BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

How To Network Like A Dale Carnegie OG

This article is more than 4 years old.

The OG of networking is Dale Carnegie, who wrote the book How To Win Friends And Influence People. My recommendation is to read the book every year.

Here’s a takeaway for attracting high-paying clients: If you're not willing to do follow-up after a networking event, then don't bother going. For many people follow-up is the f-word they hate to acknowledge. But it is critical to win friends and influence people, such as prospective high-paying clients and referral sources.

A conversation with Judy Dang, a productivity coach and speaker, drove this insight home to me. She helps entrepreneurs maximize their time and focus. This means teaching them how to work (and network) better, not more.

Dang reminded me that “there are three essential steps to going to a networking event. Pre-event, event, and post-event. Most of us just think it’s only about the middle.” It’s the follow-up, Dang emphasizes, that’s most important. Dang offers three key recommendations for successfully cultivating your new contacts.

Get In the follow-up mindset. “The follow-up mindset has a laser focus on purposefully building mutually beneficial long-term relationships, not the spray-and-pray pitch-fest that we’ve all experienced. How do you build this mindset of success? It may seem counterintuitive, but here it is: It’s actually not about you or your business. So don’t pitch your services. Instead, focus on the other person with genuine interest and curiosity. What keeps the other person up at night? What fun projects are they working on? Make them feel like you understand their problems deeply and you’re that trusted advisor whose card they hold on to. If we start with getting to know someone as a person first, and a business contact second, we prep the soil for optimum growth.”

Cultivate the follow-up habit. “Habits get formed when we repeat actions. To help create the follow-up habit, you must have a set of actions you put into place every time you prepare for, go to, and follow up after a networking event. As soon as you add the networking event to your calendar, add time the next day for follow-up. Good rule of thumb: allocate the same amount of time for following up as the duration of the event. Get organized by creating standard templates in LinkedIn and email; giving your new contact a way to keep in touch with you, be it a business card on electronic contact; have a stack of stamped thank-you notes on hand, and some way of keeping track of your new contacts and their vital information. This is what the pros do. Skip this and you’re not going to follow up consistently. Those business cards will pile up. You’ll miss out on opportunities to strike when the iron is hot.”

The fortune is after the first date. “Not following up is like being a serial first-dater. You can’t build the know-like-trust foundation on just that one date. So be the one to follow up. So few people do. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re too busy working in your business to follow up. Make following up a regular habit, not something you do randomly or when you need business or a favor. Commit to making the follow-up just as important as the event. Do this and you’ll reap the rewards of strong business relationships that are the foundation to your long-term success. Don’t do this and you’re better off staying home.”

Done properly, networking is a great way to attract high-paying clients. To repeat: when done properly. Don’t show up and spray business cards and expect to attract high-paying clients. The magic is in the follow-up.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website