Things unravelled pretty quickly in our conversation when it became clear that while he knew my name and phone number, that was the extent of his market intelligence. Sadly, he even got it wrong when recounting where we’d met.
I’m all for building networks and I have grasped the business case for forming lots of connections, but honestly what’s the point if you can’t even follow the basics of building business relationships?
More recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a small group of business owners when presenting to them at a breakfast meeting. It was ludicrously early in the morning and frankly I was half asleep. Poor preparation. Silly boy.
Luckily for me I had a couple of good business friends in the audience and their smiles and eager looks were so encouraging. One - the delightful Karin Slade of Catering by Design – even stood up and promoted Flying Solo LIVE! when it was obvious I’d left my promotional persona curled up in bed.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy what LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can do for networking, but I truly LOVE building business relationships by engaging with people face to face.
This week, get out of the office a bit more and try touching someone. It’s really cool.
Thoughts? Feedback? Get it out of your system.
“ I really enjoy what LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can do for networking, but I truly LOVE building business relationships by engaging with people face to face. ”
Robert Gerrish is one of the Flying Solo crew and supports soloists as a coach and consultant. He presents at conferences and networking events and bangs on to the media or anyone who listens, about all things micro. Along with Sam Leader and Peter Crocker, he's the co-author of Flying Solo – How to go it alone in business.
