Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Every day presents tens of opportunities to meet new people and make contacts that will lead to business opportunities for you. Here’s how to connect with that business partner at a conference, person in line at the bank, or stranger at a party:

1. Give him the power. Allowing the other person to assume the dominant position in the conversation makes him more comfortable and more likely to open up to you. A great way to give control is to ask a question. People love to share their knowledge and information and talk about themselves. If you ask the host of a dinner party how he went about getting such great landscaping, he’s very likely either to tell you all about his landscaper and the great work he did or recount the project that he himself engineered.

2. Establish common ground. This is easy to do. People automatically search for overlapping areas of interest. Even in line at the bank, you can initiate simple rapport. “The line seems to move much faster at this hour.” Your counterpart will most likely respond in the affirmative, and establishing this tiny connection can lead to a great conversation about, for instance, what line of work she’s in. Maybe she’s in PR and you’ve been looking for someone to write up a press release about your new business. Maybe she’s looking for a PR person and that happens to be your specialty.

3. Compliment and inquire. At the dinner party, tell the host how nice a job he did on the landscaping, then ask for tips. Sharing information fosters trust and connection. If you haven’t learned about his occupation by now, this is a great time to find out. It could be that he’s looking for someone to design a Web site for the sports league he runs. That someone could be you.

4. Say “by the way”. If you haven’t solidified the connection by the end of the conversation, ask if you can call for home renovation advice. Even if he doesn’t offer you his details, give him your business card and tell him it was nice talking to him.

Filed under: Networking
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