Thursday, September 03, 2009
Five ways to help people remember you (in a good way!)
How often have you attended a networking event, collected a pocket full of business cards, and when you go through them the next day (or perhaps a week or so later), you have absolutely no idea who most of them were? What does that mean for your networking follow up?
Now think about this for a moment – if yours is one of those business cards in someone else’s pocket and they have absolutely NO idea who you were – how likely do you think they will be to follow up with you?
Sound familiar – most of us have a drawer full of business cards and we have absolutely no idea who the owners were or which networking event we met them at and we have never followed up with them. How many trees have been cut down to fulfil the need for avid networkers to make meaningless exchanges of business cards? How much money did you spend on those same business cards? Worse still how much money AND valuable time do you spend attending those same networking events only to neither follow up or be followed up with?
But it doesn’t have to be that way – here are five tips on how to make yourself memorable (in a good way) when meeting other people at networking events.
And the good news is – they don’t include having to be an outgoing and engaging personality or look amazing or anything else that draws attention to YOU!
1. Have a distinctive business card.
Think about your business card as a piece of marketing material. What does your business card say about you, your business, what you do? Does it have a call to action? Does it reflect your branding? If you are handing out business cards regularly at networking functions is there some clear link between the business card and you?
Some ideas:
• Put your photo on your business card (and all your other marketing material if you are a key part of your brand) – then make sure that you keep it up to date so it looks like you. I had someone I had NEVER met recognise me at an event the other day because they had seen my photo on my website.
• Incorporate some useful information on your business card – some tips, a memorable quote, something that ADDS value to the other person rather than selling you.
• How about a call to action or a special offer? – something that will encourage the other person to DO something with your business card other than just file it!
• Have something unusual for a business card, one of my associates uses past issues of her company magazine, another has a CD with a 15 minute introduction to what she does.
2. Ditch the pitch
People aren’t going to remember long descriptions of what you do, or probably even that 15-second intro that most networking experts tell you that you should have. So don’t bore them with a long infomercial that you have designed in an attempt to be “interesting”. Most importantly don’t try to couch what you do in terms that leave the other person having to ask “What’s that?” People naturally store information in reference to things they already know. The unknown is more difficult to connect and file and therefore more likely to get forgotten. A clear three word or less description of your business or profession or what you do or what products or services you sell is far more likely to stick in their mind than a curiosity piquing infomercial. The important thing is what you do next….
3. Be genuinely interested.
It may sound counterintuitive but it is FAR more important to be interested than interesting. Focus the conversation on them not you. People love to talk about themselves so help them do it. You are far more likely to be remembered for being the person who was genuinely interested in them than for being the person with an interesting elevator pitch.
4. Look for ways you can help the other person.
Rather than looking at each person you meet as a potential sale (i.e. – how they can help you, and your bottom line) look for ways that you may be able to help them..
• What are they interested in?
• Why did they come to the event?
• Who would be a great customer for them?
• What are they proud of?
• Who would they really love to meet?
• What are they working on right now?
• What challenges are they facing right now in their lives and/or their businesses?
Armed with this sort of information you will be equipped to follow up in a positive and memorable way in both the short and long term.
5. Take responsibility for the follow up
Remember that 95% of networking is NEVER followed up. Most people either run out of time or run out or interest. After all who was that person who gave them that card?? If you can’t remember a thing about them how can you follow up in a meaningful way? If you have done #3 & #4 above you will find the follow up easy.
Make sure that you take notes after the event and follow up with people in a way that continues to add value to them. Can you send them a web link, an introduction to someone that may be able to help them, an interesting article, something that refers to something you discussed? Alternatively send them something unusual – (NOT a salesly email and DON”T add them to your email mailing list without their express permission) Perhaps an informative CD or DVD? Or how about a postcard or a “nice to meet you” card? At Networking World we use and recommend Send Out Cards as a way to make this process easy and no fuss. Check them out for a free trial
So there you have it in sequence:
1. First have a business card which is DISTINCTLY YOU. That way when the other person is thinking about you the next day and they have forgotten everything about you except how interesting you were (because you were interested in them) they will be able to connect YOU to your card And they will be pleased to hear from you.
2. Second, ditch the pitch, give them just enough information about you that they are able to connect you to your business card – the only thing that they will still have to remember you by tomorrow. Then shift the focus to THEM.
3. Third be genuinely interested – THAT is what you will be remembered for.
4. Fourth, look for ways you can help the other person. That way when you follow up you will be continuing to add value to the other person’s world.
5. And finally, take responsibility for maintaining the relationship. Maintain detailed records and have a clear system for your followup. Then DO IT because in all probability the other person won’t.
