Social? Networking

These past few weeks have been eye opening for me in the world of Networking. In all the research I’ve done lately the latest networking buzz was about offering your knowledge to assist others. Networking productively means putting yourself in give to get situations. This most recent definition of networking runs closely with my approach. In reality, it appears to me that there are actually two common schools of thought on Networking.

The first school of thought is that networking is a sales tool. People go out into the networking world, either online or in person, with a view to have their connections buy a product or service from them right away. If a sale is not immediately made, there is no further contact. This approach implies that your contact is of no value to you unless you get immediate pay-off.

The second school of thought is that networking is about relationship building. It is about putting yourself in give to get situations but does not expect immediate gratification. You and your contact learn about each other: interests, needs and aspirations. Over time you find ways to help each other reach goals. This assistance could be in the form of direct help or it could take place through referrals.

My networking focuses on the second school of thought. To me, networking is about relationship building and over time finding ways to help each other. I am not a person who will make a referral lightly because my reputation is on the line when I do it. This means that I need to have a pretty good idea of who you are, what you do, how you work etc. before I will tell someone that you are the person they need to see. For many services I prefer to know a bit more about you before I will use your services unless you are recommended to me by someone I trust. Why would I recommend you to a friend or colleague using different criteria than that?

I mentioned earlier that the past few weeks have been eye opening. This is because I have had a few encounters with people who seem at first to be interested in the second school of thought but soon after the niceties have been skimmed over, it becomes a full out sales call. I won’t say I’m discouraged by this because at least it shows the person’s ethic to me early in the relationship. I don’t need to invest much time to find out that this is not a person I wish to work with.

I call this style a veiled sales call and it can be a little disheartening. The sales call approach to networking seems to me to be very short sighted. It appears to discount my value and that of my entire network simply because I don’t jump and buy whatever it is you’re selling on the spot. The relationship usually ends quickly when the person realizes that I’m not buying at this time. This person will never know that I’ll be ready for the product or service in one month or two. They will also never know that I know 5 people who could use the product or service right away but I need more information before making the introduction.

I’m not saying that one way to network is right and the other is wrong. I will suggest that you choose an approach and stick with it in your dealings with a contact. Not only does it save time, it increases your integrity factor. I will stick to the relationship building approach unless I am sure that I can satisfy your needs immediately and can show you how in a sales call.


Is it possible that I am simply a naïve networker and everything is a sales call?