<p>You've probably all had the&nbsp; "used car salesman" experience at networking groups. You meet a new person, and doing the normal protocol, you politely ask them what they do. They immediately launch into a passionate pitch about how wonderful their product is and assure you that you'll be dead next week if you don't buy it.&nbsp;</p> <p>You politely don't ask them anymore questions, hoping the&nbsp; conversation will end so you can move on.&nbsp; Or you wait for a break in their diatribe so you can blurt out that you need to find the rest room.&nbsp; As an after thought they might ask you what you do.<br /><br />Ok- this probably sounds a bit judgmental. It's not meant to be.&nbsp; I actually have compassion for people who don't understand the difference between networking and selling. Many people are great at their service or have wonderful products but&nbsp; struggle to understand how to run a business. It's like learning anything.&nbsp;</p> <p>You make some mistakes at first and then try again. One of the biggest mistakes is trying to sell to people before you built a relationship and before they have shown an interest.<br /><br />If you feel passionate about your offerings you want to tell everyone, but if you tell everyone too much it can feel like a sales pitch rather than relationship building. In marketing there is an order to the process and when you follow the order people don't feel pushed. <br /><br />Networking happens toward the beginning and it's only about meeting people and making contact.&nbsp; When you do get to the sales part- which is way at the end, it's easy, because by then your potential client has made the decision and wants your information. <br /><br />If you want to use networking the way it's meant to be here are a few tips that can help even the best networker be better.<br /><br />1. Don't blab on about yourself. Get to know the other person. Find out what they need.&nbsp; If you both do that,&nbsp; you will have to talk about yourself some but you will be very brief and turn the conversation back toward them.&nbsp; It will be more like a ping pong game without it getting stuck with one person holding on to the ball too long. <br /><br />2. Move around the room.&nbsp; Chat with one person enough to feel like you've made a connection and then move on.&nbsp; A networking group is about building a network of relationships slowly over time. Think of yourself as a spider building a web and each person you meet helps the web to grow more beautiful. <br /><br />3.&nbsp; Avoid talking too much about your products or services.&nbsp; If someone pointedly asks you, then request their business card and contact them later to ask if they want more information.&nbsp; A networking group is not the place to get deeply into it. Even if someone says they're interested they won't really be able to focus. <br /><br />Networking is about building connections, making contacts and finding possible strategic partners.&nbsp; Once you have done that well, the selling process is half done without you focusing on it all. <br /><br /></p> 2009-06-13T18:06:24Z 2009-06-16T04:55:18Z -5.47996 1306 5006 true 4 5522 dont-confuse-networking-with-selling 34 2009-06-16T04:55:09Z 2009-06-16T04:55:18Z

Networking is not the same as selling. Here's three great tips to help you to be a great networker.

1 2009-06-16T04:55:19Z