It was a dark and stormy night. And a lone business owner walks back to their car from yet another networking event.
The wind whistled around the car park as the cackles and laughter back in the bar could still be heard. She clicked her car key.
“What a night!” she heard herself say out loud. “Did I really drive over to this place to listen to that grey suit gas on about why they were so great at what they did?”
She flung the car door open and sat down heavily in the driver’s seat.
She would have loved to take her shoes off because her feet were killing her, but it wasn’t the weather to be having a spare pair of flip flops in the car. And driving home bare foot didn’t really appeal to her.
She suddenly felt really down. She had been at this networking malarkey for months now. Turning up at lunches, coffee shops and those god awful breakfast sessions that only offered deep fried sausages and greasy eggs.
She had really and truly thought that getting out and meeting people would open up doors for her. That turning up at places where other business people, just like her, would start getting her leads and potential new clients.
How wrong she was. All she had to show for it was a huge pile of business cards that had been thrust at her at every event and a slightly tighter waistband from those heavy breakfasts.
Suddenly there was a bang.
She jumped out of her skin. The noise against her car window shook her out of her trance and her heart began beating furiously.
She hadn’t noticed the figure creep up on the car, who was now peering through the window.
“Jeepers”, she thought. “It’s that bloody grey suit again.”
He made a gesture to indicate he wanted her to wind down her window.
Automatically she put her finger on the window button and it slid down until she stopped it half way. For some reason, a voice told her not to keep her finger on the button.
“You forgot this”, grey suit said cheerily. He held out a business card. His business card.
“I saw that you left it on the table just before you left and I was just about to leave myself, I thought I would bring it out to you. Sorry … didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No. No, you didn’t. Startle me, I mean.”
She took the offered business card. What else could she do.
She grimaced and mumbled a thank you as she pulled up her window again, quickly turning the ignition key before reversing out of her parking space at a speed that hopefully didn’t appear too rude.
It was that moment that she became afraid. Really afraid.
Had her marketing come to this? Driving from one networking event to another collecting business cards from grey suits? Was this the only way to get clients?
For too many business owners, just like you, this horror story is a reality.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Happy Hollowe’en!
What advice would you give this business owner who was at the end of her tether? Is networking something to focus on? Or are there easier ways to get business?
I would love to know what you think. Leave a comment below and share your ideas and thoughts.
Great article. I think some networking events/groups are very like this…I had a “scary” encounter at one where I was pounced on as new meat (excuse the gruesome references but it is Halloween after all!) They were certainly grey suits like in your tale! I think you have to find a networking group that fits with your own ethos, and it isn’t just a great group because everyone else says so.
You need to be very clear why you are joining a networking group – is it for business leads alone? Or do you get additional value ? I belong to a group and although have had business leads, these sales haven’t set the world on fire. BUT I have had a lot of business support (great when you work alone) and discovered good local companies for services to use (design, printing, etc)
I currently am reviewing my membership and thinking that perhaps networking groups are much better for those service related businesses or businesses that have a physical location in that area. I am neither!! What do others think?
I think that when you are setting up or have just launched a business, networking is something to focus on but don’t ignore other opportunities. Happy Halloween!
Thanks for your thoughts Natasha. I believe that networking is one of those marketing strategies that too many business owners think you HAVE to do it … but actually they don’t. It’s easy to see it as a “cheap” way of getting new customers, but when you add up membership, cost of breakfasts, travel time and time out of the office, networking can quickly become one of the most unproductive and unprofitable ways of getting your business out there.
When you are getting started, networking can work really well building a local community of like minded people … but once you have that, you really do have to question whether it’s profitable for you or not.
If you enjoy it … keep at it. But don’t kid yourself that you are “marketing” if you can’t see a return on your investment.
Networking has been far from a horror story for me; probably due to the nature of my business (everyone likes great value advertising!) and I have met some very nice people. I even enjoy the greasy eggs!
But I suspect the networking concept is flawed for many: People are there to talk about their own business and have little interest in hearing about the others, particularly multiple times!… Unless there is a culture of using each other’s services out of loyalty – Mason style.
Would it not be more effective to give your minute- to -win- it to a receptive audience – eg a travel agent talking about singles holidays to a WI meeting?
You’ve raised a good point Thelma about seeking out receptive audiences. I am sure one would bump in to less grey suits this way. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Very much dependent on the networking event, I think. I have been to ones where I know absolutely that I will never find someone to connect with, but I have started going to a couple recently where there’s a great vibe, some lovely people and local business owners that I’m actually friends with! I don’t treat them as a way to get more business as such (although I have!), but as a way to collaborate, connect, catch up and exchange ideas. I work on my own a lot of the time, so miss this part of being in an office (about the only thing I do miss!) so it’s great way to keep a bit of a profile in your local business community.
Hi Catherine. Great that you found some good events to go to. And yes, I agree it ‘s good to be able to get out when you work from home with only a dog to speak to all day ;o)
I dedicated four years towards networking by running meetings and Aldo attending various ones. It is worth surrounding yourself with like minded people and can be inspiring however I learnt that you need to know what you actually want to achieve from having a business and then working towards this. Working at it is the key and not to stop and start something new. It will happen if you believe it will. I heard Karen speak at an event and admire her success. I am looking at creating a yoga and wellbeing business with a plan, belief and actions that I can create success and prosperity.
Having a clear objective from attending meetings is absolutely clear. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Yasmin.
It’s just hunting out the right networking groups, which can take a bit of time. I’ve managed to ditch the grey polyester suits and went more Saville Row and am getting better results!
Yes, I see you hobnobbing at champagne events … Quality of the wine reflects the quality of the networking? :O)
Very interesting comments to a common problem. I do find that networking groups are frequented by a lot of hunters… people only interested in selling to you without finding out if you even have a need. They are usually inexperienced and give up on networking quite quickly because the ‘hunt and sell’ technique doesn’t work. Then there’s the other extreme, people who are there purely for social reasons and talk about anything but business, be it yours or theirs. However, I’ve observed that the people who are successful at networking and it doesn’t matter which profession they are in, is they have a clear strategy and are very clear what they want to gain out of it. Their minute pitch is punchy and leaves people in no doubt what they’re looking for. The conversations they have with people – they say very little about themselves but they do ask questions that steer the person to give them answers that indicate whether they are a potential client… i.e. do they have money and do they have a need you could fill. And they do that without sounding salesy. My advice is be clever with networking and develop a strategy.
You have made some excellent observations Vee! Thanks for sharing them here.
As other people have said, it is all about having a strategy and being clear about who your target market is and hanging out where they are. Having said that, I’ve found networking to be a good source of business and referrals – you never know who knows your target market. It does mean it’s more indirect and takes longer. My advice is pick one or two groups to attend consistently and take time to build up relationships before expecting any business. I’ve tended to avoid the ones with the grey suits. I’ve found women only groups to be more supportive and less pushy with the business cards.
Hi Karen. Love this post. I felt like I was reading a story. I’m not a huge fan of networking events although I do attend one regularly that works very well. It’s very informal. What I find works best is to build what a lot of people call a tribe. A few people who support you and are genuinely interested in your business and you. I’ll meet up with these people or connect regularly online with them. I prefer a more personal approach. One thing I do now and again is choose a nice hotel locally and invite a few people along to join me. This is a really nice personal approach to staying connected with people in business.