Networking: It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know

Victoria Sharp, MD of The Avanti Group, shares her top tips and advice for successful networking as she explains; ‘It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know!’

In a world where we have to increasingly offer added value to our clients, networking should open up a community of experts in their field, where there is opportunities for collaboration through communication and relationship building.

To network successfully, your professional networks should offer you a broad cross section of business contacts and individuals – if you only network with people similar to yourself you are limiting your knowledge base and potential clients.

For Avanti, having a professional network of multiple industries represented means the ability to access a plethora of industry experts for our clients. To do this with success, we advise being open minded about the people you meet when networking, not only seeing how they can help you, but how you can help them – look beyond your first impression and take time to get to know everyone you meet as you never know where opportunities may lie.

Look beyond your regular target market.

Remember:

• You never know who someone is connected to
• Your attitude says everything about how you will do business

If people are networking, they are generally all there for the same things:

• To grow their knowledge base
• Growth through word-of-mouth referrals
• To make contacts

Be less selective about who you network with and take your time to get to know your fellow networkers, some choose to keep it small or local, but it doesn’t mean that they aren’t big hitters in your business community.

A fellow networker doesn’t fit your target market, will it stop them introducing you to their contacts? – the answer is no!  Before writing someone off because they may not be ‘corporate enough’ or are maybe ‘too small’, take a moment to readjust your thought process, and engage with them.

Those who network out of their comfort zone, tend to have the strongest and most far reaching networks.

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” – who you know will open doors, what you know will get you inside!

For networking centred around building genuine valuable connections, give Avanti a call (08000) 388 799 to enquire about groups in your area.