If you are like me, you have met many people through face-to-face in networking meetings and events. It is a wonderful resource to be able to meet someone, talk about mutual interests, exchange business cards and . . . then what?
Do you intentionally connect again in person to dive deeper; talking about each others specialties?
Do you load their contact information in your contact list or maybe send an email or two talking about the things you do in hopes there is some mutual benefit?
If you have tried this in the past, chances are the relationship quickly ends after your first email or exchange of business cards.
How can you build on that initial meeting and maintain the
business relationship?
First off, the initial meeting doesn’t provide enough time
to really dive into all of the skills, services and specialties that your
connection has to offer. Even in 10
minutes, it is difficult to breakdown a list of the reasons why each of the
service offerings can be of benefit to someone. Taking the time to really get
to know this person and ideally the best way to refer business to them would
require many meetings, discussions and examples of how they have helped other
clients in the past.
One of the best ways to get familiar with the additional
information that should be shared is a mutual exchange of relationship building
through social media. Here are some
starter ideas of how to get that conversation in the right direction.
(1)
Connect with that person on LinkedIn
a. Connecting
on LinkedIn shows your contact that you are interested in continued networking
past the business card exchange
b. Depending
on how they have their profiles configured, if they have their contact
information loaded right into their LinkedIn profile, you export your
connections into Outlook (for example) and it will populate there for you.
(2)
Send a personal message thanking them for the
connection
a. Messages
in LinkedIn can be searchable in your Inbox, the same way names / titles /
industries / specialties are searchable under People, Company and Group sections
of the platform.
b. Include
questions they can respond to in your message; such as asking them more about their
specialties or some other interest such as personal goals or their favorite book.
(3)
Ask if they connect in other social spaces and
send them your social links as well.
a. If
you are a Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ or LinkedIn Company user, a great
way to build followers and pages you are following is by connecting to those
you are connected to in your network.
Due to space in most cases, the easiest way for those to be shared
mutually is through a personal message.
b. Sharing
of content in the social profiles provides a great means of communicating your
services
Because social media is a great social medium for sharing business
experiences, life events, service offerings, relatable story telling and
promotions, your new connection will have the opportunity to not only share
with you, but will also have the opportunity to learn from your sharing and
contribute questions and reciprocal discussions in return.
By taking your business card exchange to a new level
utilizing your social media resources, your relationships can continue to grow
past the initial meeting and hopefully lead to another face-to-face discussion
about other things you are mutually interested in.
It takes commitment, time and care; but then again, any good
relationship takes work to maintain. Give
it a try and see if you set the trend in your network with relationship
building.
~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don't get left behind ~
Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links
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