Business networking without the hang-ups

Business psychologist Robert Myatt, director of Kaisen Consulting, explains how to set clear event networking goals and ensure that you achieve them. He helpfully sets out an easy-to-follow plan for your next networking event.

When economies take a down-turn, one of the things that will help you survive, even thrive, is the breadth and depth of your relationships. By ‘relationships’ I mean customers (obviously), but also suppliers, professional bodies, regulators and even competitors.  As someone once told me; “All things being equal, people would rather buy from a friend. Indeed, all things not being equal, people would still prefer to buy from a friend”.

Managing relationships has probably always been important to success in business, but today it’s absolutely vital. With the wealth of self-employed people or small businesses sprouting up, and customers expecting more than just a good price and things done on time, being able to build and maintain a strong network is becoming as important as good project management.