Building business relationships from the comfort of your home
In a time when we’re more digitally accessible it’s easy to wonder if in-person networking is dying, and are people less interested in business networking?
I’m biased, but I think we want to connect now, more than ever. I will never stop having real conversations with real people, learning why they do what they do and how I can support them to connect with what they need to grow their business.
Kate Carnell, of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, spoke at our YTM online event in July, 2020. She shared that the Covid-19 restrictions have moved businesses forward in the digital space by at least 3 years.
Most businesses need to embrace a digital presence (and if they haven’t, they need to get one). It makes it easy for their customers to it check them out online and learn more about them. In fact, since March 2020, the online space has been the way to connect due to the Covid-19 virus restricting in-person business networking events. Add in social media and you begin to get a feel for their business ‘personality’ without even picking up the phone.
For some time the rise of groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, along with forums, Twitter, and other platforms, mean we interact with other people and businesses from the comfort of our keyboard. With all this accessibility it is much easier to network from the comfort of our own home, but it also means we can connect from near and far, and even globally.
The Value of Relationships
Our friends and family also play an active role in our network and it is just as important to nurture, strengthen and develop these relationships too.
A while ago, Leigh and I were doing some renovations on our daughter’s apartment. As often happens, when we needed a painter, I asked around for recommendations from my friends and professional contacts. A good referral can cut down on a lot of the leg work in finding the right person to help you, rather than having to trawl through websites and field responses to an ad.
Even with a strong recommendation it was important for me to personally engage in conversation with the referred contractor before he started work. I wanted to get a feel for him, to know if we could work well together. Could we communicate clearly? Would he understand our ideas? Would I feel confident that he could deliver what we had in mind?
The same process applies to any tradesperson whom I let into my home. And, when it comes to my business, I want the opportunity to really build a relationship and connect with my graphic designer, marketing consultant, accountant, financial planner, or whomever, before engaging their services.
Thanks to the digital landscape we now have online chats with business owners via Facebook, and we get to know them through their LinkedIn accounts. I can follow their style, experience, and make judgements on their attitudes and approach. There is a certain something that comes from direct personal interaction with a real person.
That’s the reason our online YTM events focus on creating purposeful conversations that really build trust and relationships. Having the opportunity to speak with someone beyond a transactional level, and understand what makes them “tick”; what drives them and learn about their experience in their field, helps to build the know, like, and trust factor we all rely on when making decisions about who to do business with.
When was the last time you attended an event that wasn’t bound up with strict agendas and allowed a conversational connection? If you’re feeling a bit rusty, come along to one of our YTM Business Connect events. You never know who you might meet or how a conversation will lead to your next best opportunity.
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