Why does a good business relationship rely on having some common business objectives?
As you attend networking events, you will gradually find ways that make it easy for you to mingle and be heard. Your message will need to be clear, focused and consistent each time. You will find that many of the people you met at one event will attend others you go to. These are the people that you will likely form a kind of bond with. It is these people you can work with to brainstorm on the best networking events to attend and those that have not panned out. This is also a way to start new business relationships. If you had not found anything in common with them before, you now have something to discuss. You can ask questions as to the type of business they are looking for and who their best customer is. You can also find out more about their business objectives and how they may mesh with what you are doing at the present time. The ultimate goal here is to get to the first appointment to explore possibilities. They may want to do business with you as much as you want to do business with them
Once you focus on commonalities between each company and commonalities between individuals, the business relationship has an opportunity to form. You are not selling at this point; you are simply trying to establish a good business relationship. Each of you may try a little of what the other has to offer in order to test the waters before the relationship can be solidified.
The word business "pain" is flaunted regularly in marketing and sales circles and sometimes has very little meaning. Most organizations will not reveal their pain to anyone except an insider. If you are able to form a solid business relationship within the company, then you will be closer to finding out what improvements the company is striving for.
Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com