HOW TO BE REMEMBERED AT NETWORKING EVENTS (From Your Local Guardian)

HOW TO BE REMEMBERED AT NETWORKING EVENTS

10:50pm Monday 2nd March 2009 in Search By David Wimblett

By Community Correspondent David Wimblett Have you been at a networking event where you have to stand up and “briefly” introduce yourself to a group of strangers and wondered how you could make yourself really stand out from the competition?

Well, one answer is the Memory Hook. This is an excellent tool to use when you are introducing yourself to a large number of people at a networking event. A Memory Hook is something in your introduction that so vividly describes what you do, that people will be able to visualise it clearly in their mind’s eye. This visualisation of your product or service makes it easier for them to refer you whenever they meet someone who needs your service.

For example, many years ago I met a telephone equipment sales rep at a networking meeting. When his turn came to give his sixty-second sales pitch, he painted a vivid picture in everyone’s mind about the type of company that needed his product: he said, “The next time you’re in someone’s office, look at their telephone system. If they have a phone system with fat wires, they need me.”

He explained that old phone systems use thick wires while new, more advanced systems, use thin wires. Consequently, anyone with fat wires has an old, inefficient phone system, and he could offer that person a more cost-effective alternative. To this day, every time I go into someone’s office I look under the secretary’s desk to see if the phone system has fat wires! (I’ve had more than one secretary say to me, “Dr. Misner, is there something I can help you with? Is there something you’re looking for under my desk?” How do you explain to a secretary that you’re just looking for fat wires under her desk?) It’s been over ten years, yet I still remember that Memory Hook as though it were yesterday. The result is that this salesman, in effect, has many “salespeople” like me out in the business community looking for businesses that need his service.

A good Memory Hook doesn’t have to be funny, but it helps. A skin care consultant once rose at a meeting I was attending and said, “If you have a face, you could use my products. If you know someone who has a face, they could use my products.” A lot of people remembered her because of her humour in describing her target market. She went on to explain to everyone that her products were not just for women, but for men, women and children – anyone with a face.

Imperial Printers care about our environment and their Memory Hook is “You can have any colour you want but it will always be green”. The company policy is to use FSC and recycled papers whenever possible, vegetable based inks, recycle waste, and work as far as possible for local businesses. Their Memory Hook is a constant reminder to everyone of their desire to help look after our planet.

One gentleman stunned his networking group by saying, “Did you ever want to shoot a relative? Call me, I’m a photographer!”

Here are some other notable Memory Hooks that have caught my attention over the years: • Gas Engineer - Glow Maintenance (Twickenham): “God Loves Our Work.”

• Online Directory – Citylocal Richmond: “If you want an advert with muscle, refer them to Russell.”

• Electrical contractor: “Keeping you switched on.”

• Graphic Designer – The Fusion Effect: “Creating difference, adding value.”

• Will Writer: “See me before you go!”

• IT Company – DT3: “If you are feeling all at sea, call DT3.”

• Tenant finder: “From one landlord to another.”

• Accountant – RA & Co: “Where accounts don’t have to be taxing.”

• Independent Financial Advisor: “Your future is not a flutter.”

• Car finder - Palmdale: “Finding the perfect car should NOT be this easy!”

I’ve always believed that Memory Hooks like these were money in the bank. Some years ago, before starting a workshop I was giving in Glendale, California, for about sixty business people, I watched as a young dentist stood up and gave his brief introduction to the assembled group: “I’m a dentist. I believe in the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth, so help me God.” After everyone finished laughing, he gave his name and phone number and sat down. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to test my theory regarding people remembering Memory Hook presentations better than other presentations. So later in the morning, when I was talking to the group about the importance of well-thought-out presentations, I asked for them all to stand. When they were all standing, I asked them, on the count of three, to point to the person who believed in “the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth, so help me God.” Not much to my surprise, all sixty people pointed to the dentist, without hesitation!

If you take the time to develop good introductions at group events, people will take notice. If you don’t, you are losing a great opportunity to someone else who will.

Written By Dr. Ivan Misner, Ph.D. and David Wimblett David Wimblett is a BNI Regional Director for London North West . He has been a member of the Business Class chapter of BNI for six years and writes, amongst other things, the blog: My BNI Day: http://bnigivers.blogspot.com/. David is also Managing Director of Imperial Printers in Twickenham.

Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization, which has more than 4,900 chapters in 37 countries. Dr. Misner is also the author of several books, including the most recent addition to the bestselling Masters Series—Masters of Sales (www.mastersbooks.com), and the New York Times bestseller TRUTH OR DELUSION? (www.truthordelusion.com); and he is the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute (www.referralinstitute.com), a referral training company with operations around the world