5 steps to better business: Breakfast is the new Lunch! 

The car industry will have you believe that black is the new silver, the beauty industry say that 40 is the new 30 and in networking terms, breakfast is definitely the new power lunch!

Fanciful?  Maybe? Certainly it was not the way we did business in the UK back in the 90’s.   Ten years on it is quite a different story, with breakfast meetings now the new power meal of the day.

I visited my first networking breakfast group 10 years ago and my passion for the concept grew from there.   Now having attended 3 or 4 breakfast meetings a week for the past 10 years, counting a few weeks off for good behaviour I have probably consumed at least 2,000 breakfasts and witnessed good, bad and ugly meetings, all in the name of networking. 

So what have I learned? Well, it’s an even playing field and in order to make it work for you let me share a few of the essential ingredients.

1. It all starts with desire – in other words you’ve got to want it! As with anything in life you will get out of it what you put into it and so it is with networking. Be prepared to roll your sleeves up and get involved.  The best thing you can do is to plan what you want from each networking event you attend.  The extra effort will pay you back tenfold.  When I was first introduced to networking, I met someone in the States who told me that 80% of their new business came from their networking efforts and it gladdens my heart to hear similar stories now being quoted in the UK but you have to remember it is not Net-Eat, or Net-Sit its Net-Work!

2. Giver’s Gain – This is the philosophy of BNI, the world’s largest and most successful referral organisation.  When I first heard this I thought it sounded a little too idealistic, however the past 10 years have taught me that to become a master networker you must embrace the Givers Gain philosophy.  Whether meeting an old friend or a new contact, the master networker’s first thought is, what can I do to help?  It’s more than a strategy, it’s a way of life. 

3. Constant development -  If Givers Gain is a way of life then constant development is the law of life.  Business leaders will tell you that you have to work more on yourself than anything else.  Imagine if you had stopped when you bought your first computer or mobile phone.  You would be out of the game by now.  The same is true in any field and networking is no different.  If you don’t do anything else today, buy yourself a book on networking, ‘The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret by Ivan Misner would be a great starting point.  If you learn one new thing it will be worth your while. 

4. Commitment – One definition of commitment is doing the thing you said you would do long after the mood in which you said it has left you.  Every successful person I know is committed to their particular field of endeavour and being successful in networking demands a commitment way beyond turning up each week.  Commitment, for me this is the number one fundamental of success in business, life and in networking.

5. Follow through – In other words do what you said you would do.  A number of surveys have been conducted on the key attributes of successful networkers. Number one is always ‘follows up’.  50% of all business transactions happen through follow up and in networking it is no different, in order to build the relationship you must follow through. 

Nowadays, I think I still prefer lunch but I am also addicted to breakfast – long may it last!

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