B2B Networking: Be The One Who Listens

Andy Capaloff

February 20, 2020

Networking Events

Social conversations are much like old fashioned networking events. They can work brilliantly, but for most, they don’t. And you know why, even if you’d prefer to pretend otherwise.

Here’s what happens: You go because you feel that you must, rather than that you want to. When you get there, you feel awkward. How do you know who to talk to? What if they don’t want to talk with you? (At live events, people show up to talk. So they will.) How do you start conversations? How do you say what you need to say? How do you make a graceful escape!

Basically, you and everyone else goes to these things to talk, not to listen. You take a bunch of business cards that you’ll never look at again.

AND? Your prophecy was self-fulfilling! You got no new customers. Your time was wasted, just as you knew it would be.

You may also want to read: How To Leverage Social Selling To Dominate You eCommerce Niche

Social B2B Networking

If any of this sounds like it’s what happens on LinkedIn, that’s because it is exactly what happens for most people.

They don’t want to be there. They make connections because they know that they must. If they’re selling something, they really only want to broadcast what they do. They’re not online to buy or to listen or to make acquaintances for the future. They make connections then forget the people they connect with. The result? They might just as well have not bothered.

You may also want to read: How to Be Successful in Social Selling

What Might Have Been (And Should Be)

What if you actually listened to some of the people you connect with? What if you asked them questions and encouraged them to talk? Might you make an actual connection in the human sense instead of upping your connection count? And might you find that if you like some of those people, that they might also like you? Sounds a little like friendship right?

You can make friends on social. And friends help friends. They’re more likely to buy from friends or recommend them to others. And isn’t that what the social in social media (and social selling) tells you it’s really all about?

Featured image: Copyright: ‘https://www.123rf.com/profile_stockbroker‘ / 123RF Stock Photo

Bio
Latest Posts

Andy Capaloff

Andy Capaloff is the COO of Curatti. Prior to moving into the world of Content Marketing, Social Media Management and the day-to-day running of a Digital Marketing company, Andy spent over 3 decades in various aspects of IT. It is here that he honed his writing and technical skills, and his ability to ask uncommon questions.