You have chosen your ideal business networking group and you have picked a suitable event date. You have designed a fabulous networking "pitch" that is chock full of benefits for your potential new clients and referral partners. Is there anything else you can do to prepare for success ahead of time? There are definitely many activities and tactics that can help. Here are five great tips for pre-event preparation that will help you maximize your networking enjoyment and potential success.
Tip One - Get to know your event host.
Every event will have a host. Get to know this person well and make their life easier by completing things such as administration requests and your meeting payments ahead of time. They will then be well disposed to help you as a result. They will know who is who in the group and quite often will have many additional contacts in the area. These contacts are potentially very valuable once the host knows your business and trusts you enough to pass your name on.
Tip Two - Find out who is attending the event
Once you know your host you can quite easily find out, ahead of time, who will be attending the event. Why is this important? Well, if there are people there you do want to meet you can either arrange to be seated next to them or have the host introduce you during the proceedings. Conversely, if there are people you wish to avoid the host can also arrange that you are seated elsewhere.
Tip Three - Get your mind-set right
This is very important. Have a goal for what you want to achieve at the event. Now, visualize yourself being successful at the event and achieving your targets. Visualize yourself delivering your pitch perfectly and naturally to a receptive audience. Visualize meeting your intended potential client or referral partner and hitting it off right away. The choice of visualization is yours but visualize - it works. Be relaxed and look forward to the event.
Tip Four - Dress appropriately
The right attire really does affect your ability to make a good first impression. Notice that I said dress appropriately. If it is an informal networking group don't show up in a suit as you will be noticeable for all the wrong reasons. Likewise, for a formal event, don't show up in jeans. It might be superficial but first impressions have to be right. Clarify the dress code in advance, with your host, if you are in any doubt.
Tip Five - Plan your journey
This may sound obvious, but make sure you know where you are going. Leave in plenty of time and check for any traffic hold-ups that may case you problems. Getting to an event late is a fantastic way to destroy your carefully prepared mind-set and make a poor first impression with the host and the other attendees. Get there early and you can park up, have a nice cup of tea and be able to meet and greet all the guests you want to.
That's it for now, so enjoy your networking event and remember that there will be other people in the same position as you. You, however, now have more knowledge than they do so relax and start to meet your potential new customers or referral partners and listen carefully and openly to what they have to tell you and, more importantly, what issues they want to solve.
I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisation develop more effective face to face communication skills. I hope you enjoyed this article.
Check out my website at http://www.eryrglas.com/
Check out this new and valuable FREE report "What Is Effective Face To Face Communication & Why You Should Care" at http://eepurl.com/pjaz9
Hope to see you there soon!
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