Cold calling and telephone canvassing are hard work at the best of times but, in a recession, you can get very down-hearted with continual rebuffs.

Networking and exchanging information and contacts with others in business is an excellent way to generate leads and possible future sales.

What is Networking? - It is building relationships.

To build worthwhile and long term relationship, you need trust. That is how good business is conducted, not just through a quick sale and conducting transactions. Networking is not about short term wins – it is about building trust with people who will, in time, refer you to others that they know. To get to the trust you have to get to know the person first then there has to be mutual liking. You build a relationship.

In Spelthorne there are several business networking events - some are weekly, fortnightly and others monthly or bi-monthly. We have created links to a number of them in this article.

The most common type of networking is at an event, arranged by an organisation, or by a company that specialises in these things and usually, but not always, charges a fee for membership. Groups will meet regularly, probably once a month. It's often over breakfast or lunch, giving business people, most of whom will be involved in the sales side of the business, a chance to develop relationships with others. Some groups only charge for the meal, often referred to as a meeting fee.

Some groups such as BNI, probably the most successful business networking company, only allow one person from any type of business to be a member, thus shutting out the competition- often referred to as exclusive networking. The members form strong relationships and act as sales people for each other.

Local groups include:

BNI Staines - www.bni-staines.co.uk

4Networking - www.4networking.biz/

Surrey Chamber of Commerce - www.surrey-chambers.co.uk/catalog/index.php

Spelthorne Business Forum - www.spelthorne.gov.uk/wrk_business_forum_info.htm

Menzies Business Lunch (bi-monthly) - contact Catherine Parfitt [cparfitt@menzies.co.uk]

Ashford Business Forum (3rd Monday monthly) - contact Michael Alderson[malderson@timeless-it.co.uk]

These meeting can be very effective for putting together a network of contacts that can lead to greater sales. Another company may need what you're selling, or know of someone else who does and give you a referral. It's much easier than the traditional cold calling method of selling, and has a much higher success rate.

The other type of networking is online. It's a good cheap way of promoting a business and creating a very wide range of global contacts. There is usually no charge for joining but you will find that you are contacted by people who may not have relevance to what you do – for example if you operate in Spelthorne and your business is just in and around this area, you will still get people from other parts of the world contacting you. You have to pick the ones to make contact with. The more established sites include ecademy, linkedin, connectbuzz, ryze and tribe.net.