50 Do’s & Don’ts
for successful business networking

Rob B. Tol

Rob Tol is an entrepreneur and networker par excellence. Through running his consulting business, TOL Marketing & Communication, he has more than fifteen years’ experience working on strategy, positioning and profiling in business and government markets.

Rob has worked at ABB for over ten years and spent almost twenty years with the Siemens Group. He has worked in several roles within trade, industry, cultural and ICT-initiatives. His knowledge and experience about networking is all compiled in this one book that can be read back to front and front to back. He hopes to show the benefit of networking and is giving you the tools to get to work. According to Rob, there are things you have to do and things you have to unlearn. So do and don’t do certain things!

Rob was voted networker of the year in the Netherlands. He founded the Networking Academy in 2009 and gives presentations, workshops, master classes, and training sessions focused on successful business networking.

Note that where in the text it says “he” or “him” it also means “she” or “her”.

You can quote from this book but you need the permission of the author about the manner in which you do so.

Co-reader: Judith Hentra, Book Helpline - Design: Sander Tol, TOL Design

Production: MultiCopy Capelle a/d IJssel

NetworkAcademy

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ISBN 978-90-812233-4-8 Do’s & Don’ts for Successful Business Networking 11/01/2016 - 500 pcs.

Foreword

These days, there’s no denying that we live in a society that is networked both online and offline. Not everyone likes this but you can learn to network in a way that is more fun and more targeted.

What you also want to achieve is the following:

- No time wasted on inefficient networks;

- No excessive acquisition and research costs;

- To approach potential customers effectively;

- Tap into new business relationships;

- Have others recommend your services.

Ask a hundred people what their most important do’s and don’ts are in networking and you will get just as many answers. This book provides an overview of what you should or should not do to be successful in business networking. Sometimes they are just clichés (tiles truth) and while most speak for themselves, the important question is whether you practise them.

You don’t have to practise all of them to be successful.

Rob B. Tol

Networker & Entrepreneur

What is networking?

The basis of a good network is trust. The strength of a networker is primarily to give attention. The goal is to share knowledge, information, and contacts. What matters is that you know what you are trying to achieve, how you develop your network, and how you use, extend and maintain it.

Networking is primarily about establishing and maintaining personal contacts that can be of further help to you in business. Networking is often giving and sometimes receiving help from others. So do take note of what you can do for someone else.

Networking is the most efficient, least costly, and the most fun way to achieve your goals.

There’s an old saying that it’s not what you know but who you know, and this is often confirmed by the business world. Personal relationships may be more important than knowledge itself and yet it is not true that they are the key to success. Think of all the old school businessmen who went bankrupt during the financial crisis of recent years. They were part of the established order and yet were still isolated from the rest. It is all about the right contacts and not just the right relationships. That is the challenge for modern networkers.

In our current networked society, it is striking that despite the enhanced opportunities to make contacts through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and video conferencing, it is fairly easy to feel isolated.

Therefore, we have to make a personal effort to stay in touch.

Open your mind and explore the world. Make use of all available media. Don’t forget to stay in touch with your family and friends. Keep in contact with people on your path. They also have good ideas and can help you to establish other good contacts. Moreover, they generally ensure that you keep both feet firmly on the ground.

No. 1 do’s

1. Start by giving

The verb “giving” is in the right place in the dictionary, right before the verb “granting.” A network is not only for your own benefit. The idea is that your contacts also find value in it. It is not about money. Your network operates as a constant flow of information, ideas, and contacts between you and the people around you.

Networking is mostly giving and sometimes receiving something from someone who grants it you. Determine how you can help others achieve their goals. Always ask what you can do for someone else. Granting is the new giving and an important new way of entrepreneurship. What is special is that you grant in return for something that had no economic value in the past.

It’s about giving others your attention and perhaps being the recipient of their attention in return. There needs to be a willingness to give in exchange for a tip or information. This can be an email address, a profile, a publication, comments, a like, or a retweet. This is not expressed in money. The intention is that there is perhaps a trade in the long term. This may be from the receiver, but it may also be from a third party. So pay the right attention and your network will work for you.

At an event hosted by Rabobank, council member John, a shareholder of an ICT- company, spoke to me. “You were responsible for the Avantage website, I hear,” he said. Indeed it was me. It had been one of the first tasks from a marketing plan that I had written for them. “That also needs to happen in my club,” he said. He asked for my business card and wanted to make an appointment to meet me, to see how I work and find out what my vision is. He also revealed that he himself, as an ‘informal investor’, was developing his own website. I helped him selflessly with tips and beautiful pictures of Rotterdam. I started giving. After talking with the CEO of his ICT-company I found some work there. It provided me with a well-paid interim project for a year.

No. 2 do’s

2. Networking is mutual

We live in a networked society, both online and offline. Networking is not another word for “you give and I take.” It is not “I give and then want something with the same-value-and-even-more back as soon as possible.” Networking is reciprocal. It is a dialogue between people. It’s a process for seeing opportunities, for pioneering, taking action, making appointments, etc. In short, it is about action that leads to reaction.

Networking is a process of establishing and maintaining contacts that help you further in your job, your career, and your personal life. But that is only one side of the coin. Your network is not just for you, it should work to the mutual benefit of you and others. The intention is for others to improve and gain as well. Granting favours is the new giving and a major new form of doing business.

Help people in your network with information, new contacts and give someone just the tip which makes him happy. This is helping each other.

I met Rogier through the local business club. I told him I was not happy with the photographer I always used for documentaries. He offered his services as a photographer free of charge asking only for credit as a form of promotion in return. That’s what we did and everyone was amazed at his abilities.

Any future work, we decided, would receive compensation. I occasionally work with photographers and arranged for him to work with one of my customers. He did the job very well and is now someone I regularly work with. They show me what they can do and I get them work. This also works the other way around. It provides a more flexible way of working that is more responsive to the needs and desires of the market.