Goldberg KNOCK-OUT NETWORKING!

MORE PROSPECTS - MORE REFERRALS - MORE BUSINESS
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-936901-04-3
Verlag: Prime Concepts Group Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 360 Seiten

Knock-Out Networking! is based on Michael Goldberg's proven system for attracting more prospects, more referrals, and more business to the pipeline. These proven approaches have helped thousands of sales reps, sales managers, business owners, and job searchers change the way they develop relationships. And they will do the same for you!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Goldberg, Michael

Leseproben

CHAPTER 1:
Why Don’t More People Network? “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.” —Elbert Hubbard It is my belief that, other than possibly curing a disease, you can accomplish almost anything through networking. If you know with whom you need to speak, where you need to go and what you need to say, you can make tremendous progress. Networking is a gateway to solving problems and meeting the people you need to meet, with everything you do, in every aspect of life. My definition of networking is a proactive approach to meeting people so that you can learn something and potentially help them. That’s it! Networking is simply about learning and helping. Not you—them. Let me repeat, not you—them. If you do a great job at learning about the business people you are with and helping them, they will help you right back. That’s what networking is all about! It’s a collaborative effort toward helping one another achieve a goal, whether it’s selling a product or service, landing a job, solving a problem, learning a thing or two about something or meeting the love of your life. By the way, these are the five primary reasons why people network — to grow a business (promote products and services, recruit, fundraise), to land a job (internships or other career opportunities), to solve a problem (find a realtor or a good painter), to brainstorm or learn something (learn about the real estate market), or to meet friends (a workout partner or your dreamboat). Networking can happen serendipitously (you meet someone at the airport whom you just happen to connect with) or strategically (at a networking event). Either way, the same definition applies. Despite all the important reasons why more people should network, there are even more reasons why people don’t (or won’t). What gets in your way? Fear of Failure
What’s the worst thing that can happen when you meet new people? Maybe you will say something you shouldn’t say. Maybe you’ll do something you shouldn’t do. Maybe things won’t work out the way you planned. Maybe you will make some other mistake that compromises protocol, etiquette or whatever. So what? We all make those blunders from time to time. The key is in recognizing your mistakes (not getting discouraged by them) and doing better the next time. Simple? Now repeat! You have to get out there and try it (like with anything!). So if you know why you’re at any event, know how to introduce yourself and ask some questions of people, that’s at the very least a good start. Don’t you think? Then, as you do this, you’ll notice things, like “I should have spoken to this person longer” or “I should have asked more questions” or “I should have followed up on that” or “I should have had more business cards.” There are a lot of shoulda, woulda couldas. It’s the same thing with public speaking. I speak between 10 and 15 times a month, yet I’m always thinking about what I could have done better (and there’s plenty!). You have to start somewhere. As Nike says just get out there and do it. One very effective way to take the fear out of networking is to picture the worst thing that can happen, and then plan to recover with poise if such an incident happens. (Of course, an even more effective way to eliminate the fear is to picture what the best thing is that can happen.) What’s the worst thing that ever happened to me while networking? Well, there’s plenty. Where do I start? I remember having to travel and co-present with a woman named Jackie. She is older than me, very cerebral, with a much different speaking style than mine. While I consider myself kind of off the cuff and dynamic, she is very structured and even. We were supposed to travel from the East Coast to the West Coast and co-facilitate a full-day seminar. If our presentation went well, we would ultimately work on other projects together. If the presentation didn’t go well, maybe not so much. So we ended up flying together, which was awkward. We struggled to make conversation. And for me to struggle to make conversation with somebody is saying something. But we made small talk—”How’s this whole thing going to go?”—and got through it. The next morning, we both spoke and did our thing with our audience. From my standpoint, we were OK—not great, but OK. It just didn’t feel that our chemistry was very good. I felt that what we had to say was all right, but that it could have been better. So lunch came, and of course food always adds yet another dynamic to networking. It was a buffet-style lunch, with limited space. Most seats were taken, so we had to stand up. So I found myself two inches away from Jackie. Here we are face to face, nose to nose, belly to belly. And we’re each balancing a Styrofoam plate, a plastic fork and knife and a beverage—somehow, somewhere. I remember on my plate there being grilled chicken, steamed string beans and something that I recall as being orange. Jackie is about my height and has really large glasses, which make her eyes look even bigger. So I am speaking with her, and I bite down on this steamed string bean, and what do you think happens? You guessed it. Piping hot water shoots out of that string bean at def con nine, probably about 80 miles an hour, knot seven, and it takes this downward trajectory rather suddenly, at about a 30-degree tailwind and glazes her glasses, leaving a line of steaming hot water as it—get this—flies into her soda! So now the large, magnified eyes of Jackie that were once looking at me are now cross-eyed, fixated on the line of steaming hot water on her glasses. An awkward moment, yes? So I do what any self-respecting person probably would have done in that situation—I pretend that it didn’t happen. No, really. Now you have this awkward lull. You know someone has to say something, and obviously she notices it now. Finally, she kind of smirks. And for the first time since I have known her, she actually smiles. I have a horrible poker face, so I know that I’m just holding it in. Finally, I say, “You saw that, huh?” “Yeah.” “OK. Now what?” That was my brilliance as a professional communicator: “Now what?” She takes her glasses off and actually chuckles, saying, “Awkward, huh? Tell you what. Let me clean my glasses. You get me another soda, and we’ll call it even.” I answer, “Fair enough.” Suddenly, we both seemed to morph into different people because we were laughing over this. All of a sudden, it was like we had a great connection. Lunch from that point on was awesome. Our afternoon of speaking together was even more awesome and our event was a complete success! And we ended up doing additional work together. What’s the worst possible thing that could happen to you in a networking situation? It doesn’t really get much worse than spitting food in somebody’s face. I might not have had string beans since that incident, which has become known as The String-Bean Incident, however, the point is that it can never get any worse, really. Everything can be repaired with an apology, or “I didn’t know,” or whatever it is. Then you move on. And an incident like this can actually break the ice and make the situation better in the end. Fear of Public Speaking
For many people, the simple act of talking in front of others paralyzes them with fear, and they avoid networking because of it. In fact, public speaking is the No. 1 fear of Americans—death is No. 7! As comedian Jerry Seinfeld says, “At a funeral, you’d rather be lying in the casket than delivering the eulogy.” A lot of people have fears and challenges with networking for the same exact reason that people have fears and challenges with public speaking: they’re afraid they’re going to look stupid. They’re afraid they’re not going to know what to say. They’re afraid they’re not going to know how to handle the questions. They’re not confident. They don’t feel good about themselves. “The spotlight is on me. What if I screw up?” So what does this have to do with networking? Networking is a form of public speaking. (I’ll discuss public speaking more in-depth in another chapter.) For more than six years, I have taught a public-speaking class at Rutgers University. One of my former students, Nicole, almost withdrew from my course because she was so terrified of getting up to speak in front of the class. (Students can simply withdraw from the class. Sales producers end up failing as sales producers. Job searchers don’t work and therefore can’t pay the rent.) Nicole was really quiet and sat in the back of the room. In my first class, I have the students get up and speak about themselves. (It is a public speaking class you know.) At the end of the first class, Nicole came up to me after everyone else left and said, “I have to apologize. I just have to let you know—I don’t want to waste your time. I can’t take this class.” I asked her, “Why? Did I mess up already?” She chuckled and answered, “No, no. It’s...