Networking with empathy: what it is, how and why to build it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

15 years of experience in building relationships with clients in the B2B field gave me the opportunity to reveal all facets of networking and speak on this topic more than confidently. How to properly build your network of contacts and what networking with empathy is - I'll tell you about this in this article.

Surely among your friends there is one who has the right person for all occasions, who knows how to solve your problem. And every time you wonder: "Does he really have such a contact in his notebook?" From the best doctors to car mechanics, from a stylist to a top manager of a large corporation.

“Connections are everything,” is his life motto. He makes acquaintances easily, with many on "you", remembers not only the birthdays of his acquaintances, but even the birthdays and the names of their children. He resolves all issues quickly, sometimes for this he just needs to make one call to the right person. Do you want to know how he does it? Let's figure it out.

The perfect place for a new acquaintance

Where do you need to meet?

Correct answer: wherever there is such an opportunity. You very much narrow your network of acquaintances if you communicate only within the framework of work and make acquaintances only at business conferences.

The airport waiting room, walks with children in playgrounds, a queue at a cinema, a party with friends, a cafe in your business center or an art exhibition - in places that are not related to work, it is often much easier to get to know each other. One has only to be creative and not be passive.

Lead the conversation from general to specific

What should I say?

For many, this question is really difficult. Because it seems that all topics are banal, and you don't want to be intrusive. Cast aside doubts and boldly go to get acquainted. For me, for example, a simple: “Let's exchange business cards” - often works better than walking around the bush for a long time, with the selection of the right topics for conversation.

How else can you start a conversation? First, discuss your surroundings: where you are, the event and its organization, performances, menus, and even the weather. Then try to move from the topic you are discussing to the topics of the next level.

They should be closer to the personal interests of your interlocutor. Otherwise, the topic will dry up, there will be nothing to talk about, because it is boring to talk about the general and lengthy for a long time. For example: "This speaker inspires me as much as the author of that book, have you read?" And the conversation unfolds further.

The main thing here is not to go to two extremes: interrogation and monologue. Of course, too personal topics should not be brought up. You should have a dialogue, the purpose of which is to find out a little more about the interlocutor of his name and position. Try to talk about hobbies, places you've been, favorite books or movies, and find possible mutual acquaintances.

If the conversation is casual, you can immediately ask the other person to help you find their LinkedIn or Facebook profile and add them to your contacts. It's also a great way to keep in touch when you don't have business cards with you.

Remind about yourself immediately after meeting

What to do after meeting?

It is advisable in the first few days after communication to somehow remind about yourself and consolidate the acquaintance. The standard way is a classic reminder letter, which is usually sent after business meetings. In it, it is important to briefly, but succinctly, in a few phrases, remind you how you can be useful to the interlocutor. It is also worth adding a short presentation of your business or company.

A good way to leave a pleasant impression of yourself is to send a new friend something interesting to him personally, which you talked about when you met. A link to a book that interested him, a video of the speaker's speech, who was cited as an example, an article, the contact he needed or a recommendation of a hotel for rest.

You are building a new bridge of your relationship by tying the knot of contact a little tighter. If the meeting was not in a business setting, then you can remind yourself of yourself by adding the person as a friend on Facebook and writing a short message with the same essence, but not in a business format.

Maintain and strengthen newly created bonds

What to do with all accumulated contacts?

First, for convenience, business cards can be grouped by field of activity, events they met, professions or hobbies. This will help you quickly find the right contact or understand who from your social circle should be introduced to each other if they have common interests.

Secondly, you need to develop your dating network, otherwise even the largest number of business cards will become a dead weight. What matters is not who you know, but who knows you. How to develop? Strengthen weak ties and maintain strong ties. With the advent of social media, these tasks are greatly simplified.

For weak connections, you just need to regularly write posts, like and comment on the posts of your friends, follow notifications of important dates in a person's life and react to it. Do not be lazy to congratulate you on your birthday, change of job or move. You can also invite your friends to events of interest, involve them in joint projects.

Strong connections are reinforced by regular face-to-face meetings or calls, offering help, asking for expert advice, after which you remember to thank your friends. Book exchanges, shared projects and travel are also combined. Be sincerely interested in the life and events of your friends, make friends, and do not seek the benefit of dating.

Remember about the environmental friendliness of relations and the win-win rule (if you helped, you will help). Introduce your friends to each other based on their goals and interests. You also benefit from this.

All this is good, but how to keep up with everything in our time? There is not enough time for yourself, and even more for friends. I will share with you a few tricks that all of the above helps to do it easier and faster, as required by our rapid pace of life.

Life hacks for effective networking

1. Group

Activities, meetings, friends. Are there two similar tasks? Combine. Do a few girlfriends like concerts at the Philharmonic? Take them all with you, introduce them there again. Are two new friends thinking of a startup idea? Introduce them. One head it's good, but two better.

2. Use instant messengers

It's free, efficient and convenient. There is not always time for calls, and besides, they annoy many. And you can make a general chat and agree on a trip to the park with several friends in five minutes. Just do not confuse general chat with groups of correspondences for 20+ people, which turn into spam.

3. Attend conferences at lunchtime

If you do not have time to come to the conference for the whole day, come closer to lunch. So you can grab a piece of content, and then discuss it with new acquaintances at lunchtime. Do not forget that the purpose of business meetings is communication. And lunch is the perfect time for that.

4. Don't go to conferences with a colleague or friend

More precisely, to communicate with a colleague or friend. Use events as intended. It's foolish to go to a place where you can make new contacts and spend that time talking with someone you already know. To do this, you can go with him to a cafe on another day. Divide and exchange the collected business cards after the event. So each of you will be able to get more new contacts.

5. Ask you to introduce

Psychologically, the person who is being introduced is perceived better than just coming up from the street. If there is a friend of yours at the event who knows many of those present, ask him to introduce you to those who are difficult for you to approach yourself. This same trick works when you've just met someone and, after a short conversation, ask them to introduce you to a group of their colleagues.

Important: respect other people's time. If you ask to recommend you in writing (by email or message), then you must write a completely ready-made short text about yourself, your product or service. The person recommending you should only copy the text, forward it, and spend just a minute of their time. How to write such letters, you can see and.

6. Meet online more actively

Don't limit dating only offline. View lists of mutual acquaintances and friends of friends on social networks, revise photos with tags published after the events and add new friends for yourself. Find specialists of interest to you, authors of articles, social activists, artists from exhibitions and make communication and new friends.

Three simple rules of networking

1. Be genuinely interested

Find what you are interested in in a person: common values, areas of interest, hobbies, common initiatives. And don't communicate if you don't. Tense communication usually does not bring anything good.

2. Ask for help directly

Do not expect to be offered help and to recognize your hints. Be prepared to help yourself.

3. Think about what you can do to help

Make friends, do not seek benefits.