Linked to success
Networking is critical to business success but it’s a skill the experts say is easily learned — and one that has very little to do with turning up at endless events and flashing business cards
Monday, February 08 2010 || Features || BY Melanie Cooper
If it sounds like the stuff of business legend, Dell’s head of global marketing, Andy Lark — an expat Kiwi — says it is in fact the product of networking done right.
Lark, who was on the receiving end of the emails and lobby-loitering stratagems of Unlimited Realities product manager Ben Wilde, says by observing a handful of golden networking rules other companies can replicate this success and build powerful networks.
Getting your timing right is a great start. Lark says the modern networker has to appreciate that the person they are seeking is very busy, so they improve their chances by fitting in around that person’s schedule, seeking (and preparing for) a short meeting and setting it up ahead of time.
Think about the timing of your opening move too — an email to a busy company director on a Monday morning, for example, probably won’t get too far.
“Most people try to network and communicate when it is most convenient for them, not when it is most convenient for the person they are trying to communicate with.”
Another mistake would-be networkers make in those first interactions is failing to listen, says the former Merrill Lynch stockbroker turned communications consultant Mark Jeffries.
“Being so focused on what you have to say and what you want to ‘sell’ can mean that you don’t listen. Listening, watching and observing are networking activities that prepare you very well to cement a new relationship.”
Ensuring you and your company can stand up to inspection is also important. The minute Wilde introduced himself on the phone he came under digital scrutiny from Lark, who looked into his background on Google, visited his company website and checked his profile on LinkedIn.
“I think a lot of New Zealanders miss that point — they don’t understand that the moment you call me and get me on the phone, I am Googling you, I am looking in LinkedIn, I am looking at your company website, and if they don’t meet a minimum threshold of quality, the chances of me networking with you are going down pretty fast.”
In the few minutes he was on the phone Wilde passed the test for a sound digital reputation and by dint of being in Lark’s hotel he had also earned stock for ‘turning up’.
