Persuasive Networking - Four Steps to Maximum Results
Networking in 2010 is about offering and receiving value. No matter how young or inexperienced you are, you can offer value because of your own unique perspective. People can always learn from a new perspective. Offering value, then, is about sharing your viewpoint. On the other hand, to receive value you must motivate others to offer it to you. The best way to do this is to be persuasive.
Communications expert Daniel L. Plung wrote a famous article entitled “Writing the Persuasive Business Letter” in The Journal of Business Communication (1980) in which he presents the idea of the “motivated sequence.” The article explains that you can persuade someone to do something if you arrange your ideas “in a pattern that corresponds with the reader’s decision-making process.” Plung’s fours steps are:
Problem: Identify the problem. Make sure the reader understands that the problem is “real and immediate.” Make sure the reader understands it is his or her problem.
Solution: State what needs to be done. State how the “solution you offer is the right one, and how it will eliminate all facets of the problem as you identified it.” Prove that your suggestion has worked in similar situations before. Show how other solutions are less attractive than yours.
Visualization: “Portray the results that will occur if the reader doesn’t do what you have suggested… then show the benefits that will accrue from the
reader’s decision to follow your advice.”
Action: Spell out what the reader must do next. These steps are extremely effective in business communications, and can be adapted to apply fruitfully in your job search networking. When attending your next networking event with employers, use Plung’s four-step model as a basis and ask the following questions in this order:
Problem: The goal of networking with a contact is to build rapport by asking good, persuasive questions. Step one is to identify a possible problem your contact is facing in his or her business. What are some of the challenges you face in your business? How has this problem impacted your business? How long do you foresee being able to go before needing to make changes?
Solution: Once you have helped your contact see that there is an urgent problem, he or she will be very motivated to start talking about a solution. You now want to ask a series of questions that will help your contact think of solutions. Are you doing anything now to address the problem? What have you been doing to solve this problem? What has worked in the past? What has not worked in the past?
Visualization: Now that your contact has thought of possible solutions and alternatives that have not worked in the past, it is now time to help him or her visualize both a negative and a positive outcome. If you were not to make any changes to your business, what do you think would be the impact? If you were to address these issues, can you imagine the impact it could have on your bottom line?
Action: Your contact will now be primed for your action recommendation. You have set the stage perfectly to present yourself as part of the solution to the problem. I have faced similar challenges in a previous role and would be interested in sharing with you how I accomplished this. Would you be interested in discussing this?
By Philippe Desrochers
Philippe Desrochers, Global Career Development Facilitator, Lecturer (Career Management) and Manager, BCom Careers at the Hari B. Varshney Business Career Centre at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC). The career centre works with both employers and students in connecting the community with future business leaders. Sauder’s business career centre provides students with a variety of career management services and offers employers a variety of high-impact recruitment services. Recruiting from Sauder gives organizations access to skilled, motivated individuals with fresh perspectives and new ideas.
