Business networking is something a lot of people love to hate: It is time-consuming, expensive, and in most cases very inefficient.

I can bear the “time-consuming”…

I can even live with the “expensive”…

If – and it’s a big “if” – it produces results!

…

Which it typically doesn’t.

Most people who attend networking meetings are only interested in themselves. They don’t care about your product or service; they just want to pitch you theirs.

Now, for the record, I am not opposed to networking: I am a member of the Rotary Club, I am a Toastmaster, I visit various Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade. I have and still do belong to several business networking groups. I also go to a number of industry shows and events.

So I am not anti-networking.

What I am is… anti-networking-with-no-results-to-show-for-it.

Here’s how I went from networking with no results to networking that produces a constant, predictable and measurable inflow of prospects for my business.

I attended a breakfast meeting at the local Board of Trade. They had the usual: 30-second presentations by all businesses in attendance, the cookies and the coffee, followed by “natural” networking.

I met 13 new people at that meeting. I came back to my office with 13 new business cards in hand. Once I entered all these contacts into my list, I sent them a simple greeting card that said this:

Dear [name of the person],

If was nice meeting you at the networking breakfast earlier today.

I really enjoyed our conversation about [topic we have discussed]

I’d like to learn more about your business so as I could know who is a good referral for you. Please call me at (000) 000-0000 when you receive this card.

Thank you & I look forward to speaking with you.

One week later, 6 people called me to thank for the card I sent them.

Let me tell you something important about my business: It DOES matter who calls whom first. In this case, they called me, something that has never happened before! 6 people out of 13… that’s 46%! Not too shabby in my books. With such a response rate, this is serious business.

And as of the time of writing this, out of these 6 people, 2 became clients and one has referred a number of other businesses to me. 2 out 6 is 33%! Any way you slice it, it’s a fantastic ratio.