I met a friend in Covent Garden’s Punch & Judy pub whilst in London recently, but I never thought that the man who accidentally bumped into her would turn out to be such an amazing prospect!The bar was heaving and everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder, so it was no surprise when the man in question accidentally bumped into my colleague, almost spilling a drink over her; he apologised profusely. Press the pause button for a second. It’s how you deal with the next 10 seconds that determines whether or not you are a true networker.
“That sounds like a Northern accent,” I commented. He looked at me and grinned, “so does yours,” he said. We were both right because the bemused drinker was from Lancashire whilst I was from the other side of the Pennine mountain range and the county of Yorkshire. Both counties are 200 miles North of London. We now had an immediate connection point, ‘two strangers abroad’!
Chat followed and business cards were exchanged, all in a matter of minutes. It transpired that he was the strategist for one of the largest public sector (government) pension funds in the United Kingdom. Guess where I was staying at the time? At my friend’s apartment. He was a lawyer with one of the country’s leading firms of pension trustee advisors! However, it wasn’t until about three months later that I was able to make the most of my new contact. I had duly entered his details into my database and was sending him copies of my online newsletter but, several weeks later, my lawyer friend’s senior salesman commented that he would be in London trawling for new business. I duly fired off an email to my ‘pub’ contact’ and he said he would be delighted to meet my friend. They have since met and dialogue has been established. Has a million dollar deal been done? No. However, a relationship is being formed, the pension fund in question uses legal consultants, and my friend is now in the frame when such a consultant is required. More to the point he will, by then, have a relationship with one of the key decision makers / influencers.Networking happens all the time, all around you so, never understimate the casual nature of something as inconsequential as a man almost spilling his drink over a friend. It might be the source of a million dollar deal. Watch this space!
