I am always curious about what different people say when meeting a new person at a social event. This is especially true at a business networking event. Is it just a boring question that everyone else asks? “How’s it going?” “How are you?” How’s business?” “How’s life treating you?” All of these ice breaker questions are just very standard questions most people ask. If the average person, for sake of discussion, greets and meets 25 new people, why would they remember you? What information did they tell you or you tell them that was memorable? So, what do you say?

Let’s explore some ways to be just a little more creative when asking our initial introduction question. If you ask a standard “How’s it going?” question, the new person will always answer with their standard social answer of “Things are going well.” Don’t complain, remember you started this boredom. There is no thought to respond. However, if you were to ask, “What was the most exciting thing that happened to you today?” All of a sudden, the person has to stop and think, “wow, that’s a great question, let me think for a moment.” Your odds have greatly increased by starting a real conversation with this new person versus no connection with them at all. Your likelihood of standing out from the herd of 25 new introductions has also increased greatly.

When you are networking, from a salesperson point of view, you are probably looking for good connections. Could be a potential client or even better a new connector to refer you potential clients. You should always being looking for another Goose that lays Golden Eggs. You don’t want to waste these opportunities to meet very important people. Remember, when you meet someone, on average they know about 250 people. Those 250 people each know 250 people as well. So, every introduction you make could potentially be an introduction to 62,500 people, so don’t blow it!

Think about some questions to ask before heading to your next networking event. Here are a few suggestion questions to ask to engage a meaningful conversation. “What’s the next big thing you have coming up?” Where is your business heading?” “What is your biggest challenge in your business?” “Why do you do what you do?” “How did you get started in your business?” “What gets you excited?” What do you do for fun?” The list of questions is literally endless. The idea is to think outside of the box and be creative to asking engaging memorable conversations. Then actually LISTEN to the answer. This important step is easily overlooked if you don’t focus. Remember, your future business may depend on it. So now, what do you say when you are socializing or networking?

“It’s fine to have social media that connects us with old friends, but we need tools that help us discover new people as well”.–Ethan Zuckerman

Image by Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, grandfather of 1, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger, author and team leader with over 28 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.