Building your professional network in 3 simple steps: Meet your connection

As described in last week’s blog post, CMA recently worked with James A. Canada, the Managing Partner, President and CEO of Alliance Technologies, LLC. James offered some excellent tips on how you can build your professional network in 3 simple steps. This is the second blog in a series of three. If you missed step 1 (Prepare for your meeting), go back and read that blog post first.

By this time, you should have already prepared for your meeting. Now is the time to meet the connection. You always want to start the meeting with a personal icebreaker. If you have amply prepared for the meeting, you should know what school they attended, any friends in common, hobbies, interests, etc.

As you build more rapport, you can begin to probe further. Ask questions about the connection’s company, the type of work they do, and their particular role in their organization. As you listen to them speak, start thinking about some potentially good connections that you can introduce to them. The more connections you can send their way, the more valuable the meeting will for them.

After determining what connections to send their way, let them know how you’ll make the connection. Will you initiate the introduction via email, LinkedIn, or over the phone? Be very clear about how this will be done. Also, provide your connection with a good date to follow-up in the event that they haven’t heard from you.

After discussing their business, spend some time talking about yours. Come prepared with a one-page fact sheet that provides information about you, your company, and the types of connections you are looking for. Also, let your expectations be known with regard to future networking. Typically, when you provide a good list of connections for someone, they will want to do the same for you. However, if they don’t, you can always ask them for some. Try to acquire some names during the actual meeting, rather than having them get back to you at a later date.

Finally, end the meeting on a lighter note. Talk about something personal. People love talking about themselves and their families. It will end the meeting on a positive note and make them feel good. When they feel good, they become more interested in helping you.

This week’s blog post has provided valuable insight into how to carry out the networking meeting. Next week’s blog post, the final in the series, will discuss the next steps for follow-up.