Common Networking Mistake #2

The second common networking mistake to avoid is, not building a deep relationship. I am sure you know someone who falls for this mistake often, I call them eye wanderers. They are talking to you, but you can see their eyes looking around the room for the next person they are going to talk to. Almost at the same time, they hand you one of their cards and ask for yours, even though they have demonstrated little to no interest in you or your business. This is a classic example of someone who doesn’t understand that any good business relationship is built on a mutual trust established over many interactions. Can these all happen in one sitting? Sure they can, I have hit it off with people at events where I knew there was going to be a great business relationship, and even so I always suggested that we meet for a one to one over a cup of coffee to continue building the relationship. The interest in gaining a deep understanding of how you can help someone else is a fundamental portion of the trust building process, and one that if skipped has the ability to dismantle the best laid plans, rendering all your effort effectively useless. The person who falls into this trap ends up with a stack of business cards on their desk at home, and no idea who the people are or what their businesses do. This means there is no way that you can refer someone to them to help drive revenue to their business. That creates a situation where any amount of relationship you build effectively dried up and is now useless. Cultivating a relationship that lasts and is deep is the only way to ensure that your networking efforts aren’t wasted and that lasting trust filled relationships are generated.