Connect Emotionally for Effective Networking

I was reminded of this on a trip to Southeast Asia. We visited 10 different destinations over a three-week period and in each location we had a different guide. Each one did a superb job.

They knew their facts, efficiently scheduled activities, were unfailingly polite, and open to program changes as we went along. While we enjoyed our time with every guide, there were some we simply connected with more than others.

What makes us remember one, while others fade into oblivion? And, why do we take the time to enter the contact information of specific individuals in our address book with the full intention that we will keep in touch?

The answer is simple: it’s those with whom we made an emotional connection. And how did that happen? The guides who shared personal stories with us – who told how their families reacted to significant events, either with pain and suffering or happiness and elation – they are the ones that we remember. They are the ones with whom we want to stay connected.

The best guides brought their history and culture alive through personal antecedes, expressed with feelings. The more emotion they expressed, the more we empathized. The more we empathized, the deeper the relationship we developed. Nothing felt staged – it made it real for us.

It is the same with you and networking. We are taught that our business and personal lives should be separate but when we share stories of our families and discuss our feelings, we are more human and people relate. Everyone has a family – it’s a place to find common ground.

I used to work in sales in a corporate job and many years later, the people that make an effort to stay in my life are those where we got to know one another personally. We bonded through our families, by being sincere, by being vulnerable, and by revealing who we really are. That’s what effective networking is all about.