Havering Business Networking Events London
London networking events – Networking is a term used to describe the activity of compatible groups coming together to recognise, create or act upon business opportunities. Many people are familiar with the term, ‘business networking’, but some are still unaware of how valuable networking for business is, especially for small and medium enterprises.
There are many different ways you can network for your business. There is online networking as well as face-to-face networking. Networking events can range from casual settings to more formal settings. Either way, business networking can be a huge advantage for your business.
Reasons to Attend Business Networking Events in London
Business networking events are a great way to meet new people with similar business interests, whether it is business goals or expertise, you are bound to come across someone who is looking for what you have to offer. Since these networking events are usually conducted to connect businesses, you should have no problem talking about your company’s services.
There are many free business networking events London buisnesses can attend, as well as paid groups, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a business networking event in London or Havering
What You Should Achieve From Attending London Networking Events
The more individuals you meet the better. If you’re constantly meeting new people you’ll build relationships, find customers, find good suppliers and discover new business opportunities.
To speak to as many people as you can you need to be disciplined and tactful because you cannot talk for too long with just one person. If you’re not the most outgoing person, you have got to push yourself to go approach everybody within the event. Even the people you do not feel particularly comfortable approaching and usually wouldn’t sit down with.
Once talking with people you may need to direct the conversation so you can quickly get the information you would like. This must be a balance of personal and business topics to create rapport and receive sufficient information for a follow up email or call but you will grasp once you are no longer building additional rapport, or the contact isn’t worth investment in time.
At this point it’s best to wrap up the conversation with them and thank them for their time and move onto the following person. Ideally what you want to try and do is discuss with everybody within the area and obtain their contact information.
I would say this combined with tip #1 is that the most vital tip of all the information listed here.
Once you begin setting this as my goal for networking events, your results can go through the roof. The more individuals’ contact information you get the more people you may be able to follow-up with and potentially get a meeting with.
Therefore if you’ll be able to increase the amount of emails or phone numbers you get from ten to twenty you ought to see about a double within the number of meetings and sales from an event.
Even if you do not get an opportunity to speak to everybody it’s essential that you simply get the contact information from everybody you do sit down with.
If you ask for a business card and they haven’t got one ask them to put in writing down their phone number or email. It’s a networking event therefore people are there to provide out their contact information, so you ought to never feel shy regarding inquiring for somebody’s contact data and may be able to get at least an email or phone number from everybody.
If you utilize these initial tips you may see a dramatic improvement in your results.
If you are able to get the opposite person talking this works in your advantage because you’re obtaining information about them, their company and their wants. This can be exactly what you need to take away from networking events because then you’ll be able to quickly decide if they’re a prospect and begin acting on finding out their hot buttons.
When others are talking they’ll also possibly be even more engaged and if they’re engaged it will assist you in building understanding with that person. How this can be carried out is with an open ended question like “What brings you to this event?” or “What do you do at your company” or “What’s the biggest issue facing you in business today?”. The key is to start out with an open-ended question then continue with additional open-ended questions based on the response you get.
There is nothing more awkward then somebody making an attempt to sell you something instantly upon meeting them. The most effective approach is to go in with the goal of finding suitable prospects then making an attempt to set up a meeting with those people and companies.
If the interaction goes well you ought to either ask for the meeting in the discussion or set a date, or if the conversation is a lot more casual you may end the conversation with a line hinting at that you should meet.
People love getting free help and like those who help them. If you’ll be able to somehow facilitate the people you’re talking with, even if you can only help by as giving them a name of somebody else they should consult with, you may instantly build rapport and trust with that person. With enhanced rapport and trust you may be way more likely to be able to secure a meeting and could possibly close a sale.
Ultimately you want to be interested and helpful as this will make you more memorable and people more well-disposed towards you. Always be thinking how you can help the person even if there is no gain in it for yourself – maybe you can connect them with someone else you met, or you know of a good resource for them, etc.
You will experience the most effective results if you follow up your new contacts the next day or so after the event. This will keep the interest flowing and you are more likely to make a prosperous relationship.
Conclusion
Being a good networker is something that can be learned and like any learned behaviour the more you do it the better you get at it – practice makes perfect!
Stick to the guidelines and you will quickly reap the benefits of business networking:
- Speak to as many people as possible
- Take their business card/contact details and be sure to follow-up with them.
- Listen more than you talk and ask yourself – ‘How can I help this person?’
- Never try to sell your service to a new contact at a networking event.