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Are Your Networking Skills Lukewarm or on Fire?

By Dr. Ivan Misner

Now, more than ever, networking is critical to the survival of your business. So. . . how good are you at it? What are you strong at and what can you improve upon?

In order to know whether you’re headed in the right direction with your networking strategy, you need to be able to pinpoint your networking strengths and weaknesses and have a clear understanding of where your networking efforts need improvement.

Scrutinizing yourself in front of a mirror and asking others to be completely honest about how they see you can be pretty uncomfortable to say the least—I’ve been there. However, I’m now better and wiser for the experience, and you will be too. Acknowledging the areas you need to spend time becoming stronger in is vital to achieving networking success.

Luckily, this process can be made a little bit easier by utilizing the structured self-assessment tool that you will find outlined below. It will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. But you need to commit to being brutally honest, as well as asking others for their honest perception of you. This will help you accurately focus on specific goals and accountabilities.

For each answer, respond with 1 to 5 (1 = not at all; 5 = all the time).

1.   I have written long-term networking goals. ____

2.   I block out time in my weekly schedule for regular networking activities. ____

3.   I can profile my preferred client as well as a TV profiler. ____

4.   I have a strong team of referral partners. ____

5.   I live by the Givers Gain^® philosophy (I give business to others before I expect them to give business to me). ____

6.   I have an organized contact management system that I use effectively. ____

7.   I know the top ten traits of a master networker. ____

8.   I have a very diverse personal network (people from differing professions, ethnicity, age, education, gender, etc.). ____

9.   I know who can connect me to my target market. ____

10. I keep in contact with people from organizations I used to belong to. ____

11. I make sure that my brother/sister/parent/family member can accurately explain what I do for a living. ____

12. I attend at least two networking functions or activities per week. ____

13. I belong to a Web-based networking group. ____

14. I am someone whom people seek out when they need help. ____

15. I bring personal value to my relationships. ____

16. I typically am the one who puts the wheels in motion in a networking relationship. ____

17. I have a networking accountability partner. ____

18. I am an active volunteer for something meaningful to my life. ____

19. I send thank you cards regularly. ____

20. I consistently follow up on referrals within 24 hours. ____

21. I have found myself networking in the grocery store or elevator. ____

22. I capitalize on my hobbies to meet people. ____

23. I make the focus of my lunchtime meetings how I can help the other person. ____

24. I am good at making a connection when I meet someone new. ____

25. I am an active member of a referral networking group. ____

26. I am an active member of a chamber of commerce. ____

27. I sponsor at least one event per year for a referral partner. ____

28. I host an event for the people in my network several times a year. ____

29. I am skilled at asking the right questions of a networking contact. ____

30. I have created my message to be about the customer benefits of my product or service rather than its features. ____

31. I can consistently describe my target market without saying “anybody.” ____

32. I make sure that people hear the passion in my voice when I talk about my business. ____

33. I make a good first impression with my business card. ____

34. I provide information that is valuable to my audience whenever I give a presentation. ____

35. I send a newsletter to my clients. ____

36. I regularly put out press releases for my business. ____

37. I have written articles for publication. ____

38. I make getting client testimonials a part of my sales process. ____

39. I have provided my referral partners with success stories about my business. ____

40. I have prepared a written introduction for each time I am presented to a group. ____

41. I am comfortable sharing my accomplishments. ____

42. I make a practice of asking for feedback from clients. ____

43. I start new networking relationships by acting like a host at networking events. ____

44. I have asked my vendors for referrals. ____

45. I provide support to my target market beyond my services. ____

46. I ask for referrals every day. ____

47. I look for referrals for others daily. ____

48. I am comfortable speaking in public. ____

49. I surround myself with others who can help my clients. ____

50. I mentor others in the art, science, and philosophy of networking. ____

51. I have an advisory board for my business. ____

52. I enjoy learning more about how to network effectively. ____

Total Score: ___________

Scoring

260 Master Networker

There is no doubt that your networking skills are remarkable. Most likely, you already are in the top one-fourth of the population who truly are separated by six degrees. Your challenge now is to stay there!

234–259 Outstanding

You are in the 90th percentile. Clearly, you know how to network. You are most likely skilled enough to have you approaching the top group of networkers. Your thirst for learning will have you devouring books on strategies to further improve the return on your investment of effort in networking. With commitment, you’ll be a master networker in no time!

208–233 Very Good

You are in the 80th percentile. You’re doing many things right. Your effort can be very effective and your relationships strong. Seek out resources to help you focus your plan and hone your skills to improve your efforts even more.

182–207 Good

You’re in the 70th percentile. The great thing is you believe in networking! However, there’s still a fair amount for you to learn. Reassess how you view the networking process and focus your energy on devising an effective system in order to gain a high return on your networking investment.

156–181 Fair

You are in the 60th percentile. On the bright side, you’re probably building some good relationships around you. You most likely have people who care about you and want to help you and your business grow. They can be a great resource to help teach you how to build your networking skills and strategies. However, you could be doing some things that will hurt your business with respect to networking. Make a habit of reading articles and books that will help you focus your efforts and move further into the networking arena, one strategy at a time.

0–155 Weak

Networking is an acquired skill. You need to focus on developing a basic networking skill set in order to network your business. If you’re ready to connect more closely with people and learn the skills necessary to move toward becoming a master networker, utilize every avenue possible to develop networking skills. Talk to experienced networkers, tap into resources: books, articles, blogs, and podcasts on business and networking. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain—the world is waiting to know more about you and your business!

Understanding Your Results

First off, your score is between you and yourself alone. It’s not meant to be shared anywhere outside your own head.

Whatever your score, remember that you’re simply taking your networking temperature, so to speak; you’re not engaging in any value judgments about yourself, one way or the other. Indeed, if you take this self-assessment a few months from now, the score will probably be different—assuming you make a dedicated effort to pursue continuous learning and develop your networking skills and strategies!

Editor's note: The above article is based on material from the bestselling book The 29% Solution, can be viewed at The 29% Solution: 52 Weekly Networking Success Strategies by Dr. Ivan Misner and Michelle R. Donovan.

Called the father of modern networking by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the founder and chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest bestseller, Networking Like a Pro can be viewed at www.IvanMisner.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. ou may read more of his material on his blog at www.NetworkingNowBlog.com.

Tags: Ivan Misner, June 2010 Edition, networking questionnaire, networking skills, personal assessment

10 Responses to “Are Your Networking Skills Lukewarm or on Fire?”

Dr. Tron Malachowski Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Dr. Misner,

Awesome article and tool. This was extremely revealing to me. Although I scored well, it pointed out some key things that I need to work on.

Thanks for the great advice as I passed this onto my entire BNI team.

Have a great day.

Dr. Tron
Tami Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 9:47 am
Thank you for this quiz. While I scored weak, I am excited to learn and become a master networking. Go BNI!
Nancy Dube Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:18 am
Great advice – I am still working on this – 80%
Belinda Rachman, Esq. Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:45 am
Brilliant synopsis of what I learned at the Referral Institute! You always give a lot of value. Thanks for reminding me what I should be doing at a level 5!
Nigel Gilham Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 1:14 pm
The fact that every point in the self assessment tool starts with ‘I’ – tells me it’s only me who can put me near to the Master Networker grouping. ‘I’ will try to make changes to improve my networking skills.
Jose Ramos Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I was overwhelmed by the 52 items of the self assessment list.
My coach told me once that everything is about creating yourself the right habits. You can create any habit following the appropriate method and the average time to crate yourself a habit is 60 days.
That means you need 52 times 60, 3,120 days to become a Master Networker ¡More than eight and a half years!
No wonder that the Cour d’Alene Metro was eleven years old when achieved its remarkable success with the Fast Track.
Nancy Sustersic Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Great tips..will use them in my business for my Brand Partners as well. Really puts a “reality” in check in place for where our FOCUS can be better utilized!
Thanks,
Nancy Sustersic
The CEO of Fun!
Theo Olifiers Says:
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:59 am
Wow this is an amazing article, i have posted a link to this on my Blog , Just reading thru , has given me many ideas to help make our website a better place to visit, and i can impliment a lot of new ideas from what you have shared, many thanks , Regards Theo at Auckland NZ.
Make it a great week )
Jason Cobine Says:
June 7th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Great post, full of ideas and reminders. I don’t currently have a newsletter but I do have a blog. Does that count?

Take care,

@jasoncobine
Brian Alcorn Says:
June 11th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Ivan – I think one of your co-authors, Robert Davis, would appreciate the 52 items! Reminds of his book “Implement Now, Perfect Later”. Also it is like “The 29% Solution” that you and Michelle Donovan co-authored – again 52 items. Perfect for taking one a week, and really digging in.

10 Responses to “Are Your Networking Skills Lukewarm or on Fire?”

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