How to beat networking fatigue

Sometimes we lose the interest and motivation to follow through on giving, receiving and following up on introductions and referrals to prospective clients. It’s known as suffering from “connection/networking fatigue”.

Why does this happen?

1. You’re spreading yourself too thin. Remember the VCP process – Visibility leads to Credibility leads to Profitability. If you’re focused too heavily on visibility, then you could lose sight of credibility. Scale back your efforts and work on deepening a few crucial relationships at a time, to help establish your credibility in your community.
2. There’s simply too much going on. We’re living in a busy, jam-packed, over-scheduled time. With so many activities, referral sources, and competing priorities constantly in play, the significant work and effort required in making a referral or connection can sometimes seem unreachable. It’s important to prioritise and focus on those activities where there will be a return on your investment of time.
3. Lack of contact/follow-up infrastructure. Simply put, a database that’s consistently updated with new contacts and prospects is a great way to maximise your networking and referral potential. Many business people don’t have an organized system to collect their contacts – which can make the follow-up effort a constant nightmare.

How can you beat networking fatigue through BNI?

1. Make a realistic plan and stick to it. Set up a one to one every week or fortnight, then stick to it. Don’t do less when things get busy – it’s important when building relationships to stay consistent. On the other hand, it’s important not to over-commit.
2. Make it convenient. Meet people after BNI meetings if that works.
3. Prioritise your new connections. While in theory you never know what can be gained by following up with every person you meet, in reality you need to prioritise your contacts and try to set up meetings with the people who you either connected with instantly on a personal level or are potential collaborators/partners for your business. Use your instinct.
4. BNI provides a structured networking environment. Make sure that you use the processes available to you to follow up with referrals.

If your network is a mile long but only an inch deep, it will likely be less powerful than a smaller network with deeper understanding and relationship based connections. Do more one to ones and focus on Thank You for Closed Business and you’ll begin to see improvement and business growth.