Recently, I’ve received a flood of cold calls from salespeople asking to “network” with me. The unanswered questions in my mind when I’m approached with a request like that are. . . Why? To what end? Why should I meet with you?

In order to ensure relevancy with your networking efforts, it’s important to have a purpose for any meeting.

One of the most common mistakes salespeople make is to think that all meetings are good meetings.

That’s just not the case.

“Good” meetings are the ones with defined purposes and definitive next steps that move you and a prospect closer to a decision (even a “no” is good because it frees up your time to move on).

Ask yourself questions like, “Why is this person willing to meet with me?” “What is the purpose of this meeting?” “What do I expect to get out of this meeting?” “What does my prospect hope to achieve?”

Once you’ve clearly defined the purpose in your mind, share it with your prospect, but leave opportunity for them to add to it. Do this when you set the appointment, when you confirm the appointment, and when you begin the meeting.

Here’s what I mean: read further at http://www.soldlab.com/news/2012/02/07/Networking-With-Relevance/