Like many small business owners I go to a fair number of networking meetings. I go to meet people with whom I may work in the future, and the purpose of attending is to build relationships and expand connections – in other words to get to know people, which can ideally be achieved by talking face to face.
Being a polite person who does not like to offend, I will if requested hand over a business card. Some meetings require that everyone has everyone else’s.
So, just to say that because you have obtained my business card, I do not expect to receive a sales or marketing email from you. If I have just met you, and especially if I have not even had a chance to have a conversation with you, I have certainly not given you permission to bombard me with sales messages, or even to send me just one. You may send me an email saying how nice it was to meet me and you look forward to talking further, or mentioning that you were sorry we did not get a chance to chat, and perhaps next time we can find out a little more about each other.
I want to be able to refer businesses, but only when I know them. I am not a lead in myself, so please have a little respect, and change the attitude you have when you meet new people, which should start with referring others, helping people, and building trust. If you look after relationships first, you will gain pleasure from that, and if you have a mindset of referring the businesses you trust, you will find business comes to you. Most of us know that, don’t we?
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I know how you feel! I stopped going to local networking events because they were populated by salesmen and not the bosses of the businesses. It seems some see networking as an alternative spelling of marketing.