For many people, networking is critical for professional and/or business development and online networking is a huge component. By “online networking”, I don’t mean seeing how many LinkedIn connections you can get, “liking” lots of other people’s posts, or having accounts on every new social media channel that launches; I’m talking quality over quantity. Now, to some extent, networking of any kind has a numbers component—you meet and talk to many more people than actually become valuable contacts or clients—but by applying a targeted, thoughtful and authentic approach, you can make your online networking efforts much more successful. Here are five tips to help you make the most of online networking. 1.Start local. This one may seem counterintuitive when using a global tool like the internet and in many situations, it makes a lot of sense to reach beyond your immediate geography. However, when you’re getting started with online networking, connecting with people in your own backyard first has its advantages: people may be more likely to connect with you if you’re local, you have a better shot at getting a face-to-face meeting, and building a solid network locally helps establish quality connections to build from later. 2.Find a personal connection or shared point of reference. When seeking out people to connect with, start with what you may have in common—for example, hometown, alma mater, previous employers, clubs/organizations, volunteering/causes, etc. Referencing whatever common ground you may have with a prospect helps instantly build rapport and give them a reason to connect with you. Relevant professional connections are best because they also offer some implied credibility, but even personal connections can at least be a conversation starter. 3.Why this person? When reaching out to someone you don’t yet know, it’s very important to have a clear reason why you want to meet this specific person. This goes beyond shared background—there are lots of people who share an alma mater or previous employer—this is giving the person a reason why you need them specifically and therefore, they will be more likely to give you some of their valuable time. For example, perhaps you are considering a career move from a large company to a startup and you identify someone who followed a similar career path, lives locally, and shares your passion for great user experience—share that with your prospective contact and they’ll understand why you want to speak to them and be more likely to want to help. 4.What specifically are you asking for? It’s a good practice to put some thought behind this question before any meeting, but particularly when you’re asking to meet with a new contact. This helps you clearly structure the request and gives the prospect a distinct idea of what you’re looking for and if/how they can help. Personally, I cringe when I receive a coffee meeting or networking request that’s as a vague as, “I’d like to meet you” or “I’d like to pick your brain”. Instead, state as specifically as you can what you would like to learn or discuss or anything else you’re hoping to get out of the connection. 5. Ask for the meeting. Just connecting with someone on LinkedIn does not a valuable contact make. If there’s someone you want to learn from, get help from or otherwise has something you want, you must actually talk to the person, preferably face-to-face (or via video chat if needed). A friend recently asked for some networking advice including constructing an email to a new professional contact. I coached him on the points outlined above and we concluded the note with a request to meet over coffee. He was a little nervous about sending it, to which I responded, “the worst thing that happens is he says no.” He laughed and agreed. The bottom line is: you’ll be pleasantly surprised how often people will say yes if you just ask. When you do write that first note, here are a few more tips for success. Use their professional email address whenever possible; personal email is next best and only use social media messaging if you absolutely must. In your note, use a “friendly formal” tone—sound like you’re an actual human (vs. a generic script), but keep it professional. And finally, follow-up! If you don’t get a response the first time, I suggest writing at least two more notes before giving up (people get busy, emails get buried). Even then, I’ve personally gotten responses months after my original note!
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We all have clients. Whether you’re in a corporate setting, a supplier or consultancy, or work independently or freelance, your clients are your bosses, team leaders, functional heads, customers, and other stakeholders. We’ve all experienced a spectrum of positive and negative client experiences, and by taking a closer look at these ups and downs—and evaluating what works and what doesn’t—I’ve identified three steps you can take to build better clients: 1. Build a Better Brief The biggest disappointments in client relationships tend to come from missed expectations. Perhaps they weren’t stated clearly by the client, understood clearly by the person doing the work, or, sometimes, the client hasn’t taken the time to think through what they really do want. In any case, a better brief can help. Depending on your specific role, a brief could be a request for proposal, a creative brief, a project charter, etc. Whatever form it takes, there are a few critical questions that should always be addressed:
2. Build in Enough Time A common mistake in creating project timelines is to underestimate the time required for activities outside the project itself. These include things like: upfront briefing and alignment, check-ins and updates along the way, reviews and feedback (potentially multiple rounds), and follow ups after initial project completion. The consequence of not building in adequate time for these things ranges from missed deadlines to compromised quality to going over budget—or getting underpaid. To increase the accuracy of your timelines, draw on past project experience (your own and/or getting input from other team members) and think through the times that felt rushed, required trade-offs, and were otherwise unanticipated time-draws. This isn’t about creating padded or unnecessarily long timelines; by planning for these connection and feedback points up front, you can often be more efficient overall, or at least more accurate. If you’re in a consulting or supplier role, try keeping track of time spent by type of activity (e.g. project work vs. client meetings, etc.) and keep a record for each project, which will help you better estimate for future projects over time. Regularly updating project timelines with actual dates and keeping them on file for future reference will help in corporate settings. Robust, accurate and well-planned project timelines set appropriate expectations up front with clients, allow clients to be better prepared to provide inputs and feedback, and allow you to delight clients by delivering on time, as promised. 3. Build Relationships Chatting and small talk don’t come naturally to everyone (myself included), but spending a bit of time on pleasantries adds an element of human connection that not only makes interactions more enjoyable, but also increases trust and sharing—and increases the odds that you’ll get the benefit of the doubt if needed. Remember when you’re writing an email that there’s an actual person on the other end and use a more conversational tone when appropriate. Open a phone call or in-person meeting with a couple of minutes of informal conversation. Gauge your audience of course—some people will be eager to get down to business and others would be happy to talk about their hobbies or kids for hours, but a sincere interest in your client as a person tends to go a long way. Understand and respect their professional context and preferences as well. Find out how they prefer to communicate, certain days or times that are best to reach them or other facts that will make your communication more efficient and customized. Getting some context on who their key clients are, the priority of the project within their total responsibilities or within the overall organization, etc. will allow you to appear savvy and in-touch as well as helping you become a go-to, strategic business partner. Practice professional empathy with your clients. Try to put yourself in their shoes and understand their motivations and priorities. This can help you proactively tailor messages and deliverables and give you context to understand feedback and reactions. You’ll obviously invest more in building relationships with clients who are ongoing business partners or regular customers, but practice these approaches on a smaller scale with potential or new clients, in a sincere and authentic way, and they might just end up becoming ongoing clients (or key internal advocates) as well! I attended the Future of StoryTelling (FoST) event in New York City last month and experienced a cornucopia of performances, roundtables, workshops, speakers, and interactive experiences all centered around “reinventing the way stories are told”. As described on their website: The Future of StoryTelling is an invitation-only, two-day gathering of technology, media, and communications visionaries from around the world. The summit is designed to put participants in direct contact with the most vital ideas, people, and technologies that are shaping the way we tell stories. There were three sessions in particular that gave me great inspiration for storytelling for brands and companies and I wanted to share a few key nuggets from each here: Dave Nadelberg, founder of Mortified, taught a “story extractor” method for turning anecdotes into stories. He recommended starting with one aspect of the event and then filling in the rest of the framework. Mortified focuses on adults telling stories from their childhood, so the framework looks like this:
There are a few things I love about this approach. First, you don’t have to know the entire story when you get started. When writing a brand story, maybe you only have “the goal” to start with or “the fix”, but by walking through a step-by-step framework like this, you can flesh out a holistic and multi-dimensional brand story. Also, this approach separates out “goal” and “motivation”—translated into business speak, that’s “mission statement” (goal or objective works here too) and “brand purpose”. The motivation, or purpose, is the why behind your brand story—why you do what you do as an entrepreneur or a company—and no brand story is complete without it. Lastly, this framework is equally applicable for brand or customer stories (and don’t forget, the customer is always the hero of either kind of story!). ____ Beth Comstock, Vice Chair of GE, talked about growing a corporate brand and I took away three big lessons from her roundtable discussion.
_____ Frank Rose and Paul Woolmington, senior fellows at Columbia University, talked about “The Story World” that the most engaging brands and media properties build around their entire proposition. This Story World offers four levels of engagement to participants/audiences/customers:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse into the Future of StoryTelling and just maybe, found something that inspires you too. |
AuthorSarah Faulkner, Owner Faulkner Insights Archives
July 2021
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