The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for business people and their networking efforts. In person events ended abruptly. Many businesses stopped operating or decreased their operations drastically. This raises two questions.
- What can we do right now to connect and relationship build?
- What will in-person networking look like in the future?
Let’s start with what to do right now. Thanks to technology we are still able to meet ‘in-person.’ Okay, it’s virtual. And, it’s still possible to connect with others. Once we decide we can, and want to, continue our networking efforts we can set a plan in action. Start with reaching out to your current community. Keep your intent simple – find out how they are doing. That’s the first, most important question right now. Make it a priority to do a quick check on everyone.
Next, you can decide to schedule weekly or bi-monthly virtual video calls with a group of people. Invite a bunch of people who you think could benefit from conversation. Pick a topic of discussion or just let the conversation flow. Either way, getting people talking to each other can lighten the feeling of isolation.
And what about the people on the periphery? These are folks you have wanted to meet and haven’t been able to, nor had time to. Well, now you do! So, reach out to see about scheduling a coffee call. Just a short conversation to start a dialogue. You never know where those conversations will lead.
One often overlooked idea is to send a card letting someone know you are thinking about them. No other agenda! This can be really meaningful to the recipient and can rekindle a quieted relationship.
So, what about the future? What will in-person networking look like? It’s hard to say for sure at this point. However, I think a couple of things will change. The first is the handshake. There’s a lot of talk about how people will not be shaking hands in the future. Hooray! There has been so much psychology wrapped up in handshakes. I say good riddance! What will take it’s place? What a great opportunity for individuality. What if each person chose their own greeting signal? Imagine what you could learn about someone.
Another thing I think will change is the exchange of business cards. I think this is going to go the way of the dinosaur. People aren’t going to want to receive a piece of paper from someone else; especially when it’s been in their pocket. Once again, I say ‘yea!’ Hopefully this stops people from trying to hand their card to everyone they meet, or everyone in the room. It’s a terrible practice.
When it’s all said and done, I think the changes to networking are going to serve small business owners and sales professionals well. Social distancing measures are going to force people to engage in real relationship building activities instead of sales behaviors.
©2020 Helbig Enterprises, Inc
