Building your reputation at Networking Events

The business you attract is largely going to down to building your reputation amongst your peers, your contacts and especially your referral partners.

However, we mistakenly think that being friendly and sociable is building your reputation and attracting business, but I have to tell you, it takes much more than that.

Reputation is what people say about you behind your back.

Please remember, people are far too polite to tell you they were not impressed to your face. Reputation is about respect and respect comes from what you do, not what you say you will do.

Your actions speak so loudly I can hardly hear the words you speak.

4 common habits that can destroy your reputation before you start.

Do you have a reputation for punctuality?
 In my experience punctuality is an important factor in relationships with at least 50% of the people you will meet at a business event. What that means is that half of the business meeting you arrive late for won’t care or even notice. The other half will and will not be impressed. Note: a business networking event is a business meeting.

Do you have a reputation for reliability?

• Do you return phone calls in a timely manner?
• Do you do what you promise you will do?
• Do you attend your networking event on a regular basis or just when you feel like it?

Networking groups have no requirement for you to attend on a regular basis but referral business groups, like BNI, do. That is one of the key reasons they work so well. They are focused on referrals and referrals are built, for a large part, on your reputation. You wouldn’t dream of failing to turn up to a meeting with a client or potential client.

Do you take your networking and referral strategy as seriously as you could?

If you treat your referral group as an important source of clients for the future you will diary the event and work any other appointment around that meeting. By doing so, you will demonstrate how reliable you are and that you can be taken seriously as a business referral partner.

I am always bemused by people who say, BNI is an important event in the week, but business comes first. Clearly they haven’t quite seen the bigger picture or don’t know how to control their appointments diary.

Do you pass leads or referrals at networking events?
 Very few people are impressed with leads but everyone loves *qualified referrals. *where the person who’s name you have been given is actually expecting your call.

The group won’t notice the difference when you pass a lead, disguised as a referral, but the person who receives the lead and who then ends up making a series of cold calls will and they will not be impressed.

In fact, your reputation is likely to be established as a ‘chancer’ and someone not to be trusted. Others might not use these exact words but that is what they will think on a subconscious level. Remember, your reputation is what people say about you behind your back. Trust me, I have been involved in running BNI groups for over 10 years. Don’t pass referrals that are not qualified first.

Reliability is a key factor in building relationships. It’s rarely noticed at networking events but it at a referral group everyone is watching. Address some of the issues above and you will stand out from all of the competition. Reliability is rarer than you think in business.

Paul Clegg has been involved in referral marketing and he is currently working closely with BNI in Wincanton, Somerset and providing marketing support for BNI groups across a wider geography. He is always pleased to talk with business owners who take their referral marketing strategies seriously and who may need some help.