Networking is not what it used to be

Handing out your business card at monthly Chamber of Commerce meetings no longer qualifies as networking. Today’s business leaders know that real, profit-generating networking requires more. More strategy, more connectedness, and more trust.

I’d suggest we’re moving into an era where the relationship-based NetBeing, a set of attitudes and actions that foster real meaningful business relationships and build mutual trust, will overtake networking as a business development strategy.

Adapting to this new strategy brings its share of challenges but it can also yield great rewards. Partnerships form more easily. Sales and retention increases. Profits grow faster. After all success in business is all about relationships. Consider the following:

q It's more difficult for you to get a chance to do business with a client when your competition has better customer relationships.
q When surveyed customers who are most satisfied also state they have a strong relationship with their solutions provider. This fact is consistent even when service quality is below industry averages.
q The odds of selling a product to a customer that you have no relationship with are less than half what they are to those with strong ties.

Even the most aggressive networking has limitations. We must move our mindset beyond networking to NetBeing.
One of the key differences between networking and NetBeing is seen in the way relationships are viewed. Networking relationships are situational and transactional. NetBeing relationships, on the other hand, are ongoing and collaborative. By their very nature, networking relationships will end and NetBeing relationships continue long afterward. The relationship simply shifts. And, as we’ve seen above, that ongoing relationship can add future profits to the bottom line.
NetBeing also goes beyond networking to focus on mutual success and transforming networking contacts to a relationship that is mutually supportive, purposeful, creative, and rewarding. It’s the concept of giver’s gain – by sharing your knowledge, skills, and connections with others, you will eventually be rewarded several times over.
The real benefit of the NetBeing approach is that it forces us to start thinking of relationships strategically. We must consider the various ways we can add value to the relationship and how those relationships evolve over time.
RelationShift, consequently, has come to mean re-identifying the existing relationship as it flows into something else or changing your mindset and views of an existing relationship. For example, a former client takes a new job with one of your vendors. The way you work with them and add value to the relationship will necessarily change. Your respect for each other and willingness to work together shouldn’t change.
In short, think of networking as something you do to people some of the time and in some places. Meanwhile, NetBeing is something you do with people all the time and everywhere.