Don’t Just Make the Connection, Maintain It Monette Anderson If you have never spent an afternoon pondering the return on investment of your last business trip, Oxford Economics USA did the math for us. For every $1 spent on business travel, companies see an ROI of $12.50. As we embark on the year 2020, we have a lot of expectations around where technology will take us. Technology makes it easier than ever to connect across boardrooms and continents, share and translate information, and promote your organization. Weren’t cubicles and sitting in commuter traffic supposed to be distant memories by 2020? While technology has given us flexibility in our schedules and changed work-life integration tremendously, not too many of us—before the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting telecommuting necessity anyway—were living the dream of fuzzy slippers, pj pants, and only having to dress from the waist up to teleconference into meetings. Reviewing the above ROI stat, it’s easy to see why. Face-to-face interactions still matter tremendously. We have fewer distractions to manage, can better read non-verbal cues, and gauge trust and likeability more readily through in-person interaction. Whatever your goals might be—finding a new job, gaining new clients, finding referral sources—networking can further your aim. The more people who know about you and your goals, the more you can leverage a posse of people working and connecting on your behalf. Not convinced? Here are some other stats to chew on: • Only 11 percent of LinkedIn users have more than 100 people in their network. However, the average CEO has 930 LinkedIn connections. • Forty percent of new customers are converted through face-to-face meetings. • In-person meetings generate not only more ideas than virtual (13.36 versus 10.43), but also show that ideas generated are both more original and have a greater mean level of flexibility. Despite all the reasons it is important, one in four people say they don’t spend time networking. Here are a few tips for increasing both your in-person and online social networking presence.
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The Washington CPA Spring 2020
Put Yourself Out There I know, the word networking launches you into imagery of being in a windowless room wearing a cheesy “Hi My Name Is” sticker. However, networking can be, dare I say, fun. Once the current health crisis passes, find events, conferences or volunteer work that support speakers, ideas, or causes you are generally interested in, and be sure to take time to ease into a few conversations while there. The good news is your shared mutual interest will make a great starting point for launching into meaningful conversations with fellow attendees or volunteers. Remember though that networking is an ongoing process, not a discrete event. We’re all taking a break from in-person networking at the moment, but you can still work on growing your list of connections. Find someone you would like to connect with and schedule an informational interview. Sending a message like “Hi, X (mutual contact) recommended I connect with you. I’d love to learn more about your organization/specialty. Would you have 20 minutes or so available to chat with me by phone/ video conference?” Using alma mater ties or shared organizational memberships may help break the ice, i.e., “I noticed we are both WSCPA members; would you have time to chat with me in the next two weeks about x?” If you nail an informational interview, do not leave that conversation without asking if there is anyone else they would recommend you talk to. Then reach out to that person to keep the conversation going. Be sure to fill in your original contact with any progress or success you have with your new connections!
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