Networking...What's in It for Me?
By: Dana Tarlow, Senior Account Manager
I don’t know why, but I have always found great enjoyment in matching people of various backgrounds with common goals to assist each other. It has always come naturally to me, although I’ve learned skills along the way from various mentors and peers. However, to the extent one networks with others purely to gain business contacts to further their own purposes, the endeavor is sure to yield less than significant results. To answer the question, What is in it for me? Great satisfaction in knowing that I have put people together with unique talents to achieve common goals. While it may sound corny, the pursuit itself yields its own reward. As a byproduct of my natural interactions, I have been able to further my business by working my extended network of colleagues and peers to create positive situations for all parties involved.
Dana Tarlow-Senior Account Manager (left), alongside Jessica Catino-President (center), and Emma Charney-Account Executive (right) networking at an NH High Tech Council TechWomen Event.
Enter the age of LinkedIn and social networking. While useful tools in extending the reach and reducing the time to create new relationships, nothing can replace the trust and affirmation earned and yielded from true interpersonal communications. Whenever I meet someone new for the first time, I’m naturally inquisitive. Partially because it is my job to learn as much about a potential contact as I can so that I can see if there is a good fit for the services I sell, but mostly because I’m truly interested in who that person is, and what they have to say and offer. It just comes naturally. Often what I learn is that at least for the time being, I may have nothing to offer my counterpart, but many times through my vast mental Rolodex I am able to guide them to somebody who can assist them in whatever endeavor they’re working on at the time. Whether through serendipity or some karmic circle, you’d be surprised at how many times in the future that person may reach out to me with a contact, lead, or information that might assist me in my current project. But the goal, at least immediate goal, is almost never self-serving. The reward is almost in the act itself. To be effective at networking you must have, or at least develop, a true curiosity about those around you. It is that which will serve you to be successful.
Nothing can replace the trust and affirmation earned and yielded from true interpersonal communications
I recall an encounter that occurred many years ago while traveling on an airplane for vacation with my husband. The couple seated behind us seemed to be having a little bit of difficulty entertaining their young child. To the dismay and perhaps slight embarrassment to my husband, I turned to engage the couple in conversation and to put them at ease that we certainly understood their tribulation and to reassure them that we were not bothered at all by the disruption. As things often do, my natural curiosity turned to conversation when I learned that the husband owned a company which was a client of mine while I was in the business of selling advertising. I had been having trouble getting to the decision-maker and now I was speaking to the owner. I politely introduced myself, laughed at the serendipity, and when I returned from vacation I was able to close the sale to the benefit of both parties. If this were a unique occurrence, it would have no value to recite to you here. However, by merely engaging others with genuine curiosity and interest, I have been fortunate to experience similar engagements time after time in both my business and personal lives. I truly believe this is not because I am seeking personal gain for my networking efforts, but because I know that somewhere somehow, even if it is not self-evident at that moment, I may be in a position to assist that person in the future.
True personal bonds require true personal interaction. I am a fervent proponent that nothing is a substitute for meeting with people in person. While the telephone comes close, social media platforms, as disposable as they are, yield disposable relationships. They have their place, they can point one in the right direction, but it is impossible to begin any relationship, of any substance, by typing on a keypad. The problem is the real world moves too fast to meet and explore business relationships in person on a consistent basis.
True personal bonds require true personal interaction.
For good or ill, I’ve been accused of always “being on.” Taking a tennis lesson, I’m engaging the tennis coach. Taking a spin class, I try to take the opportunity to meet someone new. I never know where it may lead and often it leads somewhere good. But I never start with the premise “what’s in it for me.” I just want to learn about the person I’m speaking with. Everything else seems to take care of itself. Their cousin may work as a manager at the company I have been trying to solicit. I may know a house painter that can help them take care of the new addition they just put on their house. But in the end, over the years, I have developed a vast network of people, who I like and who I trust, who have helped me both in my business and personal lives, and who I’ve tried to help as well. The reward is in the network itself not in the goal of seeking profit from the interaction. In general, people will see right through you if your intentions are merely to solicit their business, close a sale, and move on to the next engagement. Those relationships yield short-term profit at the expense of long-term enrichment. In my various careers, chance meetings and introductions have yielded many fruitful and profitable business relationships that have lasted many years. I trust and hope the people I interact with feel the same. Nobody conducts business in a vacuum.
So when you ask yourself, What’s in it for me?, don’t look for the answer. Develop a natural curiosity, engage people when you meet them, and ask them questions about themselves because you are truly interested in them and not because they can help you. The rest will take care of itself.
About Digital Prospectors
We believe all people should love their jobs. Founded in 1999, Digital Prospectors is a top IT staffing agency in Boston that has placed thousands of contractors and direct-hire employees with hundreds of prestigious companies nationwide. Our work is about improving the lives of the people we serve by connecting opportunity and talent in meaningful ways. Life is short – Love your job!®
Contact
Dana Tarlow, Senior Account Manager
Digital Prospectors – Boston, MA | Exeter, NH
Direct: (617)337-4254
Email: dtarlow@digitalprospectors.com
Dana Tarlow is a Senior Account Manager at Digital Prospectors, an award-winning IT staffing company in Boston and Exeter, New Hampshire. She is an active skier, heavy hitter fund-raiser, and rider with the Pan-Mass Challenge.
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