Hello everybody, Mickey Griffith here with The Referral Institute in the North San Francisco Bay Area, and I’d like to give you a networking tip today. We get asked for networking tips all the time, and this one’s pretty simple. It’s an oldie, but a goody, and I’d like you to pay attention to the reasons why this is a good tip. Never go to a networking event alone. Take a buddy with you. Okay, there are several reasons why that’s important.
Number one, just makes it more comfortable. You already know you’re gonna know somebody when you get there. On the way, you can even strategize a bit about what you’re going to do while you’re there. So that’s another part of it. You get more comfortable to start with.
The second thing is, just inviting somebody and having them say ‘yes’ and planning to go makes you accountable. You’re far less likely to back out of a networking opportunity if you’ve made an appointment with a networking buddy to show up. The trick there is to not choose a networking buddy that’s just as willing to let you off the hook as you are willing to let them. Choose a buddy, somebody that you’ll be comfortable with that will help hold you accountable.
Finally, here’s the third part of it that’s really cool. When you go to a networking function, it doesn’t matter how cool of a person you are, how great of a person you are, it always sounds better when it’s coming from somebody else. If you go a networking event with a buddy, you can strategize on the way in. I don’t how many times I’ve been at a networking event and somebody said, “So what brought you here today?” My response, my favorite response is to say, “I’m here to support my friend Eric. Eric is in a business of taking care of business credit and helping businesses get financing when they can’t get financing through traditional methods, and he is a fantastic resource, and I’m just here to make sure that he’s getting as much business as I can help him get.” So I just promoted Eric. He’s got a great opportunity now to have another conversation with somebody else, and he didn’t have to brag about himself. For those of you that don’t like to talk about yourself, this is the very best way to make the most out of a referral marketing or networking environment.
That’s your tip for the day. If you’re gonna be networking, make sure you’re taking a networking buddy. I’m Mickey Griffith with The Referral Institute in the North San Francisco Bay Area.