3/16/2003

Networking: A web for success

By Stacy Cornay

Barbara Bush is one of my heroes.

It’s not just the pearls, the grandmotherly smile and the feeling that she might reach out and hug you when you need it most. It’s more than that. It’s her wisdom, her counsel and her sterling reputation. It’s all the things that go into her character. With Barbara Bush, what you see is what you get.

Here’s how she does it, in her own words: “You don’t luck into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build it step by step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities.”

That’s called networking. When it comes to marketing, don’t leave home without it.

Both networking and selling are part of marketing, but they’re not the same. As Don Cooper emphasizes on the Guerrilla Networker Web site: “Selling involves persuading, informing and negotiating. Networking is about meeting people and getting to know them. Once people know you, they are more likely to buy from you. ... Networking is meeting people and building long-term relationships with them.”

That’s what many are doing when they join civic clubs or organize a foursome at the country club or go to business after-hours attitude-adjustment sessions. They’re networking — building personal relationships that may translate into business. They’re putting their personal reputation on the line.

Marketing, advertising and public relations professionals have techniques for establishing a company’s reputation, but the people involved in the company make the biggest impact. How they are perceived by and interact with others impacts how those others view their company. We tend to purchase goods and services from those we know, those we like, those we respect, those we feel we can trust because we know them from networking with them in other settings.

Run up a warning flag at this point: Networking builds reputations, but it can also break them. The webs of networking are as fragile as those spun by a spider. So how can it best be done?

It can’t be done dashing hither and yon handing out business cards and then racing back to your place of business and waiting for hordes of new customers to pour in. Networking requires focus, commitment and repetition.

Network the same way that you do to create and maintain any successful relationship, from friendships to marriage. Focus on the needs of the other person. If you do — and the other person also is a good networker — there will be honest, revealing give-and-take that lays the foundation for a lasting relationship.

Networking means being able to walk up to a stranger and start a conversation. That’s really not hard. Everyone likes to talk about his or her favorite subjects. Just ask a stranger about his or her business or kids or vacation, and you’re off to the races. Asking questions confirms your interest in the person and reinforces his or her mental image of you. Unless you trump his or her story of a birdie with your story of a hole-in-one, you’ll be remembered when it comes time to do business.

Just to be sure he or she does remember you favorably, follow up. Send e-mails, make phone calls and give referrals whenever possible. Don’t write anyone off as a poor prospect. You never know who might become a referral source or an information provider or lead to another valuable contact.

Above all, be sincere. You’re really not networking as a mercenary. You’re expanding your circle of friends.

That’s another reason I like Barbara Bush. She’s everybody’s friend. My goal is to possess her dignity, her remarkable reputation, her beautiful white hair (someday) and her calm confidence.

But I’ll probably lose the pearls.

Stacy Cornay is owner of Communications Concepts, a public relations/advertising firm in Longmont.