The Need to Network and Get Tech-Savvy is now!

Let’s talk about networking, or for some, the lack of networking, that occurred during the pandemic and why we are urging you to not remain on the sidelines.

We always first advise to pick up the phone. Conversing by phone is always the best way to get information from a connection. But the answer to the proverbial question of opening a call by asking “How are you doing?” has taken on a new meaning since March 2020. We also know that you, and your connections, are juggling more while working from home and that an email may be as effective.

As bad as COVID19 has been, it has accelerated how business is done with consultants, wealth managers, attorneys and others in professional services who have been essential in their clients’ lives. Advisors have evolved from discussions in a fancy office or at client events to ones held at home on the couch with personal distractions in the background. And those interactions have evolved to become more empathetic. 

What the pandemic has also shown is that clients took a hard look at their team of professional service provides and how each reacted through the pandemic. Clients are looking at their advisors' cadence for being contacted or offered status reports and whether these advisors show their whole, authentic, empathetic tech-savvy selves. These interactions have given a client a good understanding of the person on the other side of the Zoom camera. 

Times of crisis, chaos and uncertainty presents a lot of opportunity to reconnect with your clients or for you to connect with prospects. Now more than ever people appreciate someone checking in on them, and they will remember who showed up. Those successful advisors coming out of the pandemic will have succeeded as showing themselves as being authentic and that you understand a client’s painpoints that were communicated during your client interactions and via your online persona, (i.e. firm bio, LinkedIn profile).

The trend now is showing a 360-degree view of yourself. Professional services are a commodity. Clients are no longer solely interested in results but want to know about the person who they are hiring. Potential clients want to know what value that you bring in working with them versus “I’m going to pick the best person regardless if she is a jerk”.  High EQ advisors will win trust and relationships because of their ability to connect with people and technology can help with that.

Clients also use more data and technology now, and you need to convey that you have the technology that allows you to use data in a better way too. There is lots of data available to show your effectiveness in online engagement too. Networking and prospecting for new clients for many in professional services has changed and more people are using LinkedIn and social selling platforms like Seismic Live Social (formerly Grapevine 6) which is used by the four largest wealth advisory firms.

It goes without saying that Professional Services also needs diversity, badly. BizDevGals is trying to do our part by helping women in professional services to grow their networks and revenue. Recently we surveyed female attorneys, consultants, investment advisors and accountants on their pandemic networking efforts. Over half, 52%, responded that they did not network at all during the pandemic. This is consistent with the advisors that we coach; many do no know how to ask for business or feel bad doing so during the pandemic. The second highest response (29%) was networking via email and a close third was networking via LinkedIn. Yet, of those who use LinkedIn primarily for staying top of mind or job seeking, only 3% had asked their connections for introductions to contacts and 84% do not use the InMail feature.

So it is important to increase your networking activities and enhance your online presence now while your competitors are asleep at the wheel. There are two driving factors:

1. The pandemic limits in-person relationship building activities

2. Up and coming consumers in the Millennial and Gen Z cohorts. They turn to the internet for learning about you and also turn to other distribution platforms like podcasts for thought leadership. 

So, what platform can you use to create trust and project your 360-degree empathetic self? This will telegraph to the type of people whom you want to attract, for most of you it is using LinkedIn. 

Follow us as we will offer tips and workshops to enhance your networking skills and online presence. We offer a LinkedIn Cleanse workshop where we do a deep-dive in optimizing your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, we make refreshing your LinkedIn profile and firm bio apart of our individual coaching, as well as building out prospect lists and taking actions that advance you forward in each of your relationships and opportunities.

Reach out if you have questions, nancy@bizdevgals.com