Your ideal customers, investors, and business partners have to be aware of your brand and the services you provide before they get to deliberate within themselves whether they should or should not do business with you. Online connections on social media channels are great but networking would never go out of style. Why? The never-ending need for human connections.
Your products might be incredible and you may offer the best services but sometimes this does not kickstart and sustain business growth and expansion. Who you know, and the relationship with the people you know can be a catalyst for scaling your business.
Networking plays an important role in the growth of your business. A great way to network to grow your business is by attending events. Events are a great way to increase your brand awareness and patronage in the industry in which you operate. This is because industry events attract people of like minds who can either be potential partners, investors, team members or customers.
Some benefits of networking include:
- Knowledge sharing and exchange of ideas
- Possible access to a broad network of possible business partners, staff and investors.
- Get solutions to pressing business problems and challenges
- A source of referrals and new business opportunities
- Creates brand and product awareness
- A chance to demonstrate how your unique product works to an interested and engaged audience
However, networking in itself might not produce the desired results if not done with a plan or strategy in mind.
Here are five tips to include in your networking strategy to grow your business.
- Have specific goals in mind before attending an event or being a part of a networking group.
You do not want to spend valuable time attending events without knowing if your attendance would be profitable to your business at the end of the day. Write down what you intend to accomplish from attending the event. Do you want to increase brand awareness, do you want to get partnerships or funding? Be clear about your goals.
- Be selective about the events you attend or register for.
Look out for the industry, the agenda, the organizers, sponsors and the speakers to see if they are a match for what your business needs or goals are. For instance, ask yourself how can attending this event can help increase my brand awareness?
- Choose the most appropriate capacity or way to attend the event that best matches your goals.
Some events have online and offline attendees. You can register for either of them depending on what your specific business needs are. Also, events require sponsorship and your business can stand to gain more brand awareness and visibility if you sponsor them. This would cost money but it may be worth it if the crowd is right.
- Confidence
All ambassadors or staff of your brand attending a business event should be confident enough to have meaningful conversations on topics in the industry. In being confident you can suggest ways which your business can offer value and thereby create new business opportunities for yourself.
- Collect contact details
A Lot of other businesses would also be making efforts to sell their products or ideas to attendees. Sometimes, reaching out to the attendees after the event can be more rewarding than trying to get them to listen effectively to you during the event. Initiate the conversation, introduce yourself and your business. Ensure you keep a register of all people you meet, their designations, contact addresses including emails and phone numbers and reach out to them when the event is over.
Following these tips in your networking efforts would produce results that could transform your business for the better.
You can register for the Nigeria Energy Exhibition and Conference Here
About the Event
Nigeria Energy is a leading energy event in West Africa. This exhibition has been held for over 8 years and is attended by hundreds of energy suppliers, entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The Nigeria Energy Exhibition gives its participants and attendees a platform to partner and interact with like minded people who are putting in the work to solve the continent’s energy challenges.
The entire value chain of the energy industry is well represented at this conference. Attendees and speakers include manufacturers, suppliers of raw materials and products, investors, buyers, representatives of international and local government bodies.
In person demonstrations of unique products are also welcome at this event.The exhibition is also a great avenue for networking and forming profitable partnerships in the energy industry.
Event Benefits:
- International exposure and brand awareness: 27 countries represented
- Speakers and vendors on four dedicated energy sectors (Renewables and Clean Energy, Backup Generators and Critical Power, Transmission and Distribution, Energy Consumption and Management.
- Partnership opportunities
- Product display and buy-in
