Overcoming Six Major Excuses for not Networking

Even though most successful home-based businesses are built on word-of-mouth marketing, I have found that networking is usually overlooked and sometimes even avoided. Too often a home-based business will try to compete with larger competition on their level with advertising and direct mail. Unfortunately, many home-based businesses find that normal advertising techniques do not result in immediate business and require a lot of money, which most small businesses do not have. Not only that, but a prospective customer has a hard time knowing how such a business could serve them better than all the competition that is also advertising. And without knowing a prospective customer and his or her needs, you do not know how you can best serve them until you talk with them to find out what unmet needs they may have. (for a discussion of how to remedy that problem, read my other blog on websites and how they can help)

That is where networking comes in. Networking gives you the opportunity to find out what they need and show how you can serve them better. In the process, the prospective customer will also have a chance to find out what they like about you, and most people want to do business with someone they know and like — particularly when they need a service.

So why is there such a resistance to networking since it is such a useful marketing tool? According to the “Almanac of American People”, going to a party with strangers is the most frequently mentioned source of anxiety in social situations. Could that be the reason many small business owners avoid it?

Here are six common excuses I hear for not using networking and a new way to look at them.

I don’t have enough time to network. Networking does take more time than answering the phone and setting up appointments to do business. But if the phone is quiet, networking is an excellent way to make it ring. Networking also allows you to do market research while you are trying to fill your pipeline of potential customers. You can rub shoulders with prospects and find out what they need and what needs are not being met. You can also find out how your competitor provides their services, what they do that the prospect likes and what they do that the prospect does not like.
I am too shy to meet people in a large group. What makes a successful net-worker is not a lack of being shy, but the recognition that everyone else in the room is shy, too! If you focus your attention away from yourself and onto helping others feel more at ease, you’ll become more at ease, yourself. How do you feel when someone you have never met before comes up to you with a warm smile and says, “Hi! I’m so and so. What’s your name?” I am sure that you are more than happy when that happens. It works the same way when you go up to someone you don’t know and greet them and show interest in them — genuine interest — you make them feel good. If that person doesn’t need your product or service, they may know someone who does!
It takes me away from the office. Some people work on their own because they like to work by themselves, plus those who work on their own have more than enough work to do in the office. Networking usually does mean taking the time to go somewhere else. To make it so you are not away from the office during business hours, many networking meetings are either early in the morning so you can be back before the phone starts to ring, or they are at noon when customers will understand if they get a answering machine that says you are at lunch until 1:00.If you do not keep the pipeline full of potential customers, soon you will not have enough work to keep you busy… you don’t want that!
I don’t like to mix business with pleasure. Another version of this is that people feel guilty if they enjoy working too much. Yet how often does someone at a social activity ask you, “What do your do?” And how often do you ask others what they do? Each such question is an open invitation to network. Most people are eager to talk about themselves and are flattered when someone else takes an interest.Don’t think only small businesses network! Many large deals are made by the largest companies over a game of golf or at other functions.
I don’t want to be a pushy sales person. Networking is not selling! Let me repeat that, because it is important. Networking is NOT selling! Then what is networking? Networking is a means of finding new people who are interested in and of themselves. It is also an opportunity to find out whether or not the people you meet are potential prospects without the pressure of a sales situation.I advise to never sell while networking. That is what gives networking a bad name. Any selling that is to be done will come later. If you find someone that could be a prospective buyer of your services, you won’t have any of the problems associated with cold calling. You have already opened the door to a relationship. Simply get their card and withing a day, give them a call to make an appointment for a one-on-one. Do this even if they would not make a good customer but may know someone who would.
I do not like to sell, period. No business can exist without some selling. Networking is an ideal way for someone who hates to sell to get business. In networking, by the time you get the opportunity to sell, you have already built a relationship and determined the need for your product or service.Even if there is no sale from your efforts, if you continue to network, you will be able to stay in touch with the contact without having to make any follow-up phone calls, which take a lot of time and we all dread making.

Remember that you should not try to depend on networking for immediate results. Of course, you shouldn’t expect immediate results from other forms of advertising either. It has been estimated that you need to make contact with a potential client 7 timesbefore they will even consider you as a supplier of what they need. With direct mail, that can be very expensive! Networking is far less expensive and the results are far more sure.

So if you want to get more business, start talking and have a fun time while you’re at it.

Now go out and have a profitable day!