Prospecting – Brokering – Networking: Do You Know The Difference?

I love Success Magazine – Do you subscribe? If you do, I highly recommend reading the article on page 84 “The Gift That Keeps On Giving: Networking Your Way to Personal Gold” by Tim Sanders.

It’s a great article and the highlight for me is his differentiation between prospecting, brokering and networking. Could it be that your networking isn’t working because you haven’t really been networking? Let’s take a look:

Prospecting: When you walk through a reception or meet-and-greet with a handful of business cards looking for new prospects (you are not networking!).

Brokering: When you connect two people, then expect to be repaid for it (not networking!).

Networking: When done correctly, networking is when you connect two or more people who should meet. In other words, true networking is a gift you give to others.

Connecting others without an expectation of being repaid works in line with The Law of Reciprocity which is what Tim refers to as “The Secret” of the business world. The law states that people will give back where they’ve been given to. In other words, “what goes around, comes around” (just not necessarily directly from where you’ve given… that’s the catch!).

Tim’s article goes on to share the story of Elmer Letterman, a successful New York insurance salesman from the 1930’s. “Elmer hosted networking lunches every Friday at the Four Seasons Restaurant. His strategy was simple: Invite three business people who should meet due to mutual interest. He did his homework too, arriving with ideas on how the three could work together. For example, Letterman might invite a chef who wanted to start a restaurant, a banker who could finance it and a construction executive who could build it. He’d explain why each party was credible, get conversation started, pay the bill and then disappear.”

You may be wondering how this strategy worked for him. Here’s the math: 3 people times 50 weeks a year equated to hundreds of business owners in New York who had Letterman to thank for part of their success. Cool story huh!

Now here’s what’s really exciting… this strategy can be duplicated to produce surprise and delight and long lasting loyalty for those in YOUR network! Now think about what this small investment in “networking” could yield for your business in a very short time!

Action Steps:
1) Identify three people in your network who should meet
2) Schedule a networking lunch with these three individuals
3) Introduce them revealing the connection and relevancy, get the conversation started and disappear.
4) Do this every week for one full year and watch The Law of Reciprocity work in your favor.

Tip: Starting today, when you get a business card, enter it into your contact database and think about who you know that this person should meet. Tim suggests that you can use the “miscellaneous” or “other” field as a “should meet” field.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” ~ Dale Carnegie

If you like the concept of GIVING as the foundation of your networking strategy, you’ll enjoy reading “The Greatest Money Making Secret in History” by Joe Vitale and you’ll want to mark your calendar for the JV Mavens Partner and Prosper 5 week Tele-series. It’s f.r.e.e. to attend and we will explore in great detail how you can leverage this concept to grow your business. You’ll find more information at http://snipurl.com/4qcql.

Happy Networking!