What is Toxic Networking?
I was asked via email this morning, “What is toxic networking?”
Good question. First, my version is not the be all end all. Every person has a different pet peeve when it comes to being treated poorly at a networking event. Some examples of toxic networking include:
- The person that talks to you for a half hour about a business solution that’s perfect for you…and they haven’t let you get a word in, so they don’t even know if you need the solution.
- Coming back to your seat at an event to find a business card on it, when you’d never do business with someone you’ve never even met.
- You’re talking to someone, and every time you start to talk about something, they talk over you to tell you even more about their product or service.
- Being called the wrong name repeatedly because the networker couldn’t be bothered to remember your name.
- Those networkers that act fake and overstate how well business is going, basically bragging. Bragging is always toxic.
- Pretending to listen, badly. You listened politely and you’re now sharing about your business and the other person’s eyes are wandering, looking for the next person they want to talk to that is obviously not you.
People do business with people they like, and if they don’t know you…if you’re being shy or fake…they won’t know if they like you. That makes it less likely they will do business with you. Even if they do business with you, if they liked the fake you or the shy you, when the real you comes out, will that jeopardize your client relationship?
A person is inevitably going to be toxic in some way if they aren’t being honest and they aren’t being who they really are. There is room in the world for every business and every business owner to find enough clients to live the life they want to, but if they are going out and being fake they won’t be able to connect with others in a way that creates a bond of trust - the trust is what keeps clients coming back project after project or year after year.
Tags: examples of bad networking, toxic networkingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: General Networking
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