As the saying goes it’s not about what you know but who you know and the real estate and property industry seems to be a small one where everyone knows everyone and so many people associated with the industry spend a large amount of their time networking to build up their profile and client base. It can be hugely daunting walking into a room full of strangers or competitors and trying to put yourself out there, sound interesting and strike intelligent conversation. The team at Resolver Recruitment attend a lot of networking functions on a fairly regular basis so we have picked up a few tips along the way. Below is a snapshot of the worst networking advice we have been given and our thoughts on what you should be doing instead when networking to maximize your contacts and make your experience far more enjoyable.
Attending EVERY event – Stop right there and don’t waste your time, do your research and make sure you can benefit from the function, will there be people there you could do business with? Is it in a realistic geographical location to where you do business? And is it relevant to the industry you work in?
Not being you – No need to pretend to be something you are not, you will meet more successful types, over achievers and incredibly interesting people the best thing is to just be yourself and stay authentic, people buy off people so if you want your new contacts to work with you make sure you show the real you
Failing to follow through – Don’t collect business cards and make promises of catching up or connecting on social media if you don’t plan to. As soon as you leave the event connect with everyone you met on LinkedIn and pop them a personalised one line email letting them know you enjoyed meeting them
Staying quiet – Yes it’s overwhelming walking into a room of strangers, the easiest way to crack the crowd is to walk up to someone else that is standing alone and introduce yourself, they will be so relieved that someone has spoken to them and it instantly takes you from standing alone swirling your drink to looking like you are well connected
