I don’t think I’m shy but I’m not very good at public venues where you have to work a crowd. It’s completely different when I am training because I’m in control and have to manage the crowd, which I can do very well. That’s why I’m not good at face-to-face networking functions, walking over to someone, having them glance at my name tag, and opening with the line, “how you pronnnnnounce yourrrrr name, is it JJJJJJJozzzzziane?” 
Okay, just because their name is Lisa or Bob, doesn’t mean they’ve never heard an unusual name. Then they usually ask, ”what’s TeleSmart?” and that’s when I have to get savvy about my cocktail pitch and say, “it’s a company that I work for” (that is my humble explanation) or sometimes I’ll say, “it’s a sales training company.” Eye contact shifts right after I repond and they start looking around for someone else to come along escorted by their possy.
Which brings me back to why I like to network in the privacy of my own space. It’s sort of connecting on my terms and not having to prove to a crowd that I’m cool. That’s the power of social networking today. It’s meant for creative, resourceful and savvy salespeople who know how to connect with the right people.
On September 12th, I’ll be hostinig a webinar on Social Networks and have invited experts from SalesSpider, VisiblePath and LinkedIn to talk about business social networking in the sales profession. Tune in and find out the days of cold calling expensive rented lists are gone.
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