You probably have at least one business event on your calendar right now.
Have you thought about…
➡️ Who you want to meet?
➡️ How you will reach out to them?
➡️ What you will say when you see them?
If you don’t have answers to these questions, you need to start thinking about them now!
Late winter/early spring is always the time of year when I revisit my networking skills and strategies.
Although it may vary depending on what industry you’re in, for many of us, this is the time of year when the calendar starts filling up with conferences and trade shows.
The winter holidays are behind us, the weather (hopefully) starts to warm up, and there are many new opportunities to connect at events…if you know how to CREATE them, not WAIT for them.
Networking with Intention
For most of us—me included—networking doesn’t come naturally.
Truth-be-told, I sometimes freeze when I walk into a huge room full of people. And I hear this concern from so many of my clients.
So, I’m here to remind you that networking is one of the most important skills you can learn. The more doors you can open, the better. And networking is the best way to open those doors.
Much of my success can be traced back to connections I made at events. While some of those connections were ‘seize the moment’ opportunities, most were 100% intentional.
This year, my first event of the season will be the Southern Exposure conference hosted by the Southeast Produce Council next month in Orlando. (Will you be there? Reply to this email and let me know so we can connect!)
I could just show up to the conference and try to start conversations with random people I run into at the event. (And I will do this to some extent!)
But I have learned that my networking efforts are FAR more successful if I start planning well before the event starts.
The Key to Successful Networking: Preparation
I used to show up at events without any kind of plan or structure for networking.
Not surprisingly, my results were… meh.
Eventually, I realized I had to take a more proactive approach. I decided to make networking a priority.
Whenever I had an upcoming event, I made a plan. That meant making a list of people I expected to see and prioritizing those I really wanted to connect with. If it was available, I would review the list of attendees and exhibitors, which allowed me to research potential connections.
Then I would reach out to those people before the event. It was usually nothing complicated—just a simple email or hello on social media. Sometimes people replied. Sometimes they didn’t. My goal was to plant a seed, letting them know that I want to connect in person.
Very quickly, my efforts started to pay off.
People who would normally walk right by me started coming over and saying hi. Busy industry leaders took the time to engage in full conversations with me. Whereas before I struggled to introduce myself, now people were introducing themselves to me and connecting me with others in their orbit.
Overall, I was stunned at how dramatically my event experience changed. All because I started putting in the time and effort beforehand.
Putting It Into Practice
Events tend to be very industry-specific. Many networking strategies will work well for some industries but not for others, and I definitely suggest that you brush up on strategies that are tailored for your industry.
But no matter what industry you’re in, you can apply these three steps to almost any event to increase your networking success rate:
- Build a vision of success. Take the time to create a clear vision of what success will look like. Which people do you need to connect with, what information do you need to gather, and what opportunities do you need to pursue? Are you trying to connect with customers, partners, or peers? Let your goals guide your activity.
- Identify your connections. Build your list of who you need to connect with to make the vision a reality. This will vary by industry and role. For example, while I was working for a commodity board in the produce industry, my list mainly consisted of retailers and industry members. I encourage you to push yourself beyond the easy answers to maximize your opportunities with individuals like industry veterans, potential mentors or mentees, rivals, trade media, vendors, and technology providers.
- Reach out to your connection list. This is the hard part! Now that you’ve made your list, take the leap and send an email or DM to let them know you’ll be at the upcoming event. If you see an opportunity to set up a meeting, go for it. But even without a set time to meet, a simple outreach message increases the likelihood that they will stop and talk with you at the event instead of passing by.
Lastly, don’t take it personally if you don’t get a response. Networking takes a lot of courage. Many of your outreach messages will go unanswered, and that’s part of the process too. Don’t let it stop you!