Networking events are not only popular, but they are also an essential factor to build a successful business presence. 70% of Millennials believe that going to the office isn’t necessary anymore. But as they work remotely, they value networking events as an opportunity to get to meet valuable partners and interlocutors. For many, face-to-face interactions enable people to establish a deeper bond, using clues such as inflections and facial expression to build a baseline of contacts. Ultimately, the act of physically attending can improve negotiations by over 82% and overall understanding by a whopping 69%. Consequently, networking events are still as trendy as ever, even in the midst of the digital era. However, the abundance of remote workers and organizers increases the risk of costly mistakes that could affect the quality and safety of your networking day.
Talking all the time
For someone who works in a virtual office setting, finally getting to meet real people can be exciting. But don’t abuse your chance of talking. In a networking event, if you want to get to know your interlocutors, you need to let them do the talking instead. You can pack a goody bag with flyers, notebooks and even USB flash drives to promote your business without interfering with the natural flow of conversations. Admittedly, it doesn’t mean you should stick to yourself without talking to people. But the right balance needs to involve more listening than promoting.
Making the site unwelcoming
More and more businesses have chosen to throw their own networking events where they can invite carefully selected clients, partners, investors, and prospects. As a rule of the thumb, these events tend to be privately arranged, and consequently can lack some of the essential welcoming features. For a start, your visitors need to see security badges on site. If you’ve invited a renowned speaker, you can recruit security staff with the relevant personal protective services training certifications to protect your guest from any individual and stalking attack. Health and safety requirements, such as adequate lighting, are also necessary to ensure that your site feels safe and inviting.
Not sharing your message
The main reason to attend a networking event is to introduce your business to others. As networking platforms can get busy, you need to know how to get to the point in 15 seconds or less – people have a short attention span. If you’re a business planning the event, you need to share the common objective with all attendees. Using a hashtag campaign is the easiest and quickest way to get your event to trend online and ensure that everybody knows what it’s about.
Not knowing how to follow up
Last, but not least, no networking event is successful without a targeted follow-up campaign. But how do you best get in touch with your new contacts without making it sound too forced? Something as simple as connecting via LinkedIn can already keep your name fresh in their memory. Ideally, you don’t want to wait too long before getting back to them with a meet-up suggestion or an idea to help. You need to find a reasonable excuse to get in touch if you hope to maintain the relationship.
Networking events can be stressful to plan and/or to attend. But it’s essential to focus on getting the right mix of interactions, security, messaging and relationships to turn networking into a business catalyst. Do it wrong, and you’re wasting both time and money on it.