Nobody likes a fake. I mean come on, who really does? Don’t you prefer genuine people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say and vice versa. That is the natural way to make a connection in both personal and business life.
Yet so many people turn up to networking meet ups with the sole intention of either handing out as many business cards as possible in a whirl wind of spin and be gone or are the type who, upon realising the person they are talking to isn’t an actual direct sales prospect, try to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible and move on.
You know the type “Oh is that the time”, “Oh excuse me for a moment, I see my friend” or the classic “that’s great, that’s great OK well nice meeting you Darren, I mean David, er, bye”.
This despite some of the most important business relationships coming from simply being genuine with people. They may not be your prospect but they will no someone who will be, and they will know someone who will be and so on and so forth.
By being genuine and yourself (and not the snake) with such people, you stand a much better chance of building solid relationships and a referral business.
It all comes back to doing good onto others. Reciprocity as we call it in marketing. What works offline also works online.
Read more about it in this article in Entreprenuer mag:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/251485
