In today's competitive professional landscape, the value of building strong and meaningful connections cannot be overstated. Whether you're seeking career growth, exploring new opportunities, or simply aiming to broaden your horizons, cultivating professional relationships is a crucial skill that can open doors and propel you toward success.
In this blog, I’ll dive into the art of making professional connections, why they’re important, how you can build strong relationships, and overcoming common challenges.
The power of professional connections
Before learning how to make professional connections, let’s take a look at why you should even worry about creating professional relationships. Building a robust professional network can help you:
1. Accelerate career growth
Your connections can be a goldmine for opportunities. They can make introductions, make recommendations, and lead you to opportunities that might otherwise not be available.
2. Gain knowledge
Interacting with professionals across industries and experience levels is a great way to expose yourself to new ideas, perspectives, and knowledge.
3. Boost communication skills
Communication skills get better with practice, and by creating and growing professional relationships, you can improve your communication and interpersonal skills.
4. Find a mentor
Your professional relationships are an excellent way to get valuable advice and help guide you to achieve your career goals.
How to make strong professional connections
As someone who writes about networking and professional relationships, I can say there’s a lot of information out there about networking. From improving communication skills to learning how to manage more connections, there’s no shortage of networking advice. Before you start to get overwhelmed by all of the information out there, we’re just going to start with the basics.
Whether you’re getting started or looking to maximize your time spent networking, these are the X most important steps to making professional connections.
1. Create personal goals
Starting to network without goals is like going in blind. If you don’t know what you hope to get out of networking, it can be difficult to create a plan, know if you’re on the right path, or when you’ve reached your goal.
If you’re like me, and even setting a goal sounds daunting, if you don’t know what that goal should look like, try starting small. Give yourself a goal of introducing yourself X number of times, attending a set number of networking events, and creating X new contacts. The options are endless, but pick one that feels true to you.
Some people may meet hundreds of people every year; others may feel more comfortable setting a goal of one or two new connections. Your goals can always change and grow as you continue to network, but a goal too big can make you feel like you’ve failed before starting.
2. Exchange contact information & organize connections
What is a connection without a way to reach out again later? This step is two-fold: finding a way to share your contact information and making sure you get theirs in return, and properly saving and managing those details. Thankfully, there’s a simple way to do this—and no, it's not just swapping phones and entering numbers into the contacts app.
Digital business cards (my recommendation is HiHello) allow you to add unlimited information to beautiful cards that can be shared in person and online so you can network anywhere. But that’s not all; they also give the receiver of your card the chance to enter their information and send it back to you, where it’s automatically added to your smart address book. From there, you can add notes, use tags to organize your connections, and more.
If you’re not sure why this is such a big deal, there are hundreds of reasons I could share, but I’ll leave you with these three:
1. First impressions count in professional relationships, and paper business cards are outdated, and swapping phone numbers looks messy.
2. You can’t count on someone else having a business card to hand over. Using a digital card gives you the power to capture that information whether they came prepared or not.
3. A random phone number and name in your contacts app is almost certainly going to get lost. Having a smart address book with more organization options sets you up for success when managing multiple connections.
3. Prep your pitch
I’ve said it once, and I’ll probably say it many more times: first impressions count. How you present and introduce yourself when you meet someone can determine the future of that relationship.
If you’re not great at off-the-cuff introductions (that’s most of us), then create an elevator pitch for yourself. Having a pitch prepared can help ensure you present yourself in the best light, and it can help reduce some jitters if you’re nervous about making introductions.
4. Go online & face-to-face
More and more work is being conducted both in person and online, and networking is no different. There are hundreds of opportunities to make new connections in networking events in-person and online, on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Bumble Bizz, and more.
As you network, take a hybrid approach. Find in-person events to make local connections, but don’t discount connections that can be made online.
5. Follow-up every time
One of the most common mistakes people make in networking is failing to follow up after the initial contact. Your first meeting is just the beginning of the relationship. To solidify and strengthen the connection, send a follow-up message or email within a few days. Express your gratitude for their time and mention something specific from your conversation to show that you were engaged and interested. This not only reinforces your initial encounter but also sets the stage for further interactions.
6. Play the long game
Networking isn’t about immediate results. You can’t expect favors and time from someone you just met. Every networking relationship will take time to nurture and grow into a mutually beneficial and trustworthy connection. Immediate results might sound nice, and it can be easy to rush to ask for something, but it’s important to remember that the most valuable relationships take time to develop.
7. Be a resource
Networking is not just about what you can get; it's also about what you can give. Be a valuable resource to your connections. If you come across an article, event, or opportunity that might benefit someone in your network, share it with them. Offer your assistance or expertise when appropriate. Being helpful and generous can make you a memorable and trusted contact.
8. Master the ask
While you should always focus on being a resource, networking is a two-way street, but you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for assistance or advice when you need it. However, there’s an art to making requests in a respectful and effective way.
Be clear about what you’re seeking, be respectful and professional, and never expect a positive result. Show appreciation for the time, effort, and expertise on the front end and after if they say yes.
9. Know when to disengage
Not every connection is going to lead to a meaningful or mutually beneficial relationship. It’s important to acknowledge when it’s time to disengage from a dead-end networking connection. Don’t go burning bridges, but take the time to redirect your energy towards connections that align with your networking and career goals.
Networking can lead to countless positives in your career. By creating a networking plan and focusing on your professional connections, you can unlock the full potential of growing your network.
Are you ready to start growing your connections? Connect with us on social media and let us know!
Main Photo by iPrice Group
