Many business people get stuck in the networking situation of being cornered by people who talk and talk and talk about themselves. Those people also take a hard sell approach, working diligently to convince you to buy from them even if what they are selling is nothing you want or need. It would seem that there is no way out of the situation. You are doomed to being bored until this person moves on to their next victim.
A good friend is an accomplished networker, knowing that really its all about the person he meets. Realizing that his job is to find out as much as he can about new acquaintances, David uses a uniform set of questions to gain important information. He says, Using this method makes networking very easy because I dont have to do much talking, but instead ask a few questions and then listen and take notes. What I hadnt considered was that I could use this formula to actually stop the boring people in their tracks. Even though Im asking them to talk about themselvessomething they do very well, I am controlling what they talk about with the types of questions I ask.
He continues, Recently, I found myself in one of those situations where I was cornered not by one person but by two. I was being tag-teamed.. I could have just sat there and gritted my teeth, but I began directing the conversation by asking questions about the two offenders. One great question I use is, What sort of goals do you have for your company or your career in the next year or so? Before long, they forgot that they were trying to sell me something and instead relaxed and began asking questions back to me. I had neutralized their attack! Im sure they have no idea what happened that day, but I do. Actually, I found both to be very interesting people; people who probably had been given some very bad sales training.
This young businessman is teaching us a several lessons. We all know that the hard sell approach doesnt work when someone is using it on us. We must be sure to never use it on someone else. The second enlightenment is that by asking well chosen questions about the bore will re-direct the conversation, giving you some control, where previously you felt you had none. It makes networking a lot more fun.
Debby Peters is the owner and Director of Training of The Certified Networker Program of Ohio, Ltd., (http://www.cnpofohio.com) a 24 hour referral based training that is evolving a community of profitable referral partners. She is also posts to the blog http://www.cnpofohio.blogspot.com
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