“The Network Champion’s Way”
An overview of a proven approach for networking with success…
If you ask most professionals and business owners “Would you like to receive qualified referrals every day to help you grow your business?” their answer will be absolutely yes. If this is a goal of yours, networking with success will go a long way to make this happen. It can’t be achieved overnight and there isn’t a magic button you can buy or push to make it become a reality. However if you are willing to implement a strategic approach and can demonstrate you are worthy of receiving referrals from clients and other professionals, you can substantially move your business in that direction. It will require a comprehensive referral marketing approach and you must be willing to provide a customer experience that people are willing to brag about.
The first aspect of building a steady steam of quality referrals is providing excellent client service. Without this, you will never be able to consistently achieve a high level of qualified referrals regardless of what type of referral marketing or networking you do. If you are not delivering the best possible service, get your house in order before embarking on any other major initiatives. This includes not starting a new client referral campaign or investing a substantial amount of time networking with other professionals for referrals. The reason why this is so extremely important is because existing customers and clients will never refer you to their family and friends if their own service experience with your business isn’t highly positive. The other side of this equation and perhaps the largest opportunity that is lost because of poor or even average service is that other professionals and business owners will not provide an endorsement of your business to their best clients and customers if they do not have the confidence that you will provide them excellent service. Think of it in these terms, would you outright endorse someone and their services to a loved one or to one of your very best clients if you received mediocre or poor service from that professional? No way! This would damage your credibility and potentially harm your own client relationship. Wouldn’t you stop referring to a professional if your client came back to you and said they had received terrible service? Absolutely yes! If you truly want to grow your business through quality referrals deliver superior service. For the next part of this discussion, I am going to make the assumption you are currently delivering a superior experience to your clients and customers.
Regardless of your business model and your current marketing efforts one of the best ways to grow your business is networking with other professionals. The key to networking with success is to adopt an approach we call “The Network Champion’s Way”. This is a comprehensive and strategic approach that starts with a well choreographed Professional Networking Introduction which includes providing the other person a basic understanding of our proven method for networking with success. The Network Champion’s Way is an approach and method that facilitates building and maintaining referral relationships that progress through three important stages. Each networking stage corresponds to a level of current value those relationships bring to you, your business and your existing referral network.
The three levels of networking value are as follows:
1. Networking Contacts
2. Networking Connections
3. Trusted Networking Partners
This value based progression starts when you meet a person who is perceived as a good candidate to network with and someone who could potentially add value if a solid relationship is established. In the beginning, this networking candidate is simply in the networking contact stage. In other words, personal contact has been made, a basic understanding of each others business has been achieved, a desire has been expressed to consider building a networking relationship, and most importantly you believe the potential exists to create a win-win relationship. If these milestones have been achieved, you have made a networking contact. At this point, networking potential has only been established and this networking contact is not a networking connection.
The connection phase only begins when you have had an in-depth discussion about specifically networking together and how your relationship may successfully progress. To develop a networking connection, your discussions must achieve a level of specifics that goes beyond just a general desire to share client referrals, networking contacts and networking connections with the other individual. If you are successful during these discussions, you will mutually agree that building a long term relationship may be beneficial to all parties involved. This level of value is usually only achieved after having one or more connection meetings. Connection meetings are when the two professionals get together to focus directly on learning about each others business model, what their ideal client looks like, how to recognize a referral opportunity for the other professional, how they currently market their products and services, what type of service experience they provide, and explore other ways they can work together to help grow their businesses. One of the most important goals of your initial connection meetings is to determine if there is enough commitment from both parties to warrant further communication and/or future connection meetings. If all of these thresholds have been met, a networking connection has been established because it has become evident that enough interest and commitment is present to continue building a more valuable relationship.
While a networking relationship is in the connection phase, the professionals continue to work toward reaching a level of full understanding of the others business model and the type of referrals they desire. Some degree of basic trust has been established and referrals may begin to be shared. At a minimum, both individuals are open to continuing the relationship to share business building ideas and are willing to help facilitate making networking introductions with their other networking contacts and connections, and in some cases to their trusted networking partners. It is important to realize that the level of Trusted Networking Partner has not been achieved just because a referral has been given or a networking introduction has been facilitated. Making one or two referrals or providing a couple of networking introductions is a great start and certainly a good networking connection has been established. However it is necessary to maintain and nurture your connection relationship to maximize its long term potential. It will take consistency of communication and a committed effort focused on providing value to your connection. Remember that giving is the key to success and working together to foster a win-win relationship is the driving force that will deepen your relationship.
The connection stage may last a long time or it may progress to the next level of value rather quickly. If the relationship is not maintained the networking connection may revert back to the contact stage or it may be lost altogether. This ultimately depends on the continued commitment to work together to increase referrals and to support the growth of each others business. As time goes on and if the relationship is positively maintained, the goal is for both parties to gain the highest level of trust in the other as a professional partner.
To reach the level of Trusted Networking Partner, both professionals must truly be committed to the success of a win-win long term relationship and actually exhibit that commitment on a consistent basis. They both must be a referral advocate for the other and be willing to fully endorse the services of the other at every opportunity. A demonstration of the strength and commitment to the relationship is when each professional has gained the full confidence of the other and believes in the value of the others services enough to truly endorse them as a “Trusted Service Provider” to their absolute best clients and to all of their other trusted networking partners. When this type of trust and commitment becomes apparent, a level of value we call Trusted Networking Partner has been achieved.
To be a Trusted Networking Partner does not require each individual to be a client of the other, but it does require shared business values, a commitment to service excellence, continued communication, and an ongoing commitment to be an advocate of their networking partner, otherwise their relationship will not last. You may even have a long list of Trusted Networking Partners that do not currently need your products or services and on the other hand you won’t currently have a need for all of theirs. The great news is that a Trusted Networking Partner already knows all about their other partners’ business, their products, and the excellent quality of the services being provided. This makes it a no brainer for a trusted partner to look to their other trusted partners first whenever they have a current need. This level of understanding coupled with the value provided because of their existing relationships will provide a win-win situation again and again.
It is also important to realize that the act of joining the Chamber of Commerce, the local business association or even a well organized professional networking group, will not instantly transform you into a referral magnet. However, they provide a fantastic opportunity if you develop your networking skills and make a commitment to become a Network Champion. You must clearly understand that you will not automatically reach the level of value described as a Trusted Networking Partner because you are now a member of the group or just because you attend their networking meetings and events regularly. Nor can you achieve real sustainable success by just perfecting your Professional Networking Introduction and hoping you’ll impress someone enough in 60 seconds or less for them to magically begin to refer their best clients to you. You must work to earn their absolute trust and I caution you from automatically assuming they are all “Referral Worthy” as well. You must put the time and effort into scheduling individual connection meetings and follow up with the goal of giving. This is the only way to get below the surface and mutually determine if a relationship can or should be pursued. Professionals who network with the most success and who could potentially deliver the most positive impact to your business will not be won over in a two minute exchange of information in a group setting. Networking with success is a strategic process and if you want to become a “Network Champion” you will need to work at it. This is why it is called “Networking” and not “Netselling”.
“Netselling” is the worst and least effective method of growing a professional referral business. It is also the most over used approach in a group setting. All it does is turn Network Champions off and drive them away. Netselling exposes the person as a “Taker” and not a “Giver”. The “Giver” is looking for a long term win-win networking relationship while the taker is looking to make an immediate customer out of you. They are not good networking partners and they will usually never provide you or anyone else with a referral. They typically have a limited number of networking connections and they rarely have anyone who could be considered a Trusted Networking Partner. They don’t seem to understand the value in or see the long term benefits behind developing true connections and partners. They can’t see beyond the immediate sale to the hundreds and potentially thousands of client opportunities that may be opened to them by adopting “The Network Champion’s Way”.
The main goals of a Network Champion is to provide value to others and to benefit from all of the referrals through maintaining as many networking relationships as possible, especially their high quality connections and trusted networking partners. The only way this can be achieved is by making a commitment to network effectively or as we call it “Networking with Success”. It all starts by getting out there and diligently networking with the right attitude. However it takes more than just showing up with the right attitude, it requires utilizing an effective approach to find the right networking contacts that have the potential to become networking connections. Further more, it takes commitment to developing enough of those connections to the level of trusted networking partners.
To network with success requires you to be strategic in your initial approach when meeting a new professional. The proper approach will set the tone and direction of your discussions and enable you to begin to learn if the other person has the potential to become a Networking Connection or even a Trusted Referral Partner in time. We always initially categorize the other professional as just a prospective networking contact because you haven’t established whether they are even worthy of your time or the effort to build a relationship with. When introducing yourself one of the first things you must do as a Network Champion is get rid of the elevator speech. You know the one that most people spit out that gives their name, rank and serial number to some degree just before they go into what sounds like a sales pitch aimed at you. This is what a typical “Netseller” sounds like. Your goal is to be perceived as a Network Champion.
Network Champions introduce themselves by utilizing their Professional Networking Introduction that is truly thought out to introduce what they stand for and to emphasize their brand as a professional. Yes, it includes their name, business and basic information about their services. What sets it apart from the tired old elevator speeches is that the introduction focuses on professionalism and what makes them different, better and special to their existing clients without directing the focus on what they could specifically sell or provide to the professional in front of them. The Network Champion’s professional introduction also includes describing their primary interest as building trusted referral partnerships with other like minded professionals. The Network Champion makes it clear that they are looking for referral worthy professionals that may add value to their existing client base and who want to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with them and their other networking partners.
The next step is to ask them the right questions. You need to ask questions that go below the surface and provide details about the quality of the service they really provide. Do they actually have quality service standards that meet your expectations? Ask questions that require them to paint a picture of what the client experience will be from the very beginning and over time? Listen to their answers to determine what may set them apart from their competition? Is their anything that jumps out as different, better or special about them and their business model?
Frequently when new introductions are made, especially in a group setting you will be limited by time or the setting may not be conducive to getting all the details you want. This makes it very important to focus your attention on learning a few key factors as quickly as possible so an initial assessment can be made about their potential value. One of your main objectives is to find out if they are referral worthy. To do this you must understand what type of business and service model they actually employ. You also want to determine if this person is someone you would want to have a professional relationship with? Ask yourself if this person is someone who could really add value to your existing network. Do they seem to understand the concepts of what professional networking is about; building trusted relationships with other professionals based on giving. Are they actually interested in providing quality referrals to the other professionals they have confidence in and working toward becoming a trusted networking partner with a variety of other professionals? What type of networking success are they currently experiencing? Is their idea of networking an approach that everyone they meet is a current prospect? Does it seem like their sole motive is to sell you their products or services? A Network Champion will move on if they don’t like what they hear or if they aren’t impressed with the other person’s potential and overall professionalism. If they are impressive and potential is apparent, the Network Champion will proactively seek to schedule a follow up Connection Meeting or at a minimum they will schedule another conversation to take place within the next day or two with the goal of beginning the process of building this networking contact into a networking connection.
These follow up Connection Meetings and subsequent discussions are where the highly effective exploratory work is really accomplished. They provide the opportunity for the type of in-depth conversations that will reveal the details necessary to know where the relationship may lead. When a Networking Connection is clearly established, the Network Champion will integrate their new connection into their ongoing referral networking efforts. The champion’s ultimate goal is to strengthen the relationship by working diligently to create a highly productive long term professional relationship.
Network Champions understand that “Networking with Success” is all about working effectively to manage a large number of win-win referral relationships. They value their existing networking relationships and are willing to work as an advocate to increase that value for the benefit of their Networking Connections and Trusted Networking Partners. They are highly selective even when they are looking for new Networking Contacts. This is because to maximize their success, they understand the efficiency of investing their time and energy on the right people. Champions wisely explore below the surface to make sure their Networking Contacts are truly referral worthy before they will consider them a Networking Connection. They are proactive when potential exists to establish the right type of relationship, one that is firmly based on mutual giving. They will put forth the extra effort to develop highly productive “Networking Connections” and will strategically develop those relationships into Trusted Networking Partners.
This is only a brief overview of our comprehensive referral networking approach called “The Network Champion’s Way”. This overview was intended to help you gain a basic understanding of the philosophies and professional approach that delivers networking success. “The Network Champion’s Way” utilizes a combination of strategies, tactical activities and disciplines proven to help professionals build and maintain long term referral relationships. There are many aspects and skills that go into networking with success and our goal is to help you maximize your networking efforts. This will require you to make some changes and apply a wide variety of networking skills, strategies, activities and tools. Continue to read all of our other networking articles and periodically review the content posted in our networking libraries. Be sure to subscribe to our TiPS Times newsletter which provides weekly strategies for networking with success. We will provide you with all of our proven concepts and how to details, but it is you that must develop your networking skills and apply them. Make a commitment to become a Network Champion and you will experience networking with success.
Successfully yours,
Jim Harris, Chairman
TiPS Network Organization
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