In the world of business networking, you are spending a lot of time interacting with other people.  What is your affect on them?  How do they think of you?

How do your interactions make them think of you?

Many times I have seen people who have been involved with a networking group get so familiar with the other members that they forget that everything they say and do with them is being noticed, and is updating their impression of them.  Don’t fall into the trap of forgetting this.  Make sure that the way you interact with everyone supports the impression you want them to have of you.  This is true not only for the person you’re interacting with at the time, but also for everyone watching that interaction as well as everyone each of them describes you to later.  If you gossip about others, the person you’re gossiping with may think, “If he’ll say that about them, what is he saying about me?”.  If you drop the ball one of your referral partners has handed you, will they hand you another?  If you shy away from taking responsibility in your group? Will the members trust you to be responsible with their referrals?

Conversely, if you are consistently punctual, pleasant, polite, courteous, kind, thoughtful, and express real interest in helping others, the people who see you acting this way will be more inclined to trust you with their referrals.   Make sure your behavior is always consistent with who you want to be perceived to be.  Remember people are garnering clues from everything you say and do that will help them understand who you truly are.  This will then determine how they relate to you & whether they trust you with their referrals.  How you treat those referrals is key, as is sharing how that referral is being handled with the referrer.  Always follow up with a thank you letting them know how it went.

Be the best you can be, and that’s what people will see.

Happy networking.

Dave

 

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