Networking – the basis for your success

November 1st, 2007 by Carmen Schubert

In today’s work environment, business opportunities quite often originate from one’s personal network. Therefore, it is essential to carefully foster your social network to ensure this source of business opportunities is not drying up. As business coming from your personal network is quite often not direct business with your contacts but rather personal referrals and recommendations, it is important to foster your network also from a strategic point of view.

See it as a continuous process, based on the following questions:

• What do I want to achieve?
• How do I get there? What actions do I have to take in order to achieve my goal?
• What resources (human, capital, etc) do I need?
• Which people (influencers, decision-makers) do I know?
• What is their role “in the game”?
• Am I well connected in my target industry?
• What do I have to do in the short-, mid- and long-term to improve my position?

Those questions will guide you through the process and hence, help you to achieve your goal. Setting up appropriate actions (in form of tasks and activities) and measures to come closer to your goal is just one part of the operational implementation in daily business. Building up and maintaining your social network is another important part. Knowing people and having connections is quite essential in today’s business world. It often opens doors for you or allows you to easier reach your goals.

Just a few hints from us how to successfully maintain and build up a social network:

Analyze and maintain your network!
What often happens is that due to daily business activities, we don’t have time to maintain and build up an adequate business network to keep our position. But this is essential, so take your time and analyze your network. If you keep in touch with your contacts (e.g. colleagues, business partners, and clients) and hence, maintain the relationship, you increase your chances reaching your goals: You get informal information early on, you have better chances for background information before even a formal bidding process is started or a project initiated. And, nothing beats the advantage of getting a personal recommendation by somebody in your network.

Build up a contact radar!
Cluster all relevant people that are relevant for you in terms of industry, position or functions and check, which of them you have not contacted for a while. Just think about it: isn’t it embarrassing to contact somebody from your network just in time to get a possible deal? Keep in touch even without a real business reason, provide them with helpful information, offer your support (like answering questions on an informal basis, without charging for the hour, of course!)

Keep the overview and don’t loose valuable contacts!

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