Should We Network When We're Busy?

Yes. It’s harder to do, but it’s a very wise investment

So business is good, lots of work is coming in. In fact, looking months ahead, your sales pipeline is very healthy. Maybe you’ve almost got too much work and can be choosy about what you say yes to. Time to put networking on hold? No. And here’s why:

Business of course has ups and down and even though the sales picture might be great just now, will it always be like that? Probably not. So is the best to leave any networking until things are quieter, then start networking again? No. By that stage you’ve let your network (and sales pipelines) cool down and some of your contacts may even have formed relationships with your more active competitors. You’ll be getting involved again to try to make quick sales and that simply doesn’t work

When we’re at our busiest we inevitably have less time for networking and it quite rightly drops down the list of priorities. However, it’s vital we still do some networking to keep our contact sphere warm, as well as keeping our visibility up and making new contacts. Some networking is much smarter than nothing at all

In amongst our busiest times, what can we do that keeps our key relationships topped up and perhaps start some new ones? Events can play a part, but so can quick calls, emails and texts