The word “networking” often has negative connotations. People feel they have to behave like someone they’re not, and a “successful” networking event is judged by how many business cards people manage to discard!
Proper networking is entirely different. Whether you’re a new or experienced consultant, I highly recommend regular online and offline networking.
In this blog, I’ll cover the following points:
- The definition of networking.
- The types of networking.
- The benefits of networking.
- Seven networking tips.
What is networking?
Networking is the act of creating, developing, and maintaining relationships with individuals, groups, or organizations that have the potential for mutual benefit.
(A far cry from merely swapping business cards.)
Consultants may network with the following groups of people:
- Fellow consultants for collaboration opportunities. You might team up with other consultants to deliver a holistic service to a client.
- Potential clients. These decision-makers can approve hiring external consultants (whether for themselves or their teams.) This category will include anyone who works in the C-suite (CEO, CFO, etc.) or business owners.
- Subject matter experts. Let’s say you specialize in financial consulting. You may listen to and connect with people with deep finance knowledge. You can use their knowledge to sell your financial consultancy services to your target audience. Similarly, you may connect with marketing professionals who are experts in helping consultants grow brand awareness and secure new clients.
- Mentors and coaches who can help you level up your business.
Each category mentioned above presents an opportunity to develop strategic partnerships and expand your customer base.
Types of networking
Not all networking is a black-tie event. As time has progressed, a wide range of networking events have emerged.
Offline network
Before the Internet, we had (and still have) offline networking. Broadly speaking, offline networking is when a group gathers at a specific location to discuss a specific topic.
These are different types of offline networking events, each sitting on a formality-informality spectrum:
- Industry-specific events allow you to listen to expert speakers on a podium and have opportunities to network with fellow attendees.
- Roundtable discussions and meetings are smaller in number. They involve a set number of professionals informally sharing ideas and having meaningful discussions over a particular topic.
- Happy hour meet-ups. These are casual after-work hangouts that allow for relaxed mingling and relationship-building.
- Seminars and workshops. These are like industry-specific events but much smaller. Often, large industry events will have a ’breakout session,’ which is effectively smaller seminars discussing relevant off-shoot topics to the event’s central theme.
- Speed networking (which works quite like speed dating). You have brief conversations with multiple people in a short period.
Online networking
Thanks to the Internet, there are opportunities to network online. These are vastly informal compared to offline networking events. Examples include:
- Virtual meet-ups over video conference calls where professionals meet new people and discuss mutually beneficial topics.
- Professional social media networks like LinkedIn allow consultants to network at their own pace. You can add people (called ’connections’ on LinkedIn) to your online network, comment on each other’s posts, send direct messages, and join mutually enjoyable LinkedIn groups.
The benefits of networking
Networking (when correctly done) is immense in building your business and generating brand awareness. Advantages include:
- Access to opportunities. Networking events naturally give you visibility in front of people who could benefit from your services.
- Learning opportunities. Connecting with experienced consultants can teach you various things, such as winning new business, scaling your company, and unique industry analysis that can’t be found with a Google search.
- Relationship-building. Whether building relationships with potential clients or fellow pros. Networking allows you to nurture strong relationships that can later turn into business opportunities–and even if the people you meet don’t need your services, they can’t connect you with people who do.
- Reputation building. The more you make a good impression at networking events, the more your credibility builds in people’s eyes, which can lead to business opportunities.
- Confidence boosting. Your first networking event will be anxiety-inducing. Over time, networking events become less painful.
Even if you don’t win business nor build relationships at these events, putting yourself out there at minimum builds confidence in speaking to strangers—a priceless consultant soft skill as much of your work requires speaking to people.
My 7 go-to networking tips
You need a plan of action to get the best out of networking. I recommend following these seven tips.
1. Identify relevant networking opportunities
The first and natural step is ensuring you commit your time and effort to relevant networking events. You can find relevant events by:
- Searching Google or dedicated event platforms like Eventbrite.
- Keeping an eye on event calendars. Major consulting firms like Boston Consulting. Group and McKinsey & Company host events for professionals interested in the industry.
Attending suitable networking events gives you access to relevant opportunities.
For example, if you’re a financial services consultant, you might network with bankers, investment advisors, and fintech startups. You could offer insights on what you need to open a bank account or how to streamline financial processes.
By sharing this knowledge, you demonstrate your expertise while potentially learning about new industry trends or client needs.
2. Set a target
If you’re new to networking, the prospect of attending an event will be daunting. You can reduce any overwhelming feelings by setting targets at every networking stage. For example, you can set a target for:
- The number of contact details you exchange at each event.
- The number of conversations you initiate at each event.
- The number of times you will participate in a Q&A.
- The time you will spend at each networking event.
- The number of events you will attend per month.
In the realm of online networking, you can set a target for the number of connections you add and conversations you start per week or month.
Don’t be overambitious. Start small and slowly build your resilience. At this stage, your objective isn’t to win business. It’s to meet your targets.
Because meeting your targets will release dopamine–your brain’s reward chemical. Dopamine will make you feel happy and confident enough to alter the targets, increasing each in number.
Over time, you can additionally introduce new and more sophisticated targets such as:
- The number of leads you will generate.
- The number of sales you will close.
Iteratively exposing yourself to networking is better than taking on more than you can chew, which can have the opposite effect and put you off networking for good.
3. Rehearse your elevator speech
Although I highly recommend not using networking events to sell aggressively, fellow attendees will likely ask you questions about your work.
This is your chance to make a fantastic first impression–and the last thing you want is to be “umming” and “ahhing.”
Furthermore, people often find it difficult to talk about themselves or their work, so it’s great to have an answer ready.
When preparing your answer, consider the following:
- Keep it short and conversational. Although it’s an elevator pitch/speech, it shouldn’t sound like one. Don’t make your answer longer than seven seconds!
- Lead with benefits, not features. Don’t say, “I’m a financial consultant;” say, “I help business owners legally save $1,000 tax on average.” With the latter, you’ve communicated the following.
- Who you help (business owners.)
- What do you help them with (tax savings)
- Social proof/proof of credibility ($1,000 on average.)
It’s also worth preparing an answer to the following most commonly asked questions:
- What are your thoughts on *insert industry trend?*
- What are you hoping to gain from this event?
- How did you get started as a consultant?
- What brought you to this event?
4. Practice an icebreaker
All networking events will have breakout sessions or sessions where attendees can roam around as they please and converse with fellow attendees.
As you approach someone to start a conversation, have an icebreaker ready. The icebreaker should be something that elicits a fuller conversation. Consider these icebreakers:
- What are your thoughts on the *insert talk you both attended?*
- What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned so far?
- What type of work are you currently involved in?
- What do you enjoy most about your work?
- I don’t know anyone at this event, do you?
- Have you attended this event before?
These icebreakers are a bit more exciting than dull questions about the weather and will help ease you into a conversation.
5. Ask open-ended questions
The key to keeping a conversation flowing is asking open-ended questions. Asking a question whose answer can only be “yes” or “no” can lead to awkward silences and abruptly end a conversation.
The strategy is simple: Ask open-ended questions after every answer they give. The idea is to keep them talking.
Why is this beneficial?
- It makes an excellent first impression. Asking questions signals to the other person that you’re interested in them, making it likelier that they’ll open their ears to you, which is the key to building trust.
- The more you learn about someone, the more you can assess if there’s potential for the conversation to turn into a mutually beneficial business opportunity.
- It takes the pressure off you to think of answers.
6. Focus on quality, not quantity
It’s not uncommon for one relationship nurtured through networking to result in multiple strategic partnerships and joint ventures. People often meet people who remain a strategic partner for years to come.
So, don’t try to have as many conversations as possible. Focus on one to four genuine conversations that can lead to something.
7. Be open to learning and giving
Most people fail at networking because they’re trying to sell. Go to networking events with the mindset of learning and giving away your expertise. Doing this will inadvertently attract the opportunities you seek.
Wrapping up
When done correctly, networking is a powerful tool for any consultant to build lucrative relationships. If you’ve been networking-shy, consider following our gentle and iterative approach to building your appetite for networking.
Your future self will thank you for it!
Author bio
Ryan Robinson. I’m a blogger, podcaster and (recovering) side project addict that teaches 500,000 monthly readers how to start a blog and grow a profitable side business at ryrob.com.
