Has Digital Marketing for CPA and Other Professional Services Made Networking Obsolete?

Guidance for Helping Younger Partners and Rising Stars Be Better Networkers

The scene: It’s the post awards event mixer in a crowded, noisy room at the Hyatt. Hundreds of professionals and community leaders are walking around, holding a drink in one hand and balancing a plate of Swedish meatballs with the other. Susan, a rising star, bumps into Bill. 

If networking only worked like this:

Susan: Opps! ‘scuse me and nice catch with the meatballs! By the way, my name is Susan and I’m a CPA with ABCD and Co, LLP, and the “A” stands for “audits”.

Bill: Hi Susan. My name is Bill and I’m the CFO at The Center for Damaged Egg Yolks- we’re an NFP with an outrageously humongous budget.

Susan: Hey! Do you need an auditor?

Bill: Why, yes! Can you send me an Engagement Letter on Monday?

But the Truth is…..

In my experience, success in networking isn’t about always being in the right place at the right time. It’s certainly not a function of having processes and forms and goals like “minimal contacts per event”. Nope. Success in networking is all about overcoming the discomfort of reaching out and engaging in a conversation with a complete stranger in a room full of complete strangers.

A lot of the professionals – especially younger partners and rising stars – that we meet get really uncomfortable at the thought of attending an event and “working the room” to get new business. But even with the dramatic rise of inbound marketing as a strategy for getting more visibility and leads, the fact remains that requesting  partners and staff to attend and participate in special events and do networking must be one of the fundamental tactics in the firm’s overall marketing plans.

Tips for Overcoming Networking Discomfort

Networking is a learned skill, and one of the jobs of the marketing department AND the older more experienced partners needs to be training younger partners and rising stars on how to be effective networkers. A good place to start is by taking the pressure off for coming out of networking events with a lead for new business. While that’s great if it happens, setting up the expectation and a requirement that it must happen will be counterproductive.

Instead, here are a handful of ways you can help those younger partners and rising stars make networking more enjoyable, and ultimately, more beneficial for their career and the top line growth of the firm:

• Make sure they get to the event early and have them  introduce their selves to the host or organizers, and ask them for assistance in making introductions
• Have them go to the event with prepared conversation starter questions … but not something like, “so, who does your taxes?” Make sure they understand  that they are not  there to deliver the firm’s elevator pitch
• Give them a goal of doing 1 event per month, then slowly build to the point where they are doing two to three per month
• Encourage them to select events that aren’t  just completely business related – get them to choose events that they’re interested in , or that have a charitable focus that they can support
• Reinforce the fact the best networkers are also those with the best listening skills, and if necessary, provide some training an how to enhance listening skills
• Encourage them to speak to others without having a specific purpose in mind like Susan who was on the hunt for a new audit client

It’s the Follow Up That Drives More Leads and More New Business

Last but not least, and with the assistance of the marketing team, your younger partners and rising stars need to follow up with the connections they’ve made. This can be as simple as putting them into the firm’s database or CRM, or making sure that they are on the email list for getting the firm’s newsletter.

Of course, there are opportunities for more in-depth follow up, like using social media like LinkedIn to make a connection, or Twitter to follow their new contact. Follow up is all about having the capability to deliver something that will keep your professional visible, and using then using a combination of firm resources (i.e. the newsletter) and social media tools to find and engage their contacts as appropriate.

It’s a tough job finding the balance between running a digital marketing program and helping professionals in the firm with their personal marketing/networking skills, and it’s not prudent to sacrifice the one for the other.

Kind of like balancing meatballs and a drink while standing and talking ….only harder.