The easier way to do Business Networking .

When I first stepped into the world of sales, I was introduced to Business Networking as a tool to generate leads. Social media was not big thing yet at that time, so we relied heavily on face to face interaction to generate leads. What I noticed back then, the emphasis was really on getting the right number of cards, engaging with prospects, build rapport and straight into asking some qualifying questions ( to determine whether I should call to set a sales appointment with this prospect later). Yes, we were taught about the importance of rapport. Without rapport, no appointment and no sales. No sales means no commission.

As I started to do free lancing training work, built my own company and a team, I learned that getting sales closed requires more than just chasing numbers. My mission has to be bigger than numbers. This is when I learned about the laws of karma on the cause and effect. When numbers is all I chased, then every prospect will become numbers. When I see them as numbers, they will start seeing me as numbers too.

And then I learned to shift my focus from "what can I get from this person" to "what value can I add to this person I just got to know", things started to change. I no longer have to chase numbers, but numbers started to chase me. And here's why :

1. I only have to focus on one thing i.e adding value.

Do you notice that we are a lot calmer when we are only focusing on 1 thing at a time especially when we are engaging with people? The moment we remove the anxiety and that conversation in our heads such as "how much worth of project can this person give me", we are able to listen and have more presence in our conversation with people. We can truly listen deeply to the person in front of us. And guess what, in sales, listening to prospect is really key in getting to know their pain points, their aspiration etc. With that information in hand, we can avoid proposing or selling something that they don't want or don't have the budget for. I don't know about you, but I find it more relaxing to focus on the person in front of you than to worry about ourselves when we are around other people. Nowadays, I don't rush to tell people about what I do until I have listened to what they do and followed by some "I am keen to know more about you" questions. When we are calm and present in our communication, that's when people find us pleasant to be with and pleasant to work with.

2. I let go to God/Universe on 'what's in it for me'.

For a control freak like me, this was a stretch. Growing up I was used to the mantra that every results that I created in my life was due to some specific action that I did. In the case of sales, I started off by believing that at every business networking I must have a target on how many people must I meet and how many appointments I must obtain at the end of every business networking event. But what that did was it built my ego and totally disconnected with the fact that there is an energy behind all this and it is even more powerful than any human mind's capacity. The moment I let go the need to pin point which particular action delivers what results, I often find that the universe will deliver even bigger results effortlessly.

So today my networking will look like this :

a) meet someone new

b) ask myself how can I add value ? - refer business, connect them with others or simply spending some time getting to know what they do.

c) add value when there is an opportunity

d) some form of other opportunities starts chasing me.

e) grab the opportunities that arise and be grateful for it. Most of the time, the opportunities that came has nothing to do with the person I added value to.

3. I drop my expectation.

Expectations is the mother of all disappointments. The moment we set expectation such as "Hey , I have added value to you, so it's time YOU reciprocate", that's when we will get upset and our relationship with our new connection is no longer pleasant. Worse if it keeps lingering in your mind. Why live in misery by setting expectations towards others when you can let it go ?

So today, my business engagements come in through unexpected ways and I love the pleasant surprises that the universe sends to me. What I need to further improve is my faith that things will just fall into place. How do I do that ? By taking note of the little miracles that take place in my life.

Try out this 3 principles the next time you go for Business Networking. In the current age where people are focused on adding value both online and offline, nothing is more unpleasant than to hear a self or product promotion within the 1st few minutes of meeting someone new. Speak less and listen more.

I conduct workshops teaching people how to connect and communicate better using NLP presuppositions and approach. If your team wish to have such workshop for higher productivity at workplace, you can connect with me via email at [email protected]