As an entrepreneur, you have a duty to keep your business afloat. If you’re not out there hitting the pavements selling, your pipeline will dry up and your business will essentially be non-existent.
But what happens if you’re an introvert and you loathe networking?
Trust me…You won’t find me willingly attending a networking event – especially if I don’t have a networking buddy with me. Or if I don’t know a couple of people that will be in attendance, and if I haven’t pumped myself up. I set minimal expectations for my networking outcomes. And it usually is something along the lines of: get 5 business cards.
To my extroverts, that’s small potatoes. But to my introverts, meeting 5 new people is HUGE!
So if you don’t like to attend networking events but still rely on word-of-mouth marketing, referrals, or networking in general, I’ve found the key to making it all happen.
And that’s conducting one-to-ones with prospective clients and referral partners. It all starts when you automate your networking!
Let’s talk shop over a virtual coffee and discover how you could benefit from business automation.
Why Automate Your Networking?
Networking requires a lot of time…
Finding the networking event.
Getting ready for the event.
Driving to or logging onto the event.
Qualifying people quickly.
Establishing several connections.
Following up on those connections.
Maintaining relationships.
And that’s the simplest form of networking!
If you don’t have any of those processes automated, you aren’t going to be able to build the depth of relationships you need to move your business forward.
When you automate your networking, you can better maintain relationships, keep people at top of mind to refer clients to, and become a resource for other entrepreneurs. You want to be the person who knows someone. This is an extremely valuable position to be in and not one to sleep on.
Why Networking Wastes Time & What To Do About It
Now, I’ve opted for automated networking over physical networking because I calculated the costs of in-person engagements.
- Drive time to the event
- Parking fees or valet tips (depending on the parking situation)
- Your hourly rate for 1-2 hours
- Drive time back home
Then you need to consider how many legitimate connections you actually met. Do you have a follow-up meeting? Or did you simply shake hands with no next steps identified?
It’s costly. And something that I refuse to waste my time on (unless it meets a whole myriad of qualifications for me to attend).
So here is how I save time and start automating when you’ve been hitting the physical pavements:
- Schedule a 121 as your initial follow-up meeting.
- Complete their profile in your CRM (we love to use Keap).
- Set up an automated “thank you” email after your meeting.
- Follow up with introductions to prospective clients, referral partners, or people you think they should meet with.
- Put them in an automation that sends an email to schedule another meeting in 6 months (or whatever time you want to meet).
- Repeat the cycle.
This is how you build relationships where you are the first person they think of when they think of your profession, service, or product.
6 Steps To Build Automation To Keep You on Track With Your Networking Goals
Now you know the general basics of what an automated networking campaign looks like, here’s how to be extremely targeted in your strategy.
1. Identify Who You Want To Connect With
It’s all about the who. You need to know before you step into a networking event or meeting who you want to be introduced to. This doesn’t have to be a client. But it does need to be super specific.
Consider researching them on LinkedIn to see who they are connected with that you want to be introduced to.
If you’re meeting strangers, identify what types of people you want to connect with (and be specific). For example, I’ll say I want to be introduced to marketing agency owners who do not have a copywriter on their team.
When you’re specific, you become exponentially more effective in your networking time.
2. Know Where You’re Going To Meet Them
Depending on your preferences, you may want to meet them in person or virtually. Determine what works best for you. Personally, I love meeting virtually because I meet with people all around the world – from the US, Canada, Argentina, England, Mexico, and Australia. But there are other times when I want to meet up with local contacts in person. I usually do this over lunch, coffee, or on a walk (where I bring my son and dog). It’s killing 2 birds with 1 stone. I need to do all those activities anyway, so why not make them productive activities?
When you’re networking in person, it’s helpful to book that follow-up meeting while you’re there. Do not let time go by before you secure the next step. And please do not set it up as a sales call! Nobody likes to feel like they are being swindled into a gross sales call.
3. Have A Process For Your Stack Of Business Cards
Ever found yourself collecting stacks and stacks of business cards? I was recently cleaning out my home office and found a gallon baggie of business cards. Slightly ashamed of that! But what I realized before throwing out those probably decade-old business cards is the opportunities lost with those contacts.
I didn’t have a clear process for following up. And that’s ultimately leaving money on the table!
So what do I do now? I immediately upload a business card into my Keap CRM. I want to fill out as much information as possible so that if I have someone in my network who is searching for someone like them, their name will pull up. This process usually includes me connecting with them on LinkedIn and researching them. I want to know as much as possible before reaching out to them.
Part of my reasoning for this is to know before I meet with them exactly how I can support them. But I also want to see if they can support me. Networking is a mutual activity.
4. Set Up One-On-One Conversation With Contacts
After I upload networking connections into my Keap CRM, I push them through a specific networking automation that gets them to book a networking meeting with me. This is a simple 30-minute introduction call where we get to know each other and see if there’s any opportunity for us to continue the conversation.
Some of the questions I ask in that initial conversation include:
- Tell me about your business.
- Who do you want to work with?
- Who are clients you do NOT want to work with?
- Who are your ideal referral partners?
- What are your goals for the year?
- How can I support you? Or connect you with?
5. Follow Up On Conversation Promptly
Finally, you actually need to follow up with your conversation. Create a task for you to connect them with your network, and complete that task in a timely manner. If it can’t be done within a couple of days, set expectations or even update your new friend of when they can expect that introduction. This will build loads of credibility with them. And they will be more likely to refer to you.
Remember, just because they aren’t introducing you to someone in their network, doesn’t mean you need to sleep on it. The goodwill will come back tenfold, I promise. I don’t know how it works, but trust me on that.
6. Schedule A Repeat One-On-One
Finally, you need to make sure that you schedule a repeat one-on-one meeting. Now, you do not have enough time to keep track of everyone that you’ve met with. In one year, I conducted over 1,000 networking meetings with various people (including repeat meetings). There’s no way I can keep all of that in my head.
That’s why you implement an automated email campaign that will send those follow-up emails in 3 or 6 months (whatever your preference is) to schedule another meeting.
Ready To Automate Your Networking?
Your networking efficiency is on the brink of bursting into profitability. And it starts with investing in a quality system to get you there. We LOVE Keap and have been using it for years. Before you explore if it’s the right business automation tool for you, let’s schedule a conversation to get to know your company better.
Here’s to better networking!
