Apartmentalize, the National Apartment Association Education Conference is in our backyard this year, in San Diego from June 13-16, 2018. If you’re attending please look for me, I’ll be walking around (a lot!) and would love to connect with you and meet you in person. Second, I’d like to encourage you to attend an educational session I’m doing with Amy Kosnikowski Dilisio called “Beyond Overload? Change Strategies to Increase Capacity for Lasting Success.”
One of the key reasons to attend a conference like Apartmentalize, or any type of industry event, really, is the opportunity to network, expand your circle of contacts, increase your influence and just meet people that you like and/or can help you in your career, and that you can help in yours! One of the bosses I worked for got hired for a regional manager position because of someone she met and connected with at a local apartment association event. You never know which connection can change everything for you!
Networking can be tricky, right? Sometimes you can can get stuck talking to the same one person the entire event, which is not what you want! Or, you can spend a lot of time to talking people you already know and leaving no room to meet new people. This isn’t what you want either, if you’re looking to truly “network.”
Here are some tips that I’ve found useful in my career:
- Bring business cards: Yes, I’m starting with the obvious first. But I have forgotten business cards MANY times and have met people who’ve forgotten to bring their business cards many times. So before you walk out the door, stop and make sure you have some.
- Take care of your breath: Again, I know this seems obvious, but how many times have you met someone with awful breath? Pack some gum, mints, breath spray, something! Help yourself out and the people around you. Because yes, it can happen to you.
- Be ready with your “So….what do you do???” speech: You’ve probably heard this referred to as the elevator speech, and it’s your basic what you do spiel in about 30 seconds.
- Pay attention to the cues: This is where people tend to go astray when networking-they don’t know when to stop or when to keep going! The main thing is to pay attention to the cues that someone is giving you and respond accordingly. If someone looks bored, disinterested, is looking around, looking at her watch etc. it’s time to end the conversation. A simple, “Jack, it was a pleasure meeting you” usually works well! If someone is asking you good questions (and you want the conversation to keep going), or just showing signs that they’re still interested in the conversation then don’t leave too soon. Although a good rule of thumb is to leave/end the conversation about a couple of minutes before they really want you to!
- Listen! Do more listening than talking. (Enough said.)
- Have an exit strategy: If you get stuck with someone who is talking way too long and you’re trying to get away, having some type of “out” or “exit strategy” is helpful. Sometimes the out is simply, “Michelle, it’s been great speaking with you. I need to find a colleague who I’m supposed to meeting now.” Or, if you’re attending with someone else, look out for each other and help each other out when the other person gets stuck!
- End Strong: When you’ve met someone that you want to connect with in the future, be sure to ask for a business card, and then suggest a future action, “Javier, it was great to meet you. I’d love to continue our conversation-I think there are ways we can help each other. I’ll connect with you in a few days, how does that sound?”
Good luck and happy networking, friends!
