Networking Etiquette
Women in Consulting is a great place to network to meet potential clients, friends, and referrals. But let’s be honest, we’ve all had days after a meeting where we get bombarded with well… SPAM. Here are a few rules of etiquette that I suggest for those attending WIC Events, or any networking environment similar to our meetings.
1. Just because you got someone’s card doesn’t mean you have permission to SPAM them.
While it is true that the CAN- Spam Act (see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm)
allows you to contact people once you have received their information by personal means, this does not mean that you should. Bombarding people with your newsletters, personal rants, or marketing attempts does not endear you to your fellow WIC members or motivate them to hire you or refer you.
Due to the nature of our table networking, you collect cards from a number of other individuals at the meetings. This does not, however, necessarily mean that they are interested in your services or want to receive marketing email from you. If you feel that you made a real personal or professional connection, feel free to add them to your email marketing list. But if you made no personal or professional connection, don’t add them to your list.
2. Don’t sell, transfer, or aggregate WIC email and contact information and pass it on. I don’t believe this has been an issue, but just in case, I’d like to remind everyone to please respect the privacy of our members and do not pass on contact information to people that may utilize it for any other reason than they requested a referral.
3. Represent yourself! Networking is all about first impressions. Make sure you’re bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to talk about what you are doing and why. Make sure that you don’t hog the networking time. You don’t want to look selfish or self-important. What you do want is to act interested in other people. And I should scarcely need to remind you that you should dress like you’re meeting a client for the first time—because it’s just possible that you might!
