After more than 20 years working in PR and communications, I’ve been to my fair share of networking events.
Breakfasts, lunches, conferences, industry events, informal coffee mornings, large-scale receptions, speed networkings, ‘tweet up’s’… you name it!
They’ve not all been the most enjoyable let me tell you! However, I continue because I genuinely believe that networking can be one of the most valuable ways to build a business (and some of them have been pretty good!) Some of the best opportunities I’ve had, and many of the strongest professional relationships I’ve developed, have started with a conversation at an event.
Over the course of the years, I’ve also seen the same networking mistakes made time and time again, and interestingly, most of them come down to one thing: Forgetting that networking is about relationships, not transactions.
Here are five of the most common mistakes I see.
- Trying to speak to everyone
There can be a strange pressure at networking events to maximise your time by meeting as many people as possible: Five minutes here, a business card there, make a quick LinkedIn connection and move on – but you don’t necessarily need to meet 30 people! One genuinely interesting conversation can be far more valuable than 20 forgettable ones.
If you meet someone whose business, experience or perspective interests you, give the conversation some time. Ask questions, find out what they do, and look for common ground.
You’re not trying to complete the room, you’re trying to make connections that might actually mean something.
- Turning every conversation into a sales pitch
This is probably one of the biggest networking mistakes.
Someone asks, “What do you do?” and suddenly you’re delivering your entire elevator pitch, listing every service you offer and explaining exactly why they should become your next client.
There’s nothing wrong with being clear about your business, of course, but networking isn’t necessarily the place for a hard sell. A good introduction should create a conversation, not close a deal, so tell people enough to understand what you do, then be interested in what they do too. You never know where that conversation might lead…
- Talking more than listening
It sounds obvious, but good networking is often more about listening than talking.
People generally remember how a conversation made them feel, not necessarily every detail of what was said, so ask questions and be curious – and remember that you need to actually listen to the answers, rather than waiting for your opportunity to talk about yourself!
You might discover a shared interest, a potential collaboration, a challenge you can help with, or simply meet someone you genuinely enjoy talking to – and if nothing else, you’ll probably have a much more interesting conversation.
- Collecting connections instead of building relationships
A stack of business cards – or 200 new LinkedIn connections – doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve had a successful networking event. The real value comes afterwards.
Did you follow up with the person you had that interesting conversation with?
Did you send them the article or introduction you mentioned?
Did you check in a few weeks later?
Did you remember what they told you?
Relationships develop through repeated interactions, not one conversation over a cup of coffee. This is particularly true in the Middle East, where relationships and personal recommendations can play such an important role in business. The networking event might be where you meet someone, it is rarely where the relationship ends.
- Expecting an immediate return
Perhaps the biggest mistake is assuming networking should produce an immediate business opportunity. Sometimes it does, but often it doesn’t.
Someone you meet today might not need your services for six months. They might never become a client themselves but introduce you to someone who does. Or they might simply become part of your wider professional network and recommend you when the right opportunity comes along. That doesn’t mean every conversation needs to have a commercial outcome.
Some of the most valuable professional relationships I’ve built started with absolutely no obvious business opportunity attached to them. They developed because we liked working together, trusted each other, shared contacts or simply enjoyed having a conversation.
So, what actually makes someone good at networking?
For me, it’s not necessarily the most confident person in the room, the person with the biggest network, or the one who manages to speak to everyone. It’s the person who is genuinely interested in other people:
Someone who listens.
Someone who follows up.
Someone who makes useful introductions.
Someone who remembers you six months later.
These people generally understand that relationships take time.
After more than two decades in PR, I’ve become increasingly convinced that some of the best business opportunities are not created by the most polished pitch or the cleverest marketing campaign – they come from people, through a conversation, a recommendation, an introduction, a relationship that develops over time.
So the next time you walk into a networking event, perhaps don’t worry about how many people you can meet. Forget the business-card collecting, forget trying to sell to everyone, instead, aim to have one or two genuinely good conversations. You never quite know where they might lead…
