How To Build Business and Add True Wealth To Your RichLife!
by Beau Henderson
In a recent video interview, networking expert Charlie Lawson discusses the phenomenon known as the networking disconnect. Even if you have never gone to a networking event, chances are good you’ve experienced this disconnect. You arrive intending to sell yourself, your ideas or your product. And you are anxious about getting results, meeting new clients, closing the deal. But when you get there and start mixing, you find that everybody else is doing the same thing.
Everybody is selling, nobody is buying, and as a result,
authentic relationships don’t happen
Can this be avoided? Is it possible to approach networking differently, in a way that builds relationships and leads to profit? In a way that, gulp, is actually enjoyable? Absolutely yes. The most common definition of networking – establishing relationships that refer business back to you by word of mouth – is one we are all familiar with.
But what most people don’t realize is that the same good tenets that apply to personal relationships
… also apply to the business world …
In other words, be a friend first. Investing in business relationships this way is what I call networking with intention. If you approach business relationships with the same principles of good stewardship that we have been talking about for family and friends, aware of what you are investing in and why, success and growth is almost always assured. Says Charlie Lawson,
“Go with the intention of building a relationship
… not of selling
Go with the end goal in mind of having a cup of coffee together!”
People who are good at networking are clear about their intentions. They know what they are setting out to do, and those goals are reasonable and logical. You can’t expect to close a deal with someone until they feel certain they are in good hands. Develop the relationship first.
Here are three tenets to keep in mind when building relationships for business purposes. You’ll find these principles apply across the board, to all relationships, and doing them consistently will add true wealth to your RichLife.
1. Be willing to give first
This might sound counter-intuitive, but that is precisely the reason why it works so well. Most people take a wait-and-see-approach, asking themselves, what’s in it for me. Doing this will put both of you in a stalemate. You don’t have to wait. Be the first one to put your offer on the table by offering to help them. Find out what you can do to help them by asking questions and listening until you understand what it is they do. Then look for ways you can help, such as by offering contacts or referring business. Doing this will put the ball in your court, because 90% of the time, they will reciprocate the favor by doing you an even better turn.
2. Always operate in the best interests of all involved
If it is bad for them, it is bad for you. The choices you make that help others will always help you. But the choices you make that benefit only you, while hurting others, will follow you and inhibit your success long after the short term benefit disappears. This is also known as seeking a win/win situation. Instead of your way or my way, win/win offers a better way. When all parties feel good about a situation or agreement, there is a greater commitment to the plan of action. These situations always produce the best results for everyone, every time. And they also go a long way towards building trust.
3. Consider Transactional vs. Relational
In the business world, most people look past the people they are doing business with and see only the money behind them. Successful people understand that it is the person, not the money, who is the asset. When you interact with others only to achieve one specific end, and that end is money, you’re doing nothing but hurting yourself. A person’s value to your life is much higher if you change your perspective and form a relationship rather than a transaction.
Applying these 3 principles to your business relationships will unlock the door to some really good business flow.
Apply them to all your relationships, and watch the positive results multiply.
Take a minute to share with everyone what you do to “network with intention”
I’d love to know and so would all of our readers!
Leave a comment below or
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Great advice Beau! This is so true, why do people think that networking is different from building a good relationship I don't have a clue… you are great leading people by giving a structured plan!! 🙂
Brilliant article and great advice! Thank you for sharing these 3 principles with us.
Great article Beau, I have been in the situation you describe and to be honest I find this same situation on much of social media…everyone is in the same boat…wanting to sell and not buying…your recommendation is so spot on…it is all about relationships! Thanks for raising this important topic!
Hi Beau, if even 10% followed your advice and example, the world of networking on and offline would be much more effective – and much nicer 🙂 Thanks for sharing your wisdom!