Business networking opens up doors that you wouldn’t even have known existed. Meeting new people widens your potential circle of supporters, helps you to get work and lets you share experiences which might just keep you sane in difficult times.
Networking is essentially just meeting new people and you can keep the conversation going online through Twitter and Facebook. The important thing is to develop a relationship and try not to be forgotten.
Not all companies immediately think that business networking will be useful to them, particularly if your target customers are not business owners. However, we all know people who need products and services, and referrals can come from the strangest places!
If you are working in the trades, for example as a builder, carpenter or locksmith, business networking might not seem like the obvious choice. However for these types of services, recommendations are so important. When we invite people into our homes, it makes us feel vulnerable which is why we like to use tradespeople who have been previously vetted by friends or neighbours.
Networking with local companies can help you in a variety of ways:
Find the products and services that you might require
If you are looking for an accountant, a printer or a business advisor, you could ask the contacts you meet at a networking event for a recommendation. Or even better, you could meet them face-to-face to give you the opportunity to find out how they work and what they could offer you.
Get referrals
The fascinating thing about referrals, is that they are based on personal relationships rather than your business skills. So when you go to a networking group, try to make your primary aim to get to know people and ask questions. Don’t try to sell to them, as this can be very off-putting.
Gain valuable business tips
Getting to know local businesses in and around Hertfordshire allows you to share your business experiences with others and hear what other people have been doing that has been successful. If you can form allies with compatible businesses, this can be mutually beneficial.
Share experiences and laugh it off together
Running a business can be exciting, rewarding, demoralising and soul destroying. Ride these peaks and troughs with the friendships you develop at networking groups.
This is a guest blog by Abbey Locks, a locksmith in Hertfordshire and London who can give you a helping hand in an emergency situation, a free security survey of your home or a lock changing service if you move house.