Networking. Some Of You Are Doing It Incorrectly.

     I just got back from a networking event that I attend occasionally. (When I say “just” I mean an hour ago—this is a personal record for converting an experience to a blog entry.) This is a lunch meeting and, since I am a night person, mid-day meetings are not usually convenient for me. Also, this meeting usually falls on the same day as an evening investor meeting that I often attend and I am rarely inclined to attend two meetings in a single day. Still, these meetings are presented well so I like to stop by if there is a presenter I would like to meet, the topic resonates particularly well, I expect someone I would like to reconnect with will attend, or I have an urgent need for deals or have deals I think might be a good fit with this group. This particular time three of those conditions coincided: I knew another investor who is killing it and who I could see partnering with was attending, I hadn’t touched base with the sponsor (Keith Stonehouse at Franklin Title) in quite a while, and, though the topic was goal setting (many of you know I am not a goal type person—I prefer to position myself so as to free my time so I can better recognize and seize opportunities), the presenter was a local business coach whom I have heard good things about but had not met.

     The attendees are predominately Realtors and though I have a license and buy and sell real estate frequently (or assist other investors in those areas) this is not a group of people I generally find very useful to network with. Why? Many of them just don’t understand how to do it. This is being written between meetings on a busy day. The topic of the day was not to turn business away by stating how busy you are. Notice how I just violated that? Of course, it was on purpose. Yes, I get busy, but I am never too busy to follow up a promising lead. I know that often the fact that I am busy leads to more business in quick succession. That is great. I sarcastically call it my favorite problem but I hope everyone knows I never really think of it as a problem. Busy times are exhilarating times. I am never too busy to recruit a partner to help with a great deal I cannot do alone or to refer the deal to a partner who I know will be a good fit for the deal. Occasionally, I get paid for the referrals but not often. The people I refer deals to usually understand what I did and also make referrals to me. If they demonstrate they don’t understand...well I tend to make more referrals to those who understand.

      The inspiration for this blog was a Realtor who did not seem to grasp the concept of networking at all. Frankly, I am not sure why they bothered to attend. Before the presentation started there was an opportunity for the attendees to introduce themselves. I introduced myself as an investor, said that I also buy houses in need of repair (I introduced myself right after the other investor who attended), and specifically said that sometimes I will buy a house that is so bad that it needs to be knocked down—that I will buy it for the dirt). Later on a Realtor presented a listing for a vacant lot in an affluent suburban city. They were sitting directly across the table from me. I asked them the dimensions of the lot—they didn’t know. “Even an estimate?” They shrugged their shoulders. I asked for the address so I could look up the dimensions but the host had started speaking so I had to pause. At the first gap I tried to get the Realtor’s attention to follow up on the address—I wasn’t successful. I asked the question again but I don’t believe they heard me. I didn’t have the Realtor’s name and by that time I didn’t want it. I could easily find the name from the meeting notes but I am not going to bother. It is unlikely that they had a deal I could use (there is always a possibility though, right?) but even if they did it is unlikely that this person would be helpful in completing a transaction. I prefer working with investors and wholesalers—they understand what I am looking for and how to complete a deal. This was a person who had some dirt to sell. I had stated that I bought dirt. They did not seem to understand why I was interested in their lead. 

     Networking is powerful. Some of you are doing it incorrectly.