If you (or someone in your company) is not networking,
then your business is not very important to you. After all, personal networking is very
important to your business.
Zig Ziglar once said, “If people like you they’ll listen
to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you.”
How do you get people to trust you? You build a relationship with them, which can
only be done by personal interaction (i.e., networking). Get involved in your community with centers
of influence. This builds trust, which
results in business and referrals. While
all referrals are good, those from centers of influence are best because they
occur more frequently.
Andrew Twidwell, owner of ABT Plumbing, Electric, Heating
& Air Conditioning in Grass Valley, CA and Auburn, CA talks about the power
of networking…
I
joined our local Rotary club back in 2008. In the years since I've been able to
turn more than 3/4 of them into returning clients. Our club has 92 members. So was it worth spending an hour every
Wednesday having breakfast with these folk? More than you can imagine. I went into Rotary to help build my business,
it did that and so much more. I've been
sucked into an organization that does so many incredible things both locally
and internationally.
By
the way, yesterday was my first day as President of Nevada City 49'er Breakfast
Club. The things I've gotten from Rotary
are, business, friends, leadership skills, and the honor of helping do good
deeds both locally and internationally.
The best networkers are involved in multiple
organizations. Twidwell added, “By the
way, I'm personally a BNI member and have one of my plumbers active in another
BNI group. It’s another great
organization.”
Steve Lauten, president of Total Air in Plano, TX said, “I've
been in Rotary for 25 years. The relationships I've developed over that time
has allowed our company to survive some big downturns in the economy and helped
us build a referral driven business along with BNI. In addition I believe in putting ‘Service
Above Self.’”
For non-Rotarians, “Service Above Self” is the Rotary
motto. It is this commitment to
community service leadership that helps build trust among club members. Rotary and other service clubs expect their
members to work. If that’s not you; if
your only interest is referral and lead generation, you will probably not last
long in a service club. You will,
however, find a home with BNI, LeTip, or Netweavers, which are primarily leads
clubs.
Steve Wiggins of Quality Air Care in Waco, TX
agrees. He said, “Networking is key. I've been in Rotary, BNI, and several others. It works!”
As a company owner, networking should be a major part of
your job. Become one of your community’s
centers of influence and your top and bottom lines will grow. If networking is not part of your DNA, hire
someone to be Mr. Outside to your Mr. Inside.
It’s too important to ignore.
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©2014 Matt Michel
