A Simple Networking Meeting Checklist

  • 1 min read

As a consultant, I am constantly going on informational/networking meetings to convince clients to hire me. Through these experiences, I’ve learned a lot about how to conduct a networking meeting.

Here are six tips I have for managing networking meetings:

Be persistent

It’s not easy, but I get meetings with many CEOs and other executives in the Chicago area. When people ask me how, I tell them it’s a fairly basic process – I email people and convince them to meet with me. If I’m trying to reach the CEO, I sometimes schedule a call with one of his direct reports first. I sometimes send a couple of follow-up emails. I sometimes ask other people in my network for referrals.

There are many ways to ask for something, but the key to getting it is almost always persistence.

Do your research

It is not as difficult as you would think to research a company or a person thanks to Google. I research all sorts of things, from industry statistics, to competitors, to website statistics, to hobbies of the person I’m meeting. I also read through press releases and media coverage (all found on the internet) to understand the history of the company, the pain points, and what the management team cares about. If you do your research beforehand, you can make a good impression at the meeting.

Set reasonable expectations

Based on your research, you should know how much you can actually contribute to the networking meeting, and how much information you will have to ask for. It’s essential to set expectations for a networking meeting so you don’t waste someone’s time.

I have gone to meetings where a CEO just wants to chat over beers, and I’ve gone to meetings where the CEO wants a PowerPoint deck of my ideas and how to implement them. If you set expectations well, you can avoid being under-prepared and making a bad impression.

Articulate your interest and your value

There are two things people want to see in a networking meeting: enthusiasm or passion, and what you bring to the table. Make sure that you incorporate both these answers into your story about your history and your goals.

Also, don’t forget to tie both of these concepts to the company, the person you’re meeting with, and yourself. It’s a tough balance, so practicing beforehand helps!

Be open to possibilities

Often, you will not get an immediate offer from a networking meeting. That doesn’t mean it was a waste. Instead, you’ve gotten a contact, information, or a referral. Or you found a way to help the person with one of these three things. Be open to what someone can help you with, and good things will come.

Follow-up

Because networking meetings are not for closing deals, you have to follow-up and check in on the person within a reasonable time frame. This reminds the person of what you discussed, what you want, and what value you have to them. I generally follow up with a thank you email to begin with, and then follow up once more within a month.

Picture of Monica O'Brien

Monica O'Brien

Monica O’Brien is an MBA candidate with years of experience in business, strategy, and technology. She currently consults start-ups in the Chicago area on establishing their social media strategies. Monica attends the Chicago Booth School of Business (at the University of Chicago), currently ranked the #1 MBA program in the country by BusinessWeek, and is one of the 2007 Chicago Business Fellows. She concentrates in Marketing, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship. Monica holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, with a minor in Physics, from Truman State University. Her blog, Twenty Set, gives career advice to young professionals. Monica writes candidly about her own experiences. She has also written for Mashable and ProBlogger, and has been featured in major publications like the Christian Science Monitor.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Writers who reread their own old work and physically cringe aren’t bad judges of their own quality, they’re the only kind of writer who has actually gotten better

Writers who reread their own old work and physically cringe aren’t bad judges of their own quality, they’re the only kind of writer who has actually gotten better

The Blog Herald
The Society of Authors just launched a label that goes on the back of a book jacket reading “Human Authored,” and it runs entirely on an honour code, which means the only thing standing between a reader and the truth is a writer’s word

The Society of Authors just launched a label that goes on the back of a book jacket reading “Human Authored,” and it runs entirely on an honour code, which means the only thing standing between a reader and the truth is a writer’s word

The Blog Herald
A song engineered with a sound therapist to slow your heart rate has been available since 2011 — and almost nobody who talks about anxiety has mentioned it to you

A song engineered with a sound therapist to slow your heart rate has been available since 2011 — and almost nobody who talks about anxiety has mentioned it to you

The Vessel
A Pew Research survey found 64% of American adults still choose print over e-books — and the reason has less to do with nostalgia than attention span

A Pew Research survey found 64% of American adults still choose print over e-books — and the reason has less to do with nostalgia than attention span

Global English Editing
For a while we assumed the slow cooling of a long marriage was just the price of time — until researchers found that couples who spent about seven minutes, three times a year, describing their worst fight the way a neutral outsider might see it simply stopped sliding apart

For a while we assumed the slow cooling of a long marriage was just the price of time — until researchers found that couples who spent about seven minutes, three times a year, describing their worst fight the way a neutral outsider might see it simply stopped sliding apart

The Vessel
When researchers had people confide something painful to a friend sitting right beside them, the ones whose blood pressure climbed the highest weren’t leaning on someone difficult — they were turning to a friend they genuinely love and still, just slightly, hold their breath around

When researchers had people confide something painful to a friend sitting right beside them, the ones whose blood pressure climbed the highest weren’t leaning on someone difficult — they were turning to a friend they genuinely love and still, just slightly, hold their breath around

The Vessel
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore