IS
IT TIME FOR A NETWORKING AUDIT?
With Robyn Henderson
Is your net working for you or is it time
to review your network?
The busier we get the less time we seem to have
to maintain our networks. As we dash from one
meeting to another, one networking event to a
family dinner, one rushed haircut to another children’s
party – we sometimes feel that we are juggling
way too many things. And if we think that, we
are probably right!
It’s
time for a networking audit! Somewhere in that
busy diary, blackberry or schedule – we
need to allocate at least 2 free hours for an
appointment with ourselves. Done? Turn off the
phone, the computer, close the door, block out
any possible distractions – you are about
to do a networking audit – without distraction.
A networking audit is a bit like looking at old
photo albums – you have no clue who many
of the people in the photographs are. Your networks
are often filled with people who are no longer
relevant in your life – you can’t
remember who they are and vice versa.
Our currency today is information and
out of date information or contacts are worthless
and time wasters in our busy life. Master networkers
are those who can access the most relevant and
accurate information in the shortest time.
Here is a 5 step audit action plan that may assist
you in this very important task:
-
Identify your short and long term plans
– how many widgets do you want to sell
this month, first quarter, this year? How many
widgets do I want to sell within 2 years? Whether
you are selling hours of your time or specific
products – an idea of how many and by
when must be established. No plan usually means
no results.
-
List the names of people who are key
players in your networks now. This
may include spheres of influence, clients, lapsed
clients, peers, competitors, friends, social
connections, school friends. Most people have
stacks more people in their networks, than they
can physically manage – so consider creating
a number 1 and number 2 list. This doesn’t
mean that the number 2 lists are any less important
to you -just not people you will necessarily
contact in the next 6 months. Just that one
thought can often take away a huge amount of
pressure – and will assist to prioritize
your networking time for the next quarter.
-
Establish how many people you have in your databases
– and how out of date this information
may be. Email addresses are probably the item
that people change the frequently these days
– and complete postal addresses are usually
missing from people’s contact details
these days. You want your databases/contact
lists to be as “clean” and current
as possible. Look at your mobile phone directory,
how clean is this list? Do you have a copy of
these contacts saved to your phone as well as
your computer? If not, why not?
-
Make contact with your databases -
It may be worth planning the exercise of emailing
your database with a blind copy update message
and see how many bounce backs you have. Although
time consuming, auditing is a bit like gardening
- , pruning your networks to a manageable (for
you) size, pulling out the weeds – the
contacts whose names you don’t even recognize
plus reconnecting with those connections that
may need a little care and attention –
a little like watering a bed of flowers. You
may have to plan a number of these 2 hour auditing
sessions to really get your garden blooming
– but the investment of time is worth
it!
Planning a hard copy mail out – for the
next quarter is also a quick way of updating
your list. Make sure you send something that
follows the 90/10 rule – 90% of what you
send is of value and interest to the receiver
and only 10% is about you promoting you.
-
Who would you like to include in your networks?
Are
there some peers, competitors, industry experts
etc, whom you would like to add to your list?
Can you make a list of these people? It’s
surprising how quickly those people may pop
up in your networks, once they are identified.
Alternately, you may have people in your networks
now who already know people on this list –
remember the six degrees of separation is now
only three!
Just like a maintaining a healthy
garden, sometimes you have to thrown things
away. This doesn’t mean that you don’t
value your old contacts, it just means sometimes
that you have to put them in a different file
or maybe a file labeled 12 months ahead –
and if you have not contacted them within
12 months – chances are you won’t
contact them in the next 12 months.
Before
you know it, your two hour time slot has gone
– it is your call whether you extend this
one, while you are on a roll or plan another auditing
session ASAP.
In
this short time, you have established where you
want to go – and with that focus you can
create networks of people who can support you
in your quest. Auditing doesn’t mean that
you don’t care about your connections; it
purely means for the next 6-12 months, you actually
identify with whom you want to maintain connections.
And then, it’s up to you to plan what those
connections will look like – spending a
day on the phone have “tele-coffees”
(10 minute chats over coffee) is a great way of
catching up without leaving your office.
Your
time is your most valuable asset and your networking
audit will help you spend your asset wisely.
Happy Networking
Robyn Henderson
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