How much do you know about the people you network with?

Here at Your Business Matters, within each of our business networking meetings there are opportunities to do a one-minute pitch, present on your business, and have informal conversations over a meal. While these are all great ways to get to know each other better, within your monthly meetings you’ll never really get the chance to know everyone well.

One-To-One Meetings are at the Heart of Professional Connections

There are many reasons why people go to networking meetings. Whether you’re looking for people to sell to, tools to grow your business, or personal support, when you find the right group you should find all these and more – something we talked about in our previous post.

Essentially though, all these factors for small business success, rely on professional connections and relationship building. While these connections can be made at networking meetings, real business relationships need more than that and this is where your one-to-one meetings come in.

While you might meet 30 new people at one business networking meeting, there will probably only be a few who you decide immediately you need to know more about. The best way to find out more about these individuals is to get together for a one-to-one meeting. Seeing those people outside the group gives you a chance to learn more about each other and your prospective businesses within a freer conversation.

Relationship building is key to grow your business, and one-to-one’s are an essential part of that.

Professional Connections Are Personal

Trust and understanding

Whether you are looking for clients, suppliers or collaborators, when building your business you are looking for people you trust and understand. These are things you’ll only discover as you get to know someone.

In our previous post Creative Collaborations we share the story of two members who built a strong and productive collaborative relationship based on shared interests, shared clientele, and – most importantly – trust and respect.

We know that ‘people buy from people’, getting to know the person behind a business will help you understand who can benefit from their services and would work well with them. In fact, alongside the business benefits of these relationships, many of us make real friendships through our networking but that happens one to one, not in the group setting.

Building relationships for the future

As your business grows, it’s likely to change and develop. In order to support those in your network, it’s important you understand their business as it changes – getting together one-to-one is a big part of understanding new priorities and offerings. This isn’t just a way to meet new people in your group, but to keep in touch with ongoing meetups to share what’s new.

Making the most of opportunities

As you’ll already know, effective networking isn’t about finding people you can sell to, it’s about building a team around you who will support your business growth (something we talked about in Strategic partnerships and why you need them). One way they’ll do this is by identifying opportunities for you when you aren’t there.

Everyone you meet at networking meetings will be going out to other groups, client meetings, or social situations where they might meet people who need your services. To shout about your services, however, they will need to be confident who you can help and how. It’s only as you build your relationships and get to know each other personally, that you’ll understand who your connections are really looking for.

Supporting your fellow business owners

Within the best networking rooms there is a feeling of mutual support, you’re establishing a team who are looking out for you. In the same way, you’re committing to supporting those who you meet, thinking of them and how you can help them reach their goals.

Even asking someone to have a one-to-one meeting can be a boost to your fellow networker, showing you’re interested in them and their business and how you can help them.

Learning from those around you

One to ones are a great opportunity to learn from people who have different experiences and skills to you. They provide a time and space to really listen to what’s going on and ask questions – for your benefit and the person you’re meeting.

Setting up for success

While every one-to-one meeting will be different, we encourage members getting together for the first time to allow plenty of time to talk but to also be structured. Yes it’s important to listen and go where the conversation takes you, but we suggest ensuring you allow half of your time to focus on each person so you both get equal opportunity to speak about your business.

Have some ideas of useful questions you can ask within your one to ones:

• Who is the best person for me to connect you with? Not just potential clients but collaborators too.
• What might people be saying if they need your help? What are the frustrations you help solve?
• What can I help you with?
• What do you enjoy most about your business?
• Why did you set up your business?

Business Networking – one to one

At Your Business Matters we have seen how important one-to-one meetings are which is why we encourage our Business Room members to have at least one every month, and our Connections Club meetings include time for a one to one within the room.

Small business success comes from a great network but you’ll only see these benefits when you get to know each other properly and build real personal relationships. At all our networking meetings we encourage people to get together outside the group because this is where real relationship building happens.

Be genuine, be curious, you’re not trying to sell anything just taking some time to really get to know those who can support you in your business. Would you like to share your tips or best questions to ask, for those who are new to one to ones?