be attractive with the right attire. Dress for a networking meeting as you would if you were going to visit your biggest client.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.