Welcome to the first module in the NRG Advocacy Training Series - part of the NRG Training Academy.

Above is what Dave Clarke, CEO of NRG Business Networks, has to say about the increasing importance of networking in the business world in a recent interview.

Before starting it is a good idea to identify why you are networking. What are the results you want? You can only measure success if you know exactly what success looks like for you. Knowing this will also help you identify where to network.

There are many reasons to network. We have found the the top three to be:

• generate more business
• acquiring knowledge or information
• building a support group

In each case results follow from building business relationships based on trust. During this series I am going to share the NRG Networking system & illustrate this with some experiences & insights. This will enable you to get better results in your networking, much more quickly.

I met someone recently who said “Networking - I tried that once & it didn’t work”.

I asked what he meant & he said "I spent a few months attending lots of events, but no one gave me any business"

I asked a few more questions;

"Did you refer any business to anyone else?"

"Did you have any follow up conversations?"

"Did you have any 121 meetings?"

The answer was 'no' to each one.

It's a common misconception that networking is just about meeting people at events, and somehow business happens. It isn't like that - networking is about building relationships.

"All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to — those people they know, like and trust."

Business Networking is about finding other business people who operate in similar markets to you, making real connections and building relationships to earn that trust.

There is a great old proverb:

If you want to be prosperous for a year, grow grain

If you want to be prosperous for ten years, grow trees

If you want to be prosperous for a lifetime, grow people

So are you prepared to commit to building those relationships?

Martin Davies

NRG Business Networks