6 Essentials of Networking Etiquette

As with any relationship in life, networking has it’s rules and most importantly proper etiquette. Knowing how to carry yourself and conduct business is important, but even more importantly is knowing what NOT to do. You work so hard to nuture your networking relationships, the last thing you want to do is destroy those by doing something silly.

Rule #1- Never Ask For Immediate Repayment

When you do someone a favor, like refer a client to them, never do it with a personal agenda in mind. You may hope in the future that they may think highly enough of you to certainly refer someone to you, however you must not ever make people feel that you expect this. You want them to feel obligated to help you out in the future, but strictly because they WANT to, not because you made them feel like they HAVE to. When you openly give without expecting anything in return you will continue to receive benefit over and over again. People can sense when you are genuine or not.

Rule #2- Treat Mentor’s Like A Mentor

When seeking out a mentor you must be respectful of the person, their time and their knowledge. Approach the relationship with your mentor with the intention of giving more than receiving. To start off, try taking him to lunch ((make sure you pick up the bill!)) During lunch, politely ask him questions and sort of pick his brain. You must do this in a sincere way and remember to be extremely grateful and appreciative of his time. Knowing how precious time is, this is a key factor which brings us right into the next rule..

Rule #3- Keep On Eye On The Time

In networking, especially when asking questions or for advice, it’s super important to respect the person’s time on the other end. Something that is great to ask when calling someone is:

“Hello _____, do you have a quick minute to answer a question, or is this a bad time?”

This immediately starts the call off on a good note because it shows you are concerned with the individuals time, and you respect them. This gives the mentor the opportunity to either say right now is ok, or to reschedule a more convenient time. Remember, you are the one calling for help, so it’s best to allow them the choice of when to help you. They are the teacher and you are the student. Be considerate about the number of times you call anyone, and of course pay attention to the time of day you call.

Rule #4- The Follow Through

A deadly sin of networking is not following through on your word. Keeping your word is in general a good characteristic to develop in all areas of your life. For a networker however, it is the oxygen you breath. If someone tells you that they are going to send you some information right away, and you don’t receive it until the following week, how does this make you feel about that person? Does it give you the impression that they are on top of their game? Does it give you the impression that they are go-getters? Do you trust this person enough to ever refer business to them? Probably not. Let’s look at it the other way, if you had received the information two days later in precise detail. The packet includes important dates, names and contact information that will definitely help you. How different are your feelings about this person? Much better, and because of how prompt and reliable they are, you may feel much more inclined on referring business to them in the future.

Rule #5- How To Handle Referred Prospects

When contacting a referral they may not know you are going to be calling. Perhaps the person who referred you doesn’t even have a close relationship with this referral, which means you must be very careful not to annoy them. When you receive bad referrals it’s important to be just as thankful as you would a good referral. You want to continue the good feelings with the person who sent you this referral, because there will most likely be more. However, since it was a bad referral you can simply teach them what would make a good one. You cannot expect people to know this automatically, it’s your job to educate them.

Rule #6- Write Thank-You’s

When you were a child, didn’t your parents always make you write thank you cards to everyone after every holiday? Mine sure did, and it’s no different in the business world. This really shouldn’t even have to be said, but I do not see it happening enough, so it’s worth mentioning. Like I mentioned above, regardless if the referral turned into a big sale or a big flop, let the person know how much you appreciated them thinking of you and trusting you enough to refer someone to you. Another good reason for writing a thank you is, it lets the person know action was taken. Also, make sure these thank you notes are handwritten and use a stamp. Small touches like that let people know you really took time to acknowledge them. When you make someone feel appreciated, I’m sure they will continue to genuinely want to help you!

Here’s To Your Unlimited Success!

Fawn Estes

239.707.7317

Fawn@fawnestes.com

www.MLMOnlineStar.com