How NOT to Network – Part 2

The other night, I met my friend Lisa Hansen at a networking event.  It was dark and rainy and she arrived at the function before me.  Prior to my arrival, she was “netwacked”  (a word that I had to coin for my November 14, 2008 blog called How NOT to Network).  I invited Lisa to share the sheer frustration of the experience as my first Guest Blogger.

Listen Up – A Networking Tip for Beginners (or self absorbed, bad listeners) – By Lisa Hansen

To have a good conversation, one must listen, connect and engage. When meeting someone new at a networking function, I try to find connections and I listen. What makes a great listener? You don’t just hear, you ask good questions prompting conversation back and forth. For example:

• What are your company’s core services and specialty?
• What’s your role?
• What types of businesses are your clients?
• How many people work there?
• How long have you worked there?
• Where are you based?
• What do you like about your job?

Unfortunately, all too often, I encounter a one-way street. I ask a question and it’s not reciprocated. I recently met a young man who works for a printing corporation. Now, I’ve been doing marketing and graphic design work long enough to know the services most printers offer. However, this guy didn’t see the word “marketing” on my name badge. For the next 20 (yes TWENTY) minutes, I politely listened to a big long ramble about services, projects, clients, paper type, web presses, QR Codes, publications and more. Honestly, it sounded like a run-on sentence.

At one point, I interjected with a question/comment about a mutually known magazine (they printed it and I placed ads in it), thinking it would prompt a question or two back to me. You know, like, “what do you do now?” No luck. He jumped back to his run-on list. He completely missed that his ramble didn’t entice me to want to do business with him. In fact, it turned me off completely. Seriously, 20 minutes!

When networking, keep your commentary succinct, ask questions and really listen. You’ll engage, connect and maybe make a sale.