Build Trust When Meeting People at Networking Events
Successful networking relies on two critical elements: your ability to make people trust you, and your ability to build relationships. Today we’ll be talking about trust. This may seem like a pretty basic concept, but it is often basic, fundamental concepts like this which are the most critical and which are often overlooked. Read this article on building trust to maximise your success at networking events.
Trust is built off of your character and competence. Character forms the foundation of competence and trust, as it is the composition of qualities and characteristics that make you who you are. To give an example, if you are a disciplined individual, who is ambitious, and who works well with others, that character is likely to lead to achievement and competence. Competence therefore, speaks to your ability to get things done with precision and to a high degree of quality.
When thinking of great leaders, those to whom people often look up to, we tend to think of individuals who are warm, who connect with and inspire their teams to achieve more. In comparison competent individuals who seem colder and less approachable, they tend to evoke images of strict authority figures. Similarly, warmth without competence will make it unclear if the person has the capabilities to deliver good results.
Tying this back to networking, one of the initial stages of networking is really about teaching people what it is that you need and what they can count on you to be able to provide (you also have to understand the same points about them). The key here is identifying what must be communicated to become more memorable to the person you are speaking with, and to get them to a state where they’d be able to accurately describe to another person what it is that you do and can provide. You must build trust by demonstrating character and competence.
Demonstrating your character
Many of the principles which build good character may seem relatively simple in principle, but can be quite difficult to practise (it’s likely you’ve experienced this challenge before). You simply have to practise things like:
- Doing what you promise to do, before deadlines.
- Treating everybody fairly.
- Respecting other people, especially their time and possessions.
- Being generous, and always aiming for collaboration and win/win scenarios as opposed to competition.
- Speaking well of others.
People best learn about your character by seeing it first hand or by hearing about your character from others. Story-telling is also a great way to convey your character, specifying qualities you want others to remember you for. For example, your attention to detail can be demonstrated through a story about how you love to review the whole document drafts when changes are made, as opposed to just reviewing the section with the changes.
Richard Barrett, Chairman and Founder of Barrett Values Centre shares this figure titled the ‘Trust Matrix’ to give an overview of the key components required to build trust.
Demonstrating your competence
Conversely, to teach others about your competence you must:
- Showcase the right credentials and qualifications.
- Have reviews, testimonials, portfolios at the ready.
- Be cited by others as an expert on a topic.
- Have a mass following on social media.
- Own a newsletter on a topic.
Showing competence is about showing how your past work has been handled and what the outcomes have been. Make sure to showcase the competencies you want to be remembered for so your contacts can accurately describe you to referrals exactly how you’d describe yourself.
Perceptions of your character and competence can be changed
You can change the way your network perceives you by thinking about situations in the context of this trust principle.
If you have a contact that had a bad experience with you, think about which was impacted – their perception of your character or your competence. For example, the service they have received from you was not to their expectations. This could affect their perspective of your ability to provide a high quality service, i.e. their perspective of your competence has changed. Following this, you could identify a way to communicate that this was an error and demonstrate your competence with action. Thus regaining their confidence in your character and competence.
Finally, remember to not get complacent with the relationships you have already built. Keep reaffirming your character and competencies to your network through action and enjoy a network which consistently yields you a great return on investment.
How do you approach building trust with new contacts? Use the comment section below to share your thoughts on this topic.
Making the most of networking events
Now to the part where we show off what we can do as the ProductivityBears! You remember how we said the best way for others to learn about you is through their personal connections? That’s exactly where we shine! We run personalised networking events for entrepreneurs and stand out by taking the time to get to know ALL our attendees.
Here’s how this works: Simply book a call with us using the Calendly button on your bottom left corner, share your story, and let us know who you hope to meet. From there, the rest can be left up to us 🙂 All you have to do is show up at our event and we will handle the introductions, ensuring you connect with the people you’re aiming to connect with.
Ready to try out our personalised networking events? Schedule a call with us today to share your business and networking goals, and we’ll take care of the rest. We look forward to seeing you!
Remember, success in networking depends on building trust with people. Let us help you build your network even more effectively.