Networking: The Misleading Journey to a High Net Worth

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It was 2004 in El Dorado Hills, Calif., and I had just joined my first business networking group. A few months prior I had purchased a company about which I knew absolutely nothing. Honestly, if it were up to someone qualifying me as the best candidate to run a maintenance business, this was a failure because I was the worst qualified person one could consider. I was terrified of heights; I did not care much for labor, and dreaded the idea of working with homeowners. It was all I had. I had to make it work.

The good news was I was hungry and knew from prior experience I had a knack for working with people. I wanted to learn the industry; I set a lofty goal of being number one in our field of service in the industry in California. And, no one was more surprised than me when one day, we did hit that goal.

So how did I get started? Have you ever bought something from an infomercial or signed up for an MLM and ended up with a box of useless junk? Well, this was worse than that. I purchased some used equipment and a box of index cards with client names.

Day 1: Fail. I immediately hit the phone and started calling my new prospective clients. 100 client names with addresses, sales info, and previous service provided seemed like a series of home runs. In reality, I was not even close. The majority of clients were deceased, moved to another area outside my region, or had pricing expectations that were 50 percent below industry standards. I landed 2 clients. That’s right. 2 out of 100. No one stays in the major league with that type of batting average. I had struck out.

So there I was: broke, dismayed, and in debt. I had one play: I needed to build a new client base STAT. I started with a list of friends and family; this got me on my feet. One of my friends asked me to attend a lunch where a group of supposed business “professionals” exchange leads. First time was free.

At the first meeting I received 2 leads. This group was a hit! My first time networking at this event, and I received work. All I could think was this was a golden ticket to build my business. And then the golden bill came. It cost $1,300 to join the group for the year. What?! This would wipe out my savings; I had spent almost everything I had on the purchase and my initial attempts to grow the business. However, since I saw such immediate return from this first session, I did what any naïve, small, starving business owner would do. I paid my dues. I risked it all, but I hoped I was on the trajectory of success.

Six months into owning my company, I was part of this new, dynamic networking group with a few jobs under my belt, and then it got worse. The leads from the group dried up quickly. And, I came to realize that I did not join the type of group that maintained my outstanding impression at the first session. Leads were required, or you get fined. Attendance was mandatory, which would not have been a problem other than there was a time conflict with some clients who expected me at the same time. I had to work around client school, work, and family schedules. Also, the professionalism dropped. The group would sign up just about anyone with enough money to pay the dues. Who was vetting these business owners? Why would I refer someone I did not know or trust to provide valuable service? Could this group cause detriment to the integrity of my own company? This was a disaster, so I quit the networking group.

My start-up was more like a start-over. I had a reality check. I was not in a golden networking circle. I appreciated the potential of networking, but this first networking group experience was not the gold mine I had expected. Now, don’t get me wrong, some of these types of groups can work for the right type of person or business. It wasn’t right for my business. My personal experience taught me a few valuable lessons.

I began to reshape the way I networked. I would focus on quality and depth of relationships rather than trying to land the “business one-night stand”. I fired clients that did not value my service, were verbally abusive to my employees, or just wasted my time.

Derek Coburn, Author of “Networking is Not Working,” states that “we cannot afford [as business owners] to have clients for the sake of having clients.” This was not a numbers game; it was a relationship process. I was no longer looking for immediate business; I was now looking for marriages; I wanted long-term relationships in a shared value system with my clients. I wanted them to esteem our services, and I would go to great lengths to service their home or business. My objective was to cultivate continued personal connection, build a company that would make us inseparable from our clients.

I recall the moment I understood what it meant to be a successful networker. I was on a job in San Joaquin Valley with one of my employees (our company had grown across the state of CA), and I was walking around a large apartment complex we were servicing. I observed the dumpsters were pushed over, and trash was everywhere. I walked into the on-site office and found the property manager in tears, and noticed what appeared to be a disgruntled employee storming out of the office to his car. I did not have to be a genius to figure this out; the employee was upset and made a scene by dumping the trash dumpsters.

I felt bad for the manager left to deal with all the mess. I knew what I needed to do. I signaled my employee who was working on the roofs, and we cleaned up all the trash and put the dumpsters back in their designated areas. Then, we completed the work for which we were hired and went home. To this day, I have never spoken to the property manager and do not recall her name. What happened after we left forever changed the course of my service business. She emailed her boss, our client (who I would consider also my boss), about how we went above and beyond our job and helped with the dumpsters. That email put our company into 4 states, making them our number one client.

I did not pitch the property manager or ask for more money for doing extra work. I learned if you want to be great at networking, service the right clients, above and beyond, while expecting nothing in return. I believe continued top shelf service will over time equal a great bottom line for your company.

Jeff Glass is a serial entrepreneur and Executive Director of New Entrepreneur Network.