The fundamentals in relationship building are the same whether you are looking for love or new business connections.
Firstly you may receive more approaches to connect than you need and from people that are not suitable to what you want/need so you need to have a method of filtering and remaining polite.
There are many different approaches tailored to your strengths and weaknesses. What works for one person will not necessarily work for somebody else.
Some people are confident brash and focussed on the short term, whilst others are quiet and it is only once you speak to them and build a relationship that their value as a person shines through.
The key is to find the right strategy for you and before I start getting requests for love coaching we need to look at transferring this concept to social media for business.
Social Media Is About Getting People To Want To Know You More
One of the mistakes people often make on social media is they connect with someone via a follow or connection request and instantly go straight to offering their full value proposition. Depending on the product and the needs of the consumer this may work but it is a low percentage move.
Grab Your Coat You’ve Pulled
This is the equivalent of walking up to a girl/guy at a bar you have never met and asking them to come back to your place for coffee.
Even if you are full of confidence/have a great product service this is a low percentage. You are relying not only on them liking you (the product) based on incomplete information. But also on them being ready for your approach i.e. being single/looking for a relationship (need your product).
Therefore like the potential partner at the bar, you introduce yourself and what you believe in but you take an interest in the other person and your behaviour varies depending on their reaction. Your goal is (if you like the person) is to get an opportunity to talk to them again.
The correct approach and discussion will depend on many factors, the setting, the type of person you are speaking to and their expectations from someone trying to date them.
The Social Equivalent
This is the same on social media, build the engagement and you build trust. If you are selling a high value or service product the goal will be to have an opportunity to talk to the person again and fill in the gaps. Therefore create content and structure your website to encourage/make it easy for them to contact you.
So the next time you meet someone networking or connect on social media think about what you are trying to achieve and what they expect.
This blog is part of our “Blog A Day Until May Series” and we would love your feedback via Twitter