Building a strong network in your local community is important to succeeding as a real estate agent, however, it can be easy to approach networking events in an unproductive manner. For example, some professionals may approach networking events as an opportunity to distribute their business cards, in the hope that they will receive a call back when their services are required.
This may not be the best approach to networking and below we have three suggestions for more effective networking tactics you could use.
- Offer assistance: one way you may be able to network for success is by approaching every conversation as an opportunity to provide help – not an opportunity to grow your business. By using this approach you may be able to nurture productive, long term partnerships;
- Ask questions: networking isn't just an opportunity for people to get to know you; it's an opportunity for you to get to know people. As such, you may find yourself creating stronger connections if you pose questions to other attendees and don't focus on promoting yourself;
- Participate: if an event that you're attending offers the opportunity to participate such as asking questions of speakers, this could be a useful way to stand out from the crowd. Other attendees may remember you asking questions and in turn, this could offer a useful talking point while you're networking.