Fear is temporary regret is permanent
“Take that action; what’s the worst that will happen?”
There are nearly always people standing alone, by the wall, at an event. The usual reason is they don’t know anyone and they are a little nervous. I have been told these are ‘losers’; I retort by saying they could be but until you engage them in conversation you will not find out. I know for one thing they generally don’t go to events to stand alone and the other observation is they will be eternally grateful to you. Your fear is rejection but I just know when you are kind and polite the reaction you will get will be favourable. And if they are rude, just move on. When you approach smile, good eye contact and ask ‘Please may I join you?’ or ‘Please may I introduce myself?’ or just ‘Hello my name is Will’. I generally only use my first name, they do and I then repeat it. The issue of names is not about forgetting, it’s about not listening.
Bear these thoughts in mind the next time you don’t
1. Approach someone standing alone
2. Approach an ‘open’ group to meet more people
3. Move on when the conversation is over
4. Move on from a group where you have no interest
5. Ask probing and intelligent questions
6. Ask about the relationship with their existing advisors
7. Ask for their card to follow up
8. Ask permission to call them after an event
9. Make that first follow up call
10. Make that 2nd and 3rd follow up call
Don’t think of sales or selling when doing your business development. Think, when you have knowledge, experience and expertise which adds to a prospect’s business it is your duty to develop their business by matching their needs with your offerings
The author of this article is Will Kintish, leading UK authority on effective and confident networking both offline and online. If you’d like Will to speak at your conference or training workshops, call him on 0161 773 3727. Visit www.kintish.co.uk and www.linkedintraining.co.uk for further free and valuable information on both face-to-face networking and LinkedIn.