With good networking, you get to stay on top of the industry trends. You also advance your career with the new opportunities it presents. You can network through connecting with other industry leaders online or attending networking events, seminars, and other business functions. That said, the initial networking stage of striking conversations and making the best first impression is only the tip of the iceberg.
Even more important is what you do after a networking event. A successful follow-up ensures that the contacts you make become valuable connections that you can leverage. Here are some follow-up tips to help you make the best of new contacts:
Send a follow-up email
After the initial meet-up, you need to send a brief follow-up email. Send the email soon enough when the contact still remembers you and any conversations you had. The email should not be too long. Have just a greeting with the contact’s name and a small introduction of where you met. Follow that with a recap of your conversation and some information on how you can get in touch. If necessary, you could suggest a further meeting. Then a friendly sign-off.
Connect on LinkedIn
Send an invitation to link up on LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn profile will build trust and credibility with your new connection since they can see your credentials. Connecting on LinkedIn will strengthen your professional relationship even further and provide a platform to continue communication at a professional level.
Get a personal CRM app
The easiest way to keep in touch is to get a personal CRM app or networking app that reminds you to stay in touch with your new connection. Covve is a powerful tool that will make this so much easier.
With Covve, you can set reminders when you reconnect with the contacts you make at networking events. You can also keep notes of your discussion under their contact. On saving their industry, Covve will send you curated news about your contacts. That makes it easier to start conversations when you want to reconnect. Covve also provides an extremely accurate business card scanner that will allow you to scan your business card and send it to your contacts virtually! They are more likely to keep a digital copy than a paper copy, and the environment will also thank you for that.
Remember the small stuff
People post about things happening in their personal lives like birthdays and other celebrations on social media. If your contact posts that they have something significant happening in their personal life, use the opportunity to reach out and send well wishes. The seemingly small gestures go a long way towards strengthening your relationship.
Conclusion
You need to keep checking on your connections if you want to succeed in networking and nurturing relationships. Do not only reach out when you need something, networking is a process.
To ensure you keep your contacts warm, you should use a networking app like Covve. You can download the Android or iOS version for free and stay in touch easily.
Written on 09 Nov 2021.
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