Better ways to network

Positive-thinking guru Dale Carnegie couldn’t do without his. And Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg got US$450 million earlier this year from Goldman Sachs for his (and everyone else’s).

Cultivating a personal social network is an essential business skill. But while social-networking tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn are making database-building a competitive sport, many entrepreneurs still struggle to figure out what “friending” 574 people of various degrees of separation has to do with growing their business. Still others quake at the prospect of glad-handing their way through hundreds of attendees at an industry event.

PROFIT spoke to five networking-savvy executives and entrepreneneurs to get the goods on how to work a room, how to tweet your way to a warm introduction and how to talk about your business with a total stranger without coming off like a used-car salesman.

More is not merrier:
Take heart, those among you who would rather eat chopped liver than schmooze in a crowded room. Working the pre-dinner reception at a 200-table event is not an effective way to build your network, says Matthew Clancy, president of Forward Focus Recruitment Inc., a Toronto-based recruitment firm for the high-tech industry.

When it comes to networking, Clancy eschews the “go big or go home” approach in favour of “networking with a purpose.” First, he identifies a specific individual he wants to meet. Next, he trolls through his existing contacts looking for someone who may know the person. Then, he asks for an introduction or information that could help him meet the person, such as charities she belongs to or golf tournaments she’s likely to attend.

“Ninety-nine percent of so-called ‘networking events’ are a complete waste of time,” says Clancy. Although large events can provide an opportunity to build your firm’s brand through a sponsorship, he says, they offer little in the way of network-building because conversation rarely strays from the superficial: “You have to create opportunities to talk to people in a one-to-one or one-to-few setting.”

Use social media to warm up a room:
If you are attending a big event, especially one at which you won’t know many people, you should reach out via social media to potential attendees before the event, recommends Stephanie Ciccarelli, co-owner and vice-president of marketing at Voices.com.

Shortly before attending an industry awards show, Ciccarelli and her husband, David Ciccarelli—CEO of the London, Ont.-based online marketplace for professional voice-over talent—determined who was attending the event by doing a hashtag search for Twitter posts about the awards, then sent tweets to the authors of those posts. When the Ciccarellis arrived at the gala, they sought out these people—and wound up having longer and more in-depth conversations than they would have had if they’d introduced themselves cold, says Stephanie.

Help your staff help themselves:
Forging strong connections with tradespeople has been paramount in helping Shawn Chaulk build a booming construction business in labour-strapped Fort McMurray, Alta. But while the president of Stratford Homes and Stratford Contracting Ltd. has never met a hand he didn’t want to shake, some of his managers aren’t so socially inclined. And that’s a problem if a manager is, say, trying to convince a plumber to give a job for Stratford Homes priority over the dozen others the plumber has on the go.

To help one shy manager build better relationships with the subtrades, Chaulk challenged him to take a tradesperson to lunch each and every week. Building networking into this manager’s schedule—and making him report back to Chaulk on a weekly basis—ensured that the manager actually did it.

After a few months, says Chaulk, he ob-­?served a distinct change in atmosphere on the manager’s jobsite: “I could tell by his body language, handshakes and the way he spoke to people that he was more confident and had stronger, more established relationships.” Even better, the manager had improved his skills at handling difficult situations and keeping projects on schedule without having to turn to his boss for help.

Get the facts—and know how to use them:
Don’t be afraid to monetize information gleaned from Contact A to help Contact B, says Clancy. Dishing salient details gleaned from your network can help you deepen relationships with your newer contacts. If you offer them valuable information that helps them grow their business, you’ll look like a hero.

When Clancy opened an office for his company in Montreal last year, he and his new regional director initiated a series of meetings with existing contacts in order to drum up new business. During one of these meetings, they discovered that one of the contact companies was considering buying software from another. But the potential purchaser also let slip that his company was concerned that the software supplier’s sales-service team wasn’t large enough.

Clancy shared this tip with the would-be software supplier, who enlisted Clancy’s firm to help recruit the additional sales-service specialist it needed. The software company ultimately won the contract, and has since engaged Clancy’s firm for eight more job placements. “Good networking is about connecting the dots,” he says.

Use technology to keep your database fresh:
You’ve put months of your life into developing an effective and profitable network. Now, don’t let your connections expire through inattention, warns John Espley, vice-president of business development for Accent Inns, a hotel chain based in Victoria.

“Keeping in touch with 3,000 people is not as easy as it sounds,” says Espley. “People move away, change jobs and start new companies. You have to find a way to stay up to date automatically.”

To keep his database stocked with the most current contact information, Espley relies on backup software that comes with CardScan, a business-card reader. Every six months, CardScan automatically emails everyone in his database asking them to verify the contact information that Espley has on them. Each time, he says, several of his connections need to be updated. Besides CardScan, LinkedIn and some other business-contacts services offer regular, automatic updates.

Power up your efforts:
One of the biggest networking mistakes people make is to waste their time connecting with complete strangers when they could be scoring face time with people who have a genuine interest in hearing from them, says Scott Gilmore, a partner with Fusion Learning Inc., a Toronto-based sales-training company.

Gilmore uses an exercise called Power12 that he developed a decade ago when he was thinking of ways to expand his network by building on past successes with clients. He takes his best client and maps out a total of 12 meaningful relationships this client has with partners, suppliers, customers or affiliates. Next, he asks the client to introduce him to these people by phone or email. Gilmore then requests a meeting with the potential new contact. But rather than just have a yak over coffee, he prepares a case study describing his work for the client. “You’re looking for people who will be interested in hearing the story of what you’ve done for this client,” says Gilmore.

As well as expanding your personal network, this tactic can also, over time, translate into sales opportunities. Gilmore used the Power12 process to leverage a project his company did with Canadian Tire Financial Services several years ago into work with four of its affiliates: Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Canadian Tire Petroleum, PartSource and Canadian Tire’s retail division.

No sales calls, please:
Even though great networking can often lead to sales, beware of confusing the two, warns Espley. The difference, he says, is that networking is all about building a personal connection, while sales is primarily about growing your business. Rather than attend networking events armed with an elevator pitch, be prepared to ask people you meet questions about who they are, where they’re from and what they do. “People love to talk about themselves,” says Espley.

Even better, when you follow up with your new contact after the event, you’ll have something to ask him about—such as how many walleye he caught on his last fishing trip. In other words, treat him like a human being, not someone who’s merely useful to your business.