Are You Annoying at Networking Events?

Sep 22, 2019

The 3 biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make at networking events.

Is This You?

You walk into a huge entrepreneur networking event. You check to make sure that you have enough of your newly printed business cards to pass out. You head straight for the VR booth and wait in line to talk to the creators of the latest VR Tech. You turn to the person next to you in line. Then it starts…

You shake their hand and launch into a pitch about your business and why its the next greatest thing. You don’t even pause to take a breath. You don’t even notice as the other person unconsciously starts to back away from you because as they do, you move in closer.

You keep talking and barely notice they check their watch and look at the line in front of them. You just keep going.

When you finally finish, you hand them you business card and tell them to message with you to learn more. Oh and then you tell them to check out your website as you pull it up on your phone.

Yep - You are now officially ANNOYING at Networking events and it probably doesn’t stop there.

Here are the 3 biggest mistakes you just made:

Mistake #1: You lead with your business pitch.

In the story above, you lead with your business pitch without any information about who you are talking to and why they would even care about who you are!

You may come off as a smarty pants or you may actually be very boring.

Which leads to the next mistake.

Mistake #2: You don’t know who you are talking to.

You don’t know anything about the person you just pitched. You frankly never stop talking to find out about the other person. You are flying blind without knowing who they are, why there are there, and why they would be the least bit interested in you and your business.

Which leads to the next mistake.

Gina Kloes - Networking Events P1 - Blog Images.png

Mistake #3: You don’t ask a thing about the other person.

You don’t ask about the other person. You don’t take the time to understand and appreciate why they are at the event. That would require asking some simple questions. And, more importantly being genuinely interested in the answer. Most people can tell when you really don’t care and are just making small talk.

What brings you to this event?

What business are you in?

What is the next step for your business?

If you have some ideas, you could add value to them by making some genuine suggestions.

Remember this: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!

Take time to connect and build rapport with people before you promote or ask for anything. The power of connection is the highest form of leadership. It separates true leaders and successful entrepreneurs from mere wannabes!