Jean-Pierre Lauzier, consultant, sales speaker and author of the book “Le coeur aux ventes”, regularly gives his personal and commercial development advice on Isarta Infos. Today, he establishes a plan to increase his network and thus maximize his chances of success.
What do you want to achieve in your life? To have a successful business, to work out to be fit and healthy, to be a recognized artist, to be part of a successful music band, to sell to a lot of customers, to become president of a company, to have fun and enjoy yourself with friends? Whatever you want, the more your network of contacts is aligned with your goals, the greater your chances of success.
Some very successful people didn’t need their contacts, but those people probably worked much harder to get where they are. If you have a strong network of contacts, it will be easier for you to achieve your goals, avoid making mistakes, and get to where you want to go more quickly and efficiently. This help from your network can take many forms: putting you in touch with a client you covet, speaking on your behalf for a job, recommending you for a promotion, etc.
How many people in your current network of contacts can help you meet your needs? If you are not satisfied with your answer, here are some ideas for developing and building a strong network of contacts. A good network of contacts takes years to develop and must be well maintained.
1. Identify the people or the profile of people you want to know in order to meet your needs
Are they business owners, presidents, professionals, engineers, restaurateurs, athletes, artists…? Are you looking for people in a particular industry, such as construction, aeronautics, manufacturers in the plastic industry, etc.?
2. Find the physical or virtual locations of the contacts you want to know
Do these people participate in Chamber of Commerce activities, associations or groups, foundations, sports leagues (field hockey, baseball, golf, bowling, etc.), etc.? What restaurants do they eat at? Do they attend conferences, seminars or public appearances? What articles do they read on the Internet? What social networks are they active in? Your options here are limitless, as you can network anywhere you meet people.
3. Actively participate in activities in these physical and virtual networks
Of all the activities you identified in the previous step, which ones could you accomplish? Select them and have the discipline to participate regularly. The most difficult part will be your first few participations. After that, it will be much easier as you begin to get to know people and feel more and more comfortable.
If the network is virtual, share relevant comments and participate in discussions. You have opportunities to meet people almost every day; when you meet someone who fits your profile, add them to your network of contacts and develop a trusting relationship with them.
4. What to say, what to do and what to write on the first contact?
Do you want to establish a relationship of trust with a person? To do so, you must first establish a great first contact to connect with that person. The best way to do this is to find something you have in common or something positive about them to discuss together.
If that’s not possible, ask them questions (name, job, how long they’ve been working, accomplishments, etc.) to get to know them better. Talk about them more than you talk about yourself to find out what you could do to help them by giving value through your expertise.
5. Do relevant follow-ups with your new contact
If you plan to see the person again at an event, it would be important to have done your homework on the person: go on LinkedIn, research the person in Google, etc. to find something in common or a positive aspect that you could share with them at the event where you will both be present.
If you don’t get a chance to meet this person again, reach out to them with one of these two points and what you can do to help. Before you get help from your network, you need to help your contacts first, because the more people you help get what they want, the more people will help you get what you want.
6. Maintain your contacts for the long term
What do you do to stay present in your contacts’ minds? Do you communicate with them on a regular basis, make videos, write articles, post comments on social networks, etc.? There are many ways to do this, it’s up to you to decide what works best for you.
To get great results in networking, you need to focus on your attitude. Help others before they help you, make people happy when they are with you, bring a lot of value through your expertise, be sincere and authentic in your approach, be interested in the person in front of you and finally, be grateful to have the privilege to do what you are passionate about and to meet interesting people.
Happy networking!
