The best way to network is to be informal, but that doesn’t mean being haphazard. Keep track of who you talk to, when you talk with them and make some notes of what they say. Why?
Your records will tell you what you need to do and when to get back to contacts. The old-school approach called for keeping a log of all calls on 5 x 7 cards or in a spiral notebook with columns for name, company, phone number, source of referral, date, result and follow-up.
Computers and handheld devices with spreadsheets can keep track of the dates and even beep, blink or serenade you to remind you of deadlines. Which tracking method you use isn’t important; the information itself is quite important.
Written records will enable a job hunter to perform timely follow-up. Someone might tell you, ‘We’re not interested now, but come back after April.’ The haphazard job seeker might make a mental note of the comment. The organized networker will mark his calendar so that he’s sure to return.
Careful records also will enable you to send thank-you notes – and ensure that all the names are correctly spelled. A well-written thank-you note will go a long way toward maintaining your relationship with this contact.
Networking is no time to wing it. To be successful you need to plan your contacts.
Most salespeople plan what they are going to say before they approach a potential customer. A networking job seeker would be wise to have a similar plan.
Retreat to a private room, shut the door and practice until you can present your pitch smoothly and comfortably. You want to avoid at all costs sounding like you are reading from a script.
The actual words are not important as long as you are prepared. When you’ve completed practice in private, try out your networking script several times with a friend. Practice will help you sound confident.
Establishing some type of common ground with your networking contact is the first order of business. Even if you don’t know someone personally, try to make a connection. For example, you might say that you are familiar with the company’s products or that you are members of the same professional society or that you have a mutual friend.
A little extra effort in establishing common ground may pay big dividends. A recent graduate may be using an alumni directory to locate networking contacts.
The sales manager of an electronics firm seems like a good prospect, but the graduate might see no connection; he’s never heard of this person or the company and he’s unlikely to have mutual acquaintances.
The graduate might try spending some time researching the firm and the sales manager. Research may reveal something about this prospect that will provide common ground, and make it easier to strike up a conversation.
I once called a man I didn’t know after seeing his name in a newspaper article. He had published a book. I told him I was impressed by that and wanted to know how he got a book published. We had a networking lunch and he is a stranger no more. He provided valuable information that helped my writing career.
The key to successful networking is persistence and being alert to networking opportunities. A chance conversation at a lunch counter could be a pleasant event and the opportunity to ask, “By the way do you know anything about…” Have a business card and a resume with you at all times.
The fear of blowing it with an important contact – stuttering, saying something stupid – is a common hang-up that keeps people from making the contacts.
“I tell new people in my business to go out and make mistakes. Make a lot of them,” one successful sales manager told me. “Sometimes they will succeed despite their mistakes.”
What really happens is that people become more confident in making contacts because they are actually doing it and realize that the world does not come to an end if or when they make a mistake.
A persistent networker keeps in touch with people in the network. It may be with a new question or to update them with information or just to thank them for the lead.
For the persistent job seeker, there’s always one more call to make.
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