» «Network better»: the pitch

Network better is my new book on business networking

Behind every successful business is a group of emotionally intelligent businesspeople.

They know how to use their emotional intelligence to create, develop and nurture profitable business relationships with others: colleagues, suppliers and clients.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is especially important for all businesses. Networking is the only activity that business people do that only requires good emotional intelligence for its success.

In a networking environment, the interactions people have with each other are fleeting, yet they are the very contacts from which people expect productive business relationships to flourish.

Emotional intelligence is often disregarded by writers on business in general, and on networking in particular. If you google “emotional intelligence” and “business networking” together, surprisingly few books are retrieved.

How Network better differs from other books on business networking

1
“So, how come I am doing what you tell me, but it still isn’t working?”.

Most business instructional books on business fail to answer this obvious question.

I think authors believe that, if they do, it implies their advice is faulty. And, sometimes, this is the case. But, usually, the reader is quite able to mess it up without help from the author.

This book grasps that nettle by the horns and fearlessly, issue by issue, addresses best practice; why the reader may not be carrying out the advice as well as they could; why and how they are contributing to their own lack of success; and what to do about it.

2
People rarely change their behaviour if they don’t understand why they are being asked to. The book uses emotional intelligence not just to advise people what to do, but to offer insight and understanding into why these actions and not some others.

3
Many people resist networking for a variety of reasons which mostly boil down to fears and anxieties, and unhelpful and limiting beliefs. Most people are reluctant to walk into a room full of thirty strangers, all taking to each other, and strike up a conversation. This book explains how to handle these personal difficulties and also, again, offers insight into why the reader has them, and how they can be overcome once and for all. It helps the reader to solve the problem.

The book covers:

before a networking event: this is more important than some networkers give it credit. Preparation is essential to successful networking
during a networking event
after a networking event: this covers one-to-one meetings that are, in effect, the real networking; and the process by which a few of the people we meet at events can become referral partners.

Jeremy Marchant is a business coach, mentor and trainer—specialising in helping businesses and other organisations to use emotional intelligence to improve their performance. He has thirteen years experience of networking, and running networking events. He is ideally placed to see how networking plays an essential part in the wider process of business performance and transformation.

Related material:
> Network better: the aims

«Network better»: the pitch

Further reading