Just that slight lapse of concentration. The feeling the game’s all over. And then ‘bam’ they lose in the last few minutes.

And it’s the same in business.  I often hear the people who make the most connections at networking events are those who get there early and stay late – but they also need to be switched on and looking for business opportunities that whole time.  Thinking “we close at 5″ doesn’t cut it if you want to succeed.

I heard two great examples of lost sales caused by that attitude at a BNI training event last night:

• Ian walked into Comet at 5 to 5.  (Most of us know that when you run a business, you’re generally busy and always on the last minute.) He was greeted with a salesman checking his watch and saying “we close at 5″.  So he went next door, into Currys and purchased a washing machine, a fridge and a hoover – all told about £900 worth of goods.  And he bought them on the condition that they would be loaded up in front of Comet’s front door.  Priceless.
• Next was an Audi dealership with the same attitude.  Which resulted in the loss of a £38,000 sale.  Just consider for a moment the huge marketing budget Audi has – the effort they put into building a brand, creating desire for that brand, setting the price, ensuring the product quality is up to scratch, training the sales team, creating sales processes and procedures… just to have it blown at the final hurdle by a salesman wanting to get home.

The question is whether your attitude is one of “we close at 5″ or “we’re always open for people who want to spend money”.  The choice is yours, but if you want more sales, it’s a question you should perhaps be asking.

We’ve been networking for over six years and run our own networking event.  Our top tips for making sure you get the most from your networking activities are:

1. Attend plenty of groups to start with and see which ones you like and which ones contain people you may be able to work with
2. Look beyond the members – you are trying to find out who they work with, not just what they do.  Could they open doors for you?
3. Decide on maybe two or three groups to join – maybe one social group and one focused business network such as BNI (Business Network International)
4. Attend regular meetings – if you aren’t there, you can’t get to know people – and they can’t get to know you
5. Offer to help people.  The more help you can be to others, the more likely they will want to help you in return
6. Learn an elevator pitch, so you can present your business well
7. Be specific about the kind of companies you’re looking for, to help people help you
8. Set yourself some goals, so you can measure your return on investment
9. Be realistic about what you can expect from the group – people aren’t likely to pass you business until they know you.  (Networking isn’t a get-rich quick scheme.)
10. Under no circumstances sell to the people in the room – that will destroy any credibility you may have and only serves to upset seasoned networkers

Networking is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing there is, but it takes time.  Over the years, we’ve seen many companies try networking and bemoan the fact it doesn’t work.  But, like everything else, it’s something you have to stick at and it’s a skill you have to learn.  Just because you run a business, or work in sales / marketing, doesn’t mean you’re any good at networking, so get yourself on a course and put your learning into practice.