Chapter 7
Education and Connection
If your contacts call your competition instead of you, chances are you're missing the education and connection components of profitable networking. It's not their fault. The onus is on you to give them the information and the comfort level they need to choose to work with you.
It's unrealistic to expect that people will randomly pick up the phone to hire you if they haven't met you personally or heard of you through one of their trusted contacts. There are some commodity-focused businesses that can rely on customers secured through the Yellow Pages directory, but service professionals don't usually have that luxury. Regardless of the source for a client, you can't expect them to call if they don't understand what product or service you offer and recognize your value.
Networking is an exercise in education and connection. It is your responsibility to educate your contacts about who you are, what you do, and what you have to offer. It is also your responsibility to connect with others so they want to do business with you.
There are people who will circulate the networking scene for years, but don't clearly communicate who they are or what they do. They keep their “cards” close to their chest, possibly in an effort to avoid appearing pushy or too eager for a sale.
This subdued approach leaves money on the table because even though people may like you, they won't know and understand enough about what you do and what you have to offer to decide to ...
