Networking For Startups 101

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What You Will See
• Introduction

• The Challenges

• Reminder - The 4 Tools

• Reminder - 4 Important Words

• The Elements of Networking success

• The 9 Networking Failures

Introduction
• Fact - Networking brings companies a rich stream of new
contacts and business that can make them more successful
& proﬁtable

• Fact - Networking help them to understand their
customers and the marketplace better whilst testing their
message and its effectiveness.

• Fact - Many people who do network or referral marketing
make mistakes which can cost them winning new business
& damage their reputation.

• Fact - We all make mistakes. But what can you do to
maximize your networking activities by avoiding these
costly errors?

The Challenges
No Experience No Job
No Money No Network
No Customers No Focus
No Reputation No Skill

4 Things To Do
Networking
Reputation Building
Referral Marketing
Social Media

4 Important Words
Hard-work
Discipline
Perseverance
Plan

4 Elements Of
Networking Success
Presence
121s
Focus - pitch
Energy & enthusiasm
+ Follow-up

121s
Cornerstone of any system
Not a social chat
Agendas
Actions
Follow-up

Focus - Pitch
Ideal Customer?
Top 10 Wish List
Battle Plans
Elevator Pitches
Spotlights...
121s

Energy & Enthusiasm
The Subconscious Signal
The Appearance
The Right Level
Social Media
Contributions

• These are the 9 Steps to Networking Failure
• Study them hard
• See which ones you have tripped-up over in the past
• See which ones have cost you business
• How are you going to avoid these errors in the future?
The 9 Steps To Failure!

The 9 Failures
Not Listening Sell Sell Selling
Deadly Dull Pitches Going For The Quick Fix
Prejudging People Not Taking the Limelight
Being A 1-hit Wonder Not Talking Up The Beneﬁts
No Clear Objective ++++++

STEP 1 - Not listening

• One of the most important skills to have.

• Not about hearing what is said - it is understanding what people really mean.

• Real listening requires your complete focus and attention.

• What are people really looking to achieve?

• What is really important to them about their business, job, personal ambition, and
family?

• People don't listen because they are too busy focusing on what they want to say
next in a conversation.

• 2 choices - be an interesting person or an interested person. You decide!

• We are all at networking meetings to sell “ourselves”, but if we don't connect
emotionally people will run a mile in the other direction - so LISTEN!

STEP 2 - Sell, Sell, Selling!

• Business Networking is not about sell, sell, sell.

• The aggressive nightmares are easy to spot!

• The question is, areYOU ever guilty of talking when you should be listening?

• Top networkers know how & do follow up + keep in regular contact.

• The people you meet at business networking are equals - they do not want to be
sold to and deﬁnitely do not want to be treated as prospects

• Your objective is to build rapport and turn them into advocates of your business -
they may become customers or clients in time!

STEP 3 - Deadly dull pitches

• Business Networking is not about telling the whole story of your business.

• Brighten your 60 seconds up with humour, a picture or an interesting statistic.

• The point of the pitch is to stimulate people's curiosity.

• Today we're all overloaded with too much information - even worse at a Business
Networking event.

• Give people as much information as they need at a later point.

• So do people a favour - FAVOUR simplicity over detail.

STEP 4 - Going for the quick fix

• Business Networking is NOT where a sale occurs each time you network.

• If everyone thought otherwise, who would we sell to - the catering staff?!

• Networking is all about building relationships.

• People can make great connections the ﬁrst time they attend a Business Networking
event but it is not something that you should expect.

• Real gold is in the long-term mutual beneﬁcial relationships you form.

• You never know where where one conversation that you have in January could lead -
don't be surprised if it's made you thousands by the end of December.

STEP 5 - Prejudging people

• Some of the best referrals we see - come from people who we think cannot help
us or anybody else!

• You cannot afford to prejudge people

• You simply do not know who they know or who they can connect you to.

• The saying is, never judge a book by its cover, but many of us do.

• Give people time and your attention by getting to know them via 121s.

• The ﬂipside is that all that glitters is not gold, be open-minded and don't rush into
all relationships.

STEP 6 - Not taking the Limelight

• Presenting - Public speaking scares many people witless:

• Grab any opportunity to present to get your message across & grow your reputation.

• Conﬁdent speakers? They learnt this conﬁdence by practicing. They too were once scared!

• Talking to strangers - Normal to feel apprehensive:

• In business, talking to complete strangers is only way to generate interest and contacts for your business.

• Only talk to the people you already know and deal with? You’re missing out on big opportunities!

• Set targets before you attend any networking event. Decide how many new contacts you want to make etc

• Make it fun and get out of your comfort zone with practice and determination.

• What was I worried about....

STEP 7 - Being a 1-hit Wonder

• You will get great results if you go back and get to know the other members.

• You never know what JV or referrals will result from the trust that grows out of
regularly attending a networking group.

• Don't be a deal chaser in networking. Cannot afford to have an attitude of What's
in it for me. Replace this with the mantra - How can I help you or How can I serve.
Make a positive impact on someone's day!

• Effective networkers take a farming approach. They focus on cultivating relationships
for mutual long term beneﬁt and they deﬁnitely do not chase deals or instant sales.

• You may attend a networking forum and do business initially (The Law Of Recency)
but referral's work best if you develop a long term know like and trust strategy with
the people you meet.

STEP 8 - Not talking up the benefits

• Talk about the beneﬁts you deliver to your clients, suppliers and contacts.

• Talk enthusiastically.

• What is unique about you? How do you deliver more value than others in your
sector?

• Don’t fall into the trap of saying that it is your service or quality of your product that
differentiates you. This is far too common and generic.

• Everything you say should be relevant to the needs of the other people in the room.

STEP 9 - No Clear Objective

• Want quality business?Your objective MUST be to build relationships on the following
3 criteria: know, like and trust.

• *Know - getting to know your contact first is vital. Get the conversation going by asking open-ended
questions in which the person cannot easily answer yes or no!

• *Like- this is all about building rapport and getting on well.

• *Trust - mutual beneficial business relationships must be built on trust as it is your reputation - there must be
no hidden agendas.

• DO: Have a plan for what customers or businesses you want to meet or be referred
into.

• Other people can't guess what you want!

• Worse still they will waste your time with the wrong referrals if you are not CLEAR,
PRECISE & FOCUSED on what your top targets are.

• Let people know who you want to be referred to specifically, NEVER say anybody or
everybody. You will usually get referred to nobody !

• Nothing screams professionalism and "refer me with confidence" than having that
laser-like focus on your referral targets.

Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
• What next? Networking is a marketing tool and not just an event that you go to.

• Follow up without hesitation. Don’t allow the little voice to put you off.

• Find a professional business networking organization to join. Will help you become
more successful and improve your networking skills.

• Making networking the core of your marketing activity will be one of the best
business decisions you make. And fun too!

• Always observe the successes and failures of others’ networking efforts. There is a
lot to learn from them.

• Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Success is impossible without some failure.

• If you don't get your message across properly today, there's always next time....

Who Am I?
• Chartered Accountant
• Social Media Addict
• + outside interests...
• Corporate Stooge
• Referral Marketing Specialist

Contact Us
Phone - 01785 244481 or 07706 171851
Email - stuart@conspicuous-cbm.com
Blog - www.conspicuous-cbm.com
LinkedIn - uk.linkedin.com/in/stuartwalton/
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Networking For Startups 101

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