Walking into a room full of strangers is intimidating for most people. Especially people in the accounting world, where technical expertise is a given but social skills and networking capability are often rarer.
For some people, Accountex 2018 will be hard work. The many conversations, interactions and situations can be overwhelming, even for the more confident networkers.
While the opportunities are huge, the motivation for accounting types to be there is not always enough to ease the nerves and enhance the performance. One way to feel more positive about events like Accountex is to focus on the positive.
Huge benefits to networking
There are huge benefits to networking for accountants and others in and around the profession. If your ‘why’ is strong enough, you’ll be motivated to get out there and network. Here are 19 benefits to help you to get out there and get talking to people…
- Uncover new business opportunities.
- Make more profits and more money.
- Meet or exceed sales targets.
- Raise your personal profile.
- Raise the visibility of your company, product or launch.
- Source great suppliers, vendors or providers, both for your firm and yourself personally.
- Recruit your next employee.
- Locate new strategic alliances.
- Improve your self confidence – if you get through, you’ll be stronger.
- Make your mark in a new role, niche, product line or territory.
- Enjoy the thrill of winning new work.
- Learn new ideas, industry tips and insider trends and information.
- Scout the competition and see who is doing what.
- Develop leadership skills by taking your team there.
- Validate your ideas, products or propositions.
- Maintain contacts with existing clients or customers.
- Explore new commercial partnerships or joint ventures.
- Develop ‘referral networks’ with other professionals.
- Meet new friends or gain a support system – business can be lonely.
There are many great reasons to go networking. You’ve got to figure out which ones work best for you and your personal situation.
To ease the worries of a huge networking extravaganza like Accountex, come to my training session on Wednesday, 23 May at 11am in the Business and Finance theatre. The title is “7 Different but Equally Effective Networking Strategies for Accountants to Raise Their Profile and Win More Work.”
