Beyond word of mouth

By ANGELA McCARTHY

When Grant Ryan started analysing how he'd found his best staff, he realised it was through word of mouth. Ryan, the former managing director of the search engine technology company Globalbrain, and a New Zealand Venture Investment board member, says: "It was scary to see how something so important to business was done in such a random way."

So he took his two most valuable skills, web search development and networking, and created RealContacts.com, a web-based online networking system.

This has transformed word of mouth networking into an organised net-based websearch process that takes the randomness out of networking for those connected to it.

For example, a couple of weeks after launching RealContacts, someone Ryan had invited on to the site posted a job that someone else he knew applied for.

"Normally that connection would only have happened if I'd managed to have a beer with both of them in the same week."

However, using the website doesn't end the need for building people networks, it simply hooks you more easily into the networks of people you have invited into your network, says Ryan.

"You still have to do the real world stuff and build relationships."

Montage Interactive chief executive Mike Perry, who is an enthusiastic user of RealContacts, says he prefers to find staff through his networks.

"Networking is the most comfortable way to have confidence about employing someone. Like most employers, we have been caught out by someone who appears to be fantastic but didn't come through.

"It was like we'd employed a different person. So having a degree of relationship close enough to judge the value of the reference is an additional security factor."

Perry also networks extensively to develop business contacts, particularly overseas. He says this involves working hard to turn introductory referrals into relationships.

"If you have a relationship with a person, not the role or the business, then you remain in touch when they move to other companies, and that continues to expand your business networks," he says.

Perry describes himself as an introvert. He has had to learn how to build relationships in a way that was comfortable for him. "Otherwise people feel you're false and forced."

He realised the people he remembered were usually those who interested him on a level beyond what they did or sold. It was important to find ways to talk about things that were of interest to him or interesting about him. "When I'm overseas that is dead easy because I'm a New Zealander."

He also learned to offer opinions. "This is risky because opinions will resonate with some people and not with others, but you're more likely to develop a relationship of longevity if you leave someone with an impression of common interests, opinions and insights."

You don't have to be the expert, either. Another approach is to simply ask someone if they know about something you're interested in - a recent seminar, a new piece of technology, a book.

They will feel good because you are acknowledging their expertise and you have started a conversation.

Perry hates breaking into a complete stranger's space, so he simply looks for someone to introduce him. "Starting conversations isn't difficult if you ask about something talked about earlier or about something you know they're involved in."

It is definitely all about developing relationships, says Lee Brodie, director of Career Dynamic. "People don't have to be gregarious dynamos to be good at relationships.

"Too many people beat themselves up about being bad networkers. I think it needs to be demystified. We're putting the wrong picture on it. We refer people all the time, doctors, hairdressers, IT people."

An exercise she uses to encourage clients is to draw their network diagram - a series of rings radiating out.

"Your inner circle is your immediate family, in the next are your close friends and so on through to plumbers and doctors. The outer edge will be people you see rarely, say once in five years.

"By doing this you can see just how big a network you already have to tap into and extend through others in your network."

Of course, that network needs to be used. Part of Brodie's working week involves meeting for coffee or similar with her informal networks. "I sat next to a woman at a lecture and we got chatting. I told her about a project I'm doing and she said she'd love to be involved in that kind of work and to get in touch if she could help in anyway. That was good networking."

Dave Moskovitz, Thinktank Consulting's director, says networking relationships definitely require give and take. "If you only talk to people when you want something you don't get far."

He considers himself well networked through his extensive interests; web development, Jewish community, lexicography, university, school, suburb. "If I drew a network diagram there would be 10-15 networks."

We all have networks, says Moskovitz but the hard part is connecting with people. A self-confessed computer geek, Moskovitz admits the idea of networking used to frighten him.

"I have the most fun between 1am and 3am when no one calls me and I can get on with the programming I love to do. But connecting with people can be fun, too. It took me until I was 35 to figure that out," says the 44-year-old.

Moskovitz thinks part of the issue is the term itself. "It has been semantically overloaded. You used to call it 'going out for a coffee' - now it is networking."

Real Contacts

LET'S DO LUNCH

Networking is easy, it just means making the most of the people you meet. Here are our tips on becoming a good networker (or coffee drinker).

* Use every occasion to build up your contacts' list. Parties, birthdays, volunteer activities, the sports centre, local shops. Talk to anyone in your industry.

* Always hand out your business card and collect other people's. Ask contacts about their interests and current projects to seek common ground and shared points of interest.

* Don't burn bridges when you leave a company. Keep in touch with former colleagues and distant friends.

* Ask how your contact got into the industry. Ask what skills are most in demand, where the industry is headed, and where the jobs will be. Get further contacts.

* When you start looking for work, contact everyone you know and reciprocate positively when they call you.

* You can network for your company and help your personal pursuits. If your company is invited to an event, go.