Business Networking for Success and Company Growth: Part One

Running my own businesses for over a decade, I've been to my fair share of networking events.  In fact, I used to attend on average 1 - 2 networking events a day, every day including Sundays!  That ended up being about 10 events a week!  

Some were better than others.  Some were free, many were not.  And after a while, I definitely learned a thing or two.  In this section, I’ll discuss all the different types of networking groups you can expect out there as you start down your own networking adventure.

Groups can be broken into one of three categories - Open, Closed, and Hybrid.  Open groups are as they sound, open to anyone.  Closed groups of course are only open to members.  And Hybrid groups have a member's only portion as well as an open portion.  

Open networking groups tend to be less formal than closed networking groups.  Although sometimes that's reversed because the members of the closed groups tend to get to know each other better.  

Also, closed networking groups tend to have rules and regulations that you must follow in order to remain a member.  Many of them even have applications and application fees that you need to fill out. 

Any of these groups can either be free or paid and typically, the members-only groups or events require a larger investment amount.  This is because member's only events typically have additional features, benefits, and resources in order to make it worth the membership fee.  

Usually in a Hybrid situation, attendees start off attending the open member's events and eventually decide they like it and join in order to attend the closed, members-only events.   It's a good way to give prospective members a "taste" of what the members-only events would be like.  

Examples of Open Groups include maybe a Church Group or Recreational Volleyball group.  Examples of closed groups include Chamber of Commerces or some Volunteer groups like the Rotary Club.

Exclusive groups are usually groups that only allow one particular type of business into that group.  For example, if there is already a Real Estate Agent in that group, another Real Estate Agent cannot join.  And obviously non-exclusive groups allow anyone to join.  

Exclusive groups also sometimes call themselves "non-compete" groups as in there's no one in your industry you have to compete with within that group.  And many exclusive groups are usually synonymous with Referral Groups which I'll talk about next.  Although as with everything, there are exceptions. 

The benefit of joining an exclusive group is that you're the only one of that profession. This means that if you're someone that people like and you network properly, you're going to get all the leads for that particular profession.  i.e. if you're that Real Estate agent, then any real estate leads will come your way.  

This is great if you're that agent.  Unfortunately, if you're a bad agent, people may not want to work with you - which leads me to the drawback of these exclusive groups… some of them require you to refer people to its members.  

If you haven't gotten it yet, this means that you have to give referrals to someone just because they're in that group… even if you don't particularly like them.  

Reminds me of the mechanic I was referred to once.  Sure enough, he was in an exclusive group.  So I took my car for repairs to him.  I actually needed a new clutch and timing belt on my car.  Not an inexpensive job.  Anyway, I needed it done and someone referred me to him, so I had him do the work. 

While I was at the shop, I got to talking to him a bit.  His biggest complaint was that he wasn't growing.  He kept getting new clients because he was advertising and networking and he his business didn't seem to grow at all.  

I asked him some questions about what he's doing for marketing and if he had some customer appreciation programs etc.  Nothing too specific.  Seemed like he was doing the right thing, so I didn't give it a second though.  

And then he finished my car.  

I had left it overnight with him and picked it up the next day.  When I picked it up, my car sounded like a hot rod!  The engine was revving like you wouldn't believe.  This would have been fantastic except that my car was a Honda Accord and shouldn't have been sounding that way.  

So I called him and told him what was going on and he said to bring it back in.  I did and left it with him to check out.  

A day later he told me to come pick it up again.  When I got there, I asked him what happened and he told me that they didn't get the timing belt right and that they fixed it for me.  

By the way, he never gave me an apology.  He never offered to give me a discount for future repairs for messing things up.  And most importantly, why he gave me my car back before even testing out his workmanship baffles the heck out of me.  Had he simply started the car and drove it down the block he would have noticed that something was wrong.  And he didn't.  

So it hit me.  The reason that his business isn't growing?  Because one, his service stunk, two, his workmanship stunk, and three, he was completely unapologetic.  While he kept getting new customers, he was losing current customers because no one liked him or though he did good work.  

By the way, after about half the lifecycle of a new clutch, I had to get a new one installed again.  When the new mechanic opened it up he asked me who the heck installed the old one because he totally screwed it up.  

Unfortunately, this guy is out there in an exclusive networking group getting new referrals all the time.  It's a sad, sad, thing for unsuspecting clients.  

And yes, I did go back to the guy who referred him to me and he told me that he doesn't even use the mechanic.  I asked him then why the heck did he refer him to me and he said well because he was part of the group and he didn't know better at the time.  Aye yay yay!  

Sure, there are some exclusive groups which don't require referrals and just make sure you're aware of each groups' requirements.  

When I give a referral, that's my reputation on the line, so I want to make sure I'm only referring people to the best of the best for that person.  I don't want to have to give a referral to someone just because they're in a networking group.  

Make sure you weigh the pros and cons of each group.  I've talked to many people in exclusive groups that do extremely well… and others, not so much.

Referral groups are groups specifically established in order for its members to refer business to each other.  Some referral groups are more rigid than others.  

For example, in some groups, you are required to provide at least one referral at every meeting.  If you do not have a referral during that meeting, then you are fined and have to pay a penalty.  In some groups if you don't have any referrals for a few weeks in a row, you're asked to leave.  

Some people thrive with referral groups while others struggle.  It really depends on how good (or bad) you are at giving referrals.  

Examples of referral groups include LeTip and Business Networking International or BNI groups. 

Often times, referral groups and exclusive groups go hand in hand.

Chaffee talks about:

• Community Service

• Professional Association Groups

• Professional Networking Groups

• Social Groups

While I broke down all the different types of groups, you’ll find that most groups are a hybrid of two or three types.  You can have a Professional Networking Group that is Exclusive and for Referrals.  In order to best understand which group traits might be best for you, I broke them down to individual pieces.  We’ll discuss how to determine which groups to attend in the next section. 

Which group(s) should you attend?  This section is designed to help you figure out which of the numerous groups out there might be best for you to attend. 

This should be obvious for most people and yet some people are still just exploring.  So first and foremost is to figure out a Definite Purpose for Networking.  Be as specific as possible.  Just saying, “To get more clients” is not enough.  The more specific you can get, the better.    

When I first started networking, I was just getting a feel of the land, so I didn’t really care what group I attended.  As I mentioned, I attended close to 10 groups every week and many of them were different each week.  Keep in mind that sometimes your best CLIENTS if you’re a business owner will come from SOCIAL groups and open groups. 

Why?  Because you get to know the members and the members will refer business to you when they hear about something.  My mortgage broker friend gets a ton of business his kid’s PTA group.  It’s amazing where you can find business if you Network with a purpose.

If it moves and has money, you’ll sell it something right?  Kidding.  Seriously though, who is your ideal client?  Where would they hang out at?  What would they do?  Where would they go?  Now don’t look for a group that would match that criteria.

Yikes!!!  Why not?  

Well, there is ONE exception – (ok, maybe more and 1 main exception).  The main exception is if YOU are your TYPICAL client.  So if you went to a group somewhere, would you find 5, 10, 20, or more of YOU there that would buy from YOU?  

Otherwise… and this is key… more likely than not, you will NOT find a client at the group you’re networking at.  

Huh?  Isn’t that the purpose of networking?  

Nope.  The real purpose of networking is building relationships.  Relationships with people who will REFER you business.  REFER to you, your ideal client.  

So do you still need to know who your ideal client is when you’re attending a networking group?  YES!!  Why?  So you can tell whoever you’re networking with who to refer to you!  ASK FOR REFERRALS!!  This is so important and so few business owners do this.  

O.k. so even though I said there was 1 exception to this rule, there really is 2.  The second exception is if you’re just looking to get out there and network with people on a social / personal level and not looking for clients.  In this case, YOU are your ideal client.  So determining why you’re networking and then looking for like-minded individuals is key.  Which leads me to the next point we’re going to talk about.

Know everything there is about your company, your product, what you do and most importantly how you can help people with your product or service.  Know the benefits.  Know how it can change people's lives.  This will allow you to not only find the right networking group; it allows you to be consistent across those groups.

First, knowing your business and product or service will help you find groups that are in alignment with your business.  You really don’t want to attend a dog walking group if you want to sell cat toys.   For example, I believe that competition is healthy, it makes me better, and that not everyone wants to work with me.  I believe this because I don’t want to work with everyone.  I don’t want to work with everyone because I know that some people are more suited or will have better results with someone else who is either more in alignment with their beliefs or with their personality or with their skillset.  While I believe I can help MOST people out there, there are a handful that I would serve better by either refusing service or by referring them to someone else.  Because of this, I don’t really believe in exclusive groups where I’m required to refer business to its members or pay a penalty. 

I prefer non-exclusive groups where there may be 2 or 3 different people of the same profession which allows me to see who I like the best and determine who I want to work with.  Knowing this about MYSELF allows me to eliminate exclusive groups and focus on Non-exclusive groups.  As I mentioned, some people LOVE exclusive groups because they tend to be closer knit and they know they will get referrals.  If that’s you, then maybe exclusive networking groups are right up your alley.  Know thyself and you’ll be able to determine which groups you want to attend or avoid.

Second, having a consistent business AND personal message is extremely important.  Understand that people talk.  And when you start attending different networking events, people might even talk about you!  What they say could be good or bad depending upon what you say.  Don't have 10 personalities that you pick and choose at each event.  Choose 1.  Your true, authentic self.  And be consistent in that message.  And be confident in your message… and yourself.  

If all you do is take, take, take, then no one is going to want to talk to you.  If you only know how to sell someone something and not give any kind of value, then people are going to avoid you.  You’ll be amazed at how much people will open up to you if you provide value first.  

This is important when looking for a group because you can pre-determine how you can provide value (other than referring business to people you don’t know) first going into a group.  The group will be more open to you and its’ members will want to get to know you more – and ultimately refer you business – or just become a friend and support.  

Back when I started networking, we didn’t have this thing called the Internet to find all these groups all over the place.  I had to be creative, network to find networking groups, and ask around.  I checked newspapers, coffee boards, and publications for meetings.  Today, blink and you’ll trip over a networking group.  Let’s discuss a few places that are probably most effective for you in this section.

Your local community village hall or city hall is a wealth of information.  You can either go there in person or look at their website online and see what kind of meetings are being held.  They have meetings for all sorts of things which can lead you to the following: 

1. A local Chamber of Commerce

2. The Park District

3. Local Business and Volunteer Meetings 

The local paper is another wealth of information.  In my area, the local paper actually allows local business to post their upcoming meetings.  So I can just go online to the community calendar and see what meetings are where.  It’s also listed in the paper itself if you still get it.

Of course social media is the BOMB today.  You can find meetings listed all over social media especially on Facebook and LinkedIn.  While it’s not really considered a social media site, it does of traits of one, so I’ll include Meetup.com here.  Meetup has taken the United States by storm when it comes to meetings.  Check and see if there’s a local one for you.

I know Online is quite general, every city or location will be slightly different and will have local meetings which can only be found by doing local searches.  Of course, one of the best places to start is Google.  Simple go onto Google and type in:

1. Business Networking [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

2. Professional Networking [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

3. Social Networking [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

4. Networking [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

5. Meetings [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

6. Social Gatherings [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

7. Local Clubs [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

8. Where To Meet People [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

9. Best Places to Network [YOUR CITY OR TOWN]

This is a good start and you may find some sites dedicated to networking.  

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