Networking is nothing new

This structured, goal-driven approach may be a 20th century invention but the premise of referral marketing goes back thousands of years. In fact, it is still a part of everyday life, whether we realise it or not.

How many times have you recommended a restaurant or bar to a friend? This is referral marketing and it is what networking aims to do. For example, imagine you run a limousine hire company. You may be speaking with somebody at an event whose daughter is getting married in 4 months’ time. If you make a good impression and your business operates a good service, there is no reason why your new contact will not recommend your services to his daughter. If she decides to hire one of your limo’s, this is a sale through referral.

The only difference between these two scenarios is that one is completely organic, the other more intentional. Where you will recommend a restaurant to a friend, it is with the genuine intention of passing on some valuable information. Where the father recommends his daughter a car hire company, along with his daughters happiness he also hopes to gain some return business from the hire company in the future for passing on the referral in the first instance.
Business people are not in a position to sit around and wait for referrals to happen, which is why networking events exist. This sort of event fulfils a clear need to aid business growth.

Networking is about forming longstanding relationships; after all, we tend to believe our friends. If a friend tells us that a bar is really great there is a good chance we will try it out on their recommendation alone. This particular bar could bombard us with leaflets and advertisements but none of these are as valuable as our friends recommendation.

So the idea of referral marketing has been around since forever, and we each do it every week. Simply by expressing a passionate interest in something, we are inspiring others to try it. So the next time you attend a networking event, talk about not just your own business but the business of others. If you can help others out, they will be more than happy to return the favour in the future.

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