Fact - Networking brings companies a rich stream of new contacts and business that can make them more successful & profitable Fact - Networking help them to understand their customers and the marketplace better whilst testing their message and its effectiveness. "Making the right connections can make the difference between success and failure in business. The trick is doing it in a room full of strangers!" “Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.”

1. 5 Reasons You Will Fail
At Open Networking!
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3. What You Will See
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• Introduction
• What Is Open Networking
• The 5 Guaranteed Failures
• Final Thoughts

4. Introduction
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• Fact - Networking brings companies a rich stream of new
contacts and business that can make them more
successful & profitableFact - Networking help them to
understand their customers and the marketplace better
whilst testing their message and its effectiveness. "Making
the right connections can make the difference between
success and failure in business. The trick is doing it in a
room full of strangers!"
• “Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and
authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how
you can help others.”

5. www.conspicuous-cbm.com

6. What Is Open Networking
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• 2 main types.
• Firstly - Mixer Networking, where anybody can turn up. No set group,
and no membership fee. These sorts of events do have their place
(especially when you use them to enhance regular networking).
• But they can be the scene of first and last attempts by networking
novices to market themselves. Often there are many people thrusting
their business cards under your nose, a rather disheartening
experience.
• Secondly - Regular Open Networking where a group meets weekly or
fortnightly, with the aim of forming and strengthening contacts.
• Attracts a lot of new businesses. This is more productive because of
the relationships formed but with no business sector exclusivity you
may see people in the same industry.
• Between the two types is speed networking, where participants have
one-to-one or small group pitches to lots of other people over a short
time.

7. Some Open Networking Tips
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• Networking can be tough and a daunting task. If your new to it, or even
just loath it there are many tips out there to help you such as:1. Stepping out
of your comfort zone at introducing yourself to strangers at networking events!2. Not prejudging
someone you meet you might be that great contact or a key decision maker at another
company.3. Forget the sales pitch and remembering to build long term relationships with people
you meet networking4. Develop a thick skin and becoming used to rejection.5. Be persistent and
make sure you follow-up the people you meet at networking events.etc etc etcDespite
evidence that networking works for all business (+ along with referral
marketing & social media should be in the low-cost marketing toolkit of
every business in the UK), mountains of great tips, hints, tricks and
advice, people still fail at it and often hurt their business and their
reputation as serious & competent professionals.

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Guaranteed Failure 1
Failure to Believe
•Fact - Networking (& referral marketing) is the most effective form of marketing available to start-up
and small companies
•Despite the evidence of how important word-of-mouth & relationships is to 90%+ of companies, so
few people (<5%) engage in any active relationship marketing.
•Why is a good question that each and every business owner who does not network must answer
for themselves.
•They are probably easy victim of the 10 Networking Myths (CLICK HERE)
•We join networks with a vague idea that they will help our business but without planning out exactly
how.
•It's not enough just to join a network or plan a strategy; you have to see it through. It's an old cliché,
but you really do get out what you are prepared to put in.

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Guaranteed Failure 2
Failure to Invest
•Few people go to networking events to buy. So you have to ask yourself what the point is of trying
to sell to people who aren't in buying mode.
•Networking failures think that people operate like machinery.
•Common among people who are in a rush. Relationships take time to develop.
•People like to take their time when making decisions, especially decision that will affect their lives.
•People that don't understand it will usually say that networking doesn't work. In reality, it just
doesn't work for them.
•The Networking Fail manifests itself once the individual expects to push a button on a person and
get a desired result.
•Think beyond the short-term gain and develop relationships. Wouldn't you prefer to get 10 referrals
from a long-term relationship than one sale from a passing contact?

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Guaranteed Failure 3
Failure to Plan
•Just like any other business aspiration, networking requires goals.
•We all think that we communicate clearly what we do, but few of us do this successfully.
•Want quality business? Your objective MUST be to build relationships on the following 3 criteria: know, like and
trust:
• *Know - getting to know your contact first is vital. Get the conversation going by asking open-ended questions in which the
person cannot easily answer yes or no!
• *Like- this is all about building rapport and getting on well.
• *Trust - mutual beneficial business relationships must be built on trust as it is your reputation - there must be no hidden agendas.
•DO: Have a plan for what customers or businesses you want to meet. Other people can't guess what you
want! Worse still they will waste your time with the wrong referrals if you are not CLEAR, PRECISE &
FOCUSED on what your top targets are in your pitches & discussions.
•Nothing screams professionalism & "refer me with confidence" than having laser-like focus on your sales
targets.

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Guaranteed Failure 4
Failure to Persevere
•Does not follow up - This has been discussed so many times that I don't even
want to add comments to it.
•If you get a reputation for being unreliable, you won't get referrals!
•However, we all know that business networking is a waste of time unless you
make use of the people you meet and do something for you.
•You'll never find out what can happen unless you open the doors of
communication.
•These Networking Fails comes to life when all communications cease at the initial
encounter.

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Guaranteed Failure 5
Failure to be Disciplined
•When one goes out to networking events and meets other professionals, egos can get in the way eg
successful business people can be arrogant and condescending towards others. Others may become offended
because they have now been insulted. In either case, self-control is the antidote to ego. One must stay focused,
no matter what happens to not lose time or energy.
•Why do people attend business networking events if they are having a horrible day? Maybe they rationalized
that, if they go they will somehow cheer up. If you have ever been the recipient to the manners expressed by
such an individual, you'll probably agree with me they should have stayed home. This doesn't make them a bad
person. It just indicates a bad judgment call on their part. Everyone has a right to go but keeping the purpose of
networking alive, relies on a good judgment call.
•It is like networking death when you don't show a genuine interest to your conversation partner. Showing
interest, helps you to listen better and helps the talker feel validated. Listening well, also helps you to gather
valuable information for future correspondence.
•These Networking Fails are often created when the person doesn't realize their behavious & the event won't do
it for them. They then follow through on their bad decision and show poor manners, boredom or distraction.
These are self control issues that must be dealt with.

13. Final Thoughts
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• Finally, whether you pursue networking or some other marketing strategy is up to you. If you are going to pursue networking
to gains sales leads and opportunities, then approach mixer networking with caution and find a regular & professional
business networking organization to join. This will help you become more successful and improve your networking skills. But
beware, many of these groups are set up on being relaxed & low cost - this is a business activity that requires discipline &
perseverance, and you get what you pay for - SO BEWARE.If you are going to join a referral marketing group then make sure
you can commit to their rules (which are all in place for very good and valid business reasons) and culture. Failure here will
do even more lasting damage to your reputation than not turning up at a one-off mixer networking event!We absolutely believe
making networking the core of your marketing activity will be one of the best business decisions you make. And it will be fun
too. But nothing is for free, hard work required at all times! Always observe the successes and failures of others’ Referral
networking efforts. There is a lot to learn from them.Lastly, don't be afraid of making mistakes. Success is impossible without
some degree of failure.If you have any other top DOs, DONTs and MUSTs of "open networking" then please leave us a
comment via Linked-in.

14. Contact Us
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Phone - 07706 171851
email - stuart@conspicuous-cbm.com
Twitter - @conspicuouscbm
Linked-in - uk.linkedin.com/in/stuartwalton/
Linked-in - www.linkedin.com/company/conspicuous-cbm
Facebook - www.facebook.com/conspicuousCBM

15. THANK YOU
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