Business Networking: How to Build Professional Relationships

Summary

In this week's 'Tips for Work and Life,' Andy emphasizes the importance of consistent networking for career success. He outlines seven key principles for effective business networking, including giving value first, building trust, and expanding networks. Andy also presents a five-step plan to set goals, conduct research, identify key contacts, draft personalized messages, and execute a monthly outreach strategy to foster lasting professional relationships.

Takeaways

• 🤝 Networking is an essential aspect of career success, providing a significant advantage over time.
• 📝 Consistency is key in networking; it should be an ongoing activity, not just when needed.
• 💡 Always offer value first in your interactions, whether it's time, energy, or knowledge.
• 🔄 Aim to give more than you take, building a reputation as a 'giver' and a bank of goodwill.
• 🌟 Prioritize building lasting relationships through live interactions, either in person or over the phone.
• 🔒 Trust is built by always following through on commitments and being dependable.
• 🌐 Expand your network by helping others grow theirs; pay it forward to foster mutual growth.
• 📈 Have a systematic plan for networking to execute your strategy effectively.
• 🎯 Set clear networking goals to guide your efforts and measure your progress.
• 🔎 Conduct research to identify individuals who can help you achieve your networking goals.
• 📑 Develop a relationship map to visualize connections and potential new contacts.
• 📝 Prepare tailored messages for different levels of relationship strength to streamline communication.
• 📅 Execute your networking plan by reaching out to a select number of individuals on a regular basis.

Q & A

What is the main topic of Andy's video?

The main topic of Andy's video is business networking, focusing on how to build professional relationships and the importance of networking for career success.

Why does Andy emphasize that networking should be an all-the-time activity?

Andy emphasizes that networking should be an all-the-time activity because if one only networks when they need something, it's usually too late. A healthy network needs to be built consistently over time.

What is the second principle Andy mentions for successful networking?

The second principle Andy mentions is to give value first to others before asking for something in return. This could be in the form of time, energy, education, or favors.

According to Andy, why is it important to give more than you take in networking?

It is important to give more than you take in networking because it helps build a bank of goodwill and earns you a reputation as a giver, which is key to building lasting relationships.

How does Andy suggest building lasting relationships through networking?

Andy suggests building lasting relationships through networking by interacting live, either in person or on the phone, ensuring that the other person can see and hear you, which is more effective than just email communication.

What does Andy mean by 'always follow through' in the context of networking?

By 'always follow through,' Andy means that one should do what they say they will do, whether it's providing information, making a referral, or anything else, to build trust and be known as dependable.

Why is it crucial to expand the other person's network when networking?

It is crucial to expand the other person's network because networking is a two-way street. By helping to grow their network, you are not only being helpful but also ensuring that the relationship is mutually beneficial.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Introduction to Networking and Its Importance

Andy introduces the video topic focused on networking, specifically in a business context. He expresses his passion for building professional relationships and emphasizes that a strong, healthy network is crucial for long-term career success. Andy outlines the structure of the video, which will cover seven key principles of networking and a five-step plan to implement these principles effectively.

05:02

📚 Setting Networking Goals

Andy highlights the importance of setting clear networking goals as the foundation for effective networking. He identifies four potential goals: acquiring knowledge, building camaraderie, advancing career opportunities, and expanding business partnerships. Andy stresses the need to define these goals to create a focused and strategic networking plan.

10:05

🗺️ Research and Relationship Mapping

In this section, Andy explains the significance of researching potential contacts who can help achieve networking goals. He introduces the concept of a 'relationship map,' a tool for identifying and organizing key individuals within one's network and those to target. Andy advises creating a list of 60-100 people to connect with over the year, ensuring a diverse and strategic approach to networking.

💬 Crafting Effective Communication

Andy discusses the need for tailored communication strategies when reaching out to network contacts. He suggests creating a few template messages that can be personalized based on the relationship's strength and context. This approach saves time and ensures consistent and effective outreach, whether through phone calls, emails, or more formal messages.

🚀 Executing Your Networking Plan

This section focuses on the practical steps of executing the networking plan. Andy advises setting a monthly routine to reach out to a handful of contacts, aiming for meaningful interactions that foster trust and deepen relationships. He emphasizes the importance of persistence and flexibility in expanding the network and adjusting the plan as needed throughout the year.

🤝 Building and Sustaining Relationships

Andy concludes with a recap of the five-step networking plan and the importance of regular engagement with network contacts. He encourages viewers to invest time in developing deep, trusting relationships that will be mutually beneficial over the long term. Andy also invites viewers to engage with his content on various platforms for more resources on networking and personal development.

Keywords

💡Networking

Networking refers to the process of building and maintaining relationships with others, especially for professional or business purposes. In the video, it is the central theme, emphasizing its importance for career success. The script discusses various strategies for effective networking, such as being consistent and providing value to others before seeking help.

💡Professional Relationships

Professional relationships are connections with individuals based on mutual interests, often within a work context. The video discusses the importance of these relationships for career growth and provides tips for building and maintaining them.

Highlights

Networking is essential for long-term career success and should be an ongoing process, not just when needed.

The importance of giving value first before asking for anything in professional relationships.

The principle of giving more than taking to build goodwill and a reputation as a giver in your network.

Building lasting relationships requires live interaction, emphasizing the importance of in-person or phone communication.

The necessity of building trust through consistent follow-through on promises and commitments.

The strategy of moving the relationship forward by helping to expand the other person's network.

The need for a systematic plan to execute networking effectively, even though it involves human interaction.

Setting specific networking goals as the first step in the networking plan.

The process of researching and identifying individuals who can help you achieve your networking goals.

Creating a relationship map to visualize connections and potential contacts for networking.

Selecting 60 to 100 people to connect with over the year as part of the networking plan.

Drafting personalized messages for different levels of relationship strength when reaching out.

The execution of the networking plan by reaching out to a handful of people monthly to build relationships.

The importance of adjusting and tailoring communication templates for each individual contact.

Continual growth and adjustment of the networking list throughout the year based on responses and new connections.

The five-step networking plan for success, emphasizing consistency, research, relationship mapping, communication, and execution.

Additional resources available on the Tips for Work and Life blog and YouTube channel for further networking and personal development.

Transcripts

Hey everyone, it's Andy with this week's for Tips for Work and Life.

Today we're going to talk about networking and specifically business networking and how

to build professional relationships.

I love this topic.

I love this topic because I love people, I always like expanding my network.

I love building new relationships.

I love learning from people.

I really love helping people.

But, for you all out there, no matter what your job is, over the length of your career,

your network and it's health and strength is going to be your single greatest advantage

in succeeding in your career.

Sure, a lot of you start now, you have some smarts, some hard work, good job, all that

sets you in the right direction, but over the long-term, over a multi-decade career

that simple will not be enough to be truly successful.

So, want to talk about two major areas related in networking.

Number one, my seven key principles for how to do it successfully and then a five step

plan of attack to execute those principles.

And I think that's a big, big advantage for you is to know exactly how to do this.

So, let's get right into those principles.

This is really to level set us all.

I know a lot of you know these principles but just because you know them doesn't mean

you're going to be successful.

Let's get a running start with those.

Number one, my first success principle on networking is, it's an all the time thing.

You need to do it all the time.

If you only do it when you need it, you're not going to be successful and most, most

of the time, when you need to network it's already too late if you don't already have

a healthy one, if you haven't already built it.

So, that's number one it's an all the time thing, you need to be very, very consistent.

Number two, give first, give value first to the other people before you ask for something.

And it could be anything, but whatever value you can provide, you're time, energy, education,

favors, whatever it might be, but give them value first.

Number three, you want to give more than you take.

Put more into the networking bank.

Keep making deposits, keep making deposits before you make withdrawals.

You want to make sure that you're giving more, you build up a bank of good will, you start

to earn a reputation as a giver, that's a really, really, key one.

Number four, this is about building lasting relationships and the only way you can do

that, is to do it live.

I know I'm talking to a camera, but you get the point, this is not an email thing.

This is human interaction, dialog in person, or at least on the phone but you want to make

sure that you're actually spending time, the other person can see you and hear you.

So, you want to make sure that you're doing it live.

Number five, this is where you build trust, always follow through and do what you say

you're going to do, whether it's provide them some information, make a referral, whatever

it might be.

You want to make sure that you're known for having a good word.

That your word is your bond, you are trustworthy, you are dependable.

That's number five.

Number six, you want to make sure that you are moving it forward.

You want to expand their network.

If the interaction between you and me dies with you, you haven't helped me build my network.

So, you want to make sure you're thinking, how can I help expand this person's network?

Who might be good for him or her to know?

You want to pay it forward, you want to move it forward, you want to expand their network,

that is a big, big key to networking in general.

The point is for both of you or many of you or whoever you're interacting with, to grow

your networks, to grow them, to meet new people.

Number seven, even though this is human interaction, you still have to have a systematic plan that

allows you to execute it effectively, you have to have a plan.

We're going to talk for the rest of this video, we're going to talk about that plan but I

want you to realize, these seven tenants, these principles that I just mentioned.

I know a lot of you know them.

You've probably read books and seen blog posts.

Lot of them just leave you here.

Well, that's great but that's not what's going to make you successful.

What's going to make you successful is the first principle, be consistent, do it all

the time and the last principle that I mentioned, you got to have a plan.

So, let's talk about that.

Now, I'm going to give you the plan that has served me well over multiple decades and I've

been doing this for many, many years.

I have an extremely healthy network, this process works.

Now, the first place to start, which many people, some can see this inherently but others

don't really recognize this.

You have to set your networking goals.

Just dialing up people, calling them and emailing them isn't going to get you where you need

to be, you have to have a goal.

And what do I mean by goals?

I think there's many goals but there's basically four worth mentioning now.

You might just want to educate yourself or advance your knowledge in particular areas

or markets or industries, or whatever it might be.

So, simple education could be a goal.

camaraderie, sharing, that could be a goal.

What about you job hunters?

Getting your next job, that could be a goal or some type of career related goal.

Or, maybe you're a business owner or maybe you're a corporate employee but you're looking

to grow your partnerships and you're looking to grow your channels or you're looking to

secure new customers.

Whatever your goal is the first thing you need to do is identify it so you can fill

in the rest of the plan so it's more direct.

So number one, what is your goal?

Number two, then you head into research.

So, who do I know that might be able to move me toward that goal?

And, who might they know who can move me toward that goal?

Or, who do I want to know, that I think will move me toward that goal?

And, do I know anybody or how can I get to that person?

So, that I can communicate to him or her, develop a relationship, start building some

value for them and some trust with them so that they ultimately can help me.

So, this is really, the second step is about researching.

It's about putting out and trying to identify who you know, who they know, and who you need

to know.

And, it's really about what I like to call, building a relationship map.

Literally, it could be a list of people, could be a diagram, whatever it is that you want

to do but you have to build a relationship map.

Step number three, is once you collect a lot of those names and those individuals, then

what I would do is I would try to identify somewhere between 60 to 100 people that you

can connect with over the course of the year.

Doesn't have to be all at once.

You're trying to build yourself a nice list of individuals, not everybody's going to get

back to you, so you want to make sure that you're identifying the right people.

You never know, they might help expand, by the end of the year you might have 200 people

but just spend an hour a month just looking, gathering this research, trying to identify

these individuals who can help you but you have to identify the individuals.

Number four, you want to start drafting the messages and the communications that you're

going to use to reach out to them.

Now, I'm not talking about putting static templates together for everybody.

I'm just talking about, you've probably got three or four consistent messages that you're

going to send out to people.

I would, depending on the strength of your relationship, you might just pick up the phone

and call them.

If you don't know them very well, you might want to send them a cordial email.

If you don't know them at all and they're a hard person to get a hold of, you might

want to be a little more formal.

But whatever your tactic is going to be, you want to have a couple of pre-canned messages

that you can then tailor for each individual.

But, so that you're not constantly writing them over and over again, you want to make

sure that you've got some templates.

So, I would just spend some time, you only need to build those once.

You can massage them however you need to whenever you get to the point where you're going to

contact somebody in particular.

And then, what I would do, step number five is, I would execute that plan.

So, executing the plan for me is, at the beginning of every month, I go into my list of people

and my relationship map.

I look at five people that I would like to contact, whether I call them or email them

and I send them a message around the first of the month, just seeing if they want to

get together, whether it's on the phone, lunch, coffee, dinner, whatever it might be, a Saturday

afternoon, however it might be.

But, you want to pick a handful of people, five or six folks that you want to reach out

to.

You want to send them your message and you want to give them about a week to get back

to you.

Everybody's busy and five people may sound like a little or it may sound like a lot but

keep in mind, the goal here is to try and spend some time with them, not just shoot

them a quick email.

So, you want to give them a chance, if all five of them get back, then you got to find

some time in your calendar.

Now, all five of them might not.

If they don't, after week one, reach into your list of people in your relationship map,

pull another one out and keep going.

And you want to do this, throughout the year and you can continually grow that list of

60 to 100 people, you can add to it.

You can move people in and out depending on who's getting back to you.

But the point is, you've now got five steps and you could massage this plan however you

need to meet your particular goals but the point is to have some specific regiment.

So, let's just review it.

You want to make sure that you're directed, number one, you want to identify your goals.

Number two, you want to do the research, you want to build a relationship map and you want

to identify the individuals you want to reach out to and you want to target individuals

who you don't know who you might want the to reach out to.

Then, you want to gather and put a plan together for say 60 to 100 people that you can contact

on a monthly basis throughout the year.

You want to, number four, you want to develop your communications with them so that you

can quickly grab the template you need and shape it for how you want to direct it to

them.

And number five, then you want to execute.

So, whether it's the beginning of every month, the middle of every month, the end of every

month.

You want to reach out to five to six people so that, with the goal in mind to spend some

time with them to develop both of your relationships, build that trust, expand those networks and

all those other principles that we talked about, so that you can also build deep relationships

that'll help you over the long haul.

So, I hope that helps.

Now if you enjoyed this video, give me a like, a comment and a share and if you are watching

it anywhere other than my YouTube channel or the Tips for Work and Life blog, hop over

to the blog or hop over to my YouTube channel.

I got tons of downloads, free eBooks, giveaways, free webinars and a lot more to help you with

networking, your career, your job searches and anything else that you might need related

to personal development.

Until next week, have a great one.