There is a commonly held misconception in business networking.
It is the belief that we should talk to as many people as possible in the
limited time given in order to literally harvest as many business cards
or contacts as humanly possible.
And from this harvest, generate plenty new opportunities for business... as the saying goes.
I would like to make several remarks here :
✅ Networking is always a great opportunity to create potential business
relationships, there is no doubt about it - we are present to meet
people.
✅ However, playing the numbers game to just harvest contacts puts you at risk of appearing insincere, awkward, at worst
annoying, at the moment of your introduction, resulting in a mediocre
feeling for the other party.
✅ Choosing a quality interaction with just a few people that results in a meaningful and memorable
conversation is my favorite option. Why ? because a constructive
conversation leaves a positive memory that can trigger a chain reaction
of additional contacts, recommendations and it can also be fun.
✅ Is everyone present at an event ready for such transaction ? Probably
not. Does it matter ? No. Yet, my intention is to always look for
those individuals who might, and some of them are always easy to spot.
Then the real question is : How to open the conversation and "land" on very interesting business topics ?
I will disclose some of my conversation openers tomorrow.
Participants to my training in communication skills use those openers extremely well
now, to their own benefits, and you can too.