Episode 525: Four Desperate Networkers - a podcast by Dr. Ivan Misner

Synopsis

Desperation is not referrable. When people demonstrate these kinds of behaviors, it’s a telltale sign of desperation. Watch out for these four types of desperate networkers.



* Card Dealer. This person darts around the room passing out cards, instead of spending time getting to know people. They think networking is a numbers game.

* Space Violator. This person thinks that the closer he gets to you, the more you’ll be interested in what he’s saying. It has the opposite effect. In North America, stand at roughly arm’s length when talking to people.

* Premature Solicitation.This person dives right into selling without trying to get to know you. These people are the reason many people don’t like to go to networking events.

* The New Best Friend. These people engage in follow-up that verges on stalking: they call, they email, they send you private messages, all with the intent to sell you something.



Have you identified other desperate networkers? Share them in the comments.

Brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube.

 

Complete transcript of episode 525 –

Priscilla:

Hello everybody and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by the Networking for Success Channel on YouTube, which features Dr. Ivan Miser and many other networking experts. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan, how are you?

Ivan:

I am doing fantastic, Priscilla, and today we are going to talk about desperate networkers. Four desperate networkers. Sounds kind of fun, don’t you think?

Priscilla:

It does. It is almost like a cowboy episode or something.

Ivan:

So, desperation is not referrable. It’s hard to refer people who come across as desperate. Over the years, I have seen people that behaved a certain way so I just kind of created categories for them. I have been writing about it, and I thought that it would make a great podcast.

When people demonstrate these kinds of behaviors as part of their networking efforts it is kind of a telltale sign of desperation or possible desperation. So here are four types of behaviors that I think desperate networkers exhibit.

One, card dealer. This is probably the most common form of desperation that I have seen over the years. The card dealer is a person who darts around the room and passes out cards like they are at a poker table. They don’t spend any time really getting to know anyone unless they think they can get something from them.

To the card dealer, networking is mostly a numbers game; the more people they can pass their cards to, the better they are going to do. Or at least they think the better that they are going to do. Card dealers tend to have a network that is a mile wide and an inch deep because they don’t spend time building relationships. It never works. It never, ever works in the long run and they just look inexperienced, frazzled, and yes, in fact, desperate.

That’s the first one. Do you like the first one? Card dealer?

Priscilla:

I do. I like the first one.

Ivan:

Have you seen them before?

Priscilla:

Oh yeah

Ivan:

I see them all the time, it’s really funny.

Second, the space violator. So the space violator is the guy who thinks the closer he gets while he is talking to you, the more Interested you will be in what he is saying. Yeah, no. Not true. In fact, it has the opposite effect, especially if his breath has the aroma of a smelly camel, right? And how many times? This happens so much where people just get so close to talk to me,

Now,

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