Networking isn’t what it used to be
By: AJ Schneider, President, AMA Indy
AMA in the AM
A big part of AMA Indy’s value is the in-person events we host each month. They give you the chance to connect with fellow Central Indiana marketers, learn how others are solving similar challenges, and build relationships that can shape your business future—potential clients, future employers, references, and more.
At the risk of leaning on a “good old days” cliché, in a pre-digital, pre-COVID, and now pre-AI world, I think many of us have forgotten how networking actually works.
Over my career, I’ve overseen the training of hundreds of salespeople in a business where relationships make all the difference. There was one particularly successful salesperson I often used as an example. We’ll call him Jack. Jack was an “old school” relationship salesperson who could barely use a computer (and when he did, he typed with two fingers). He kept his notes in paper files in boxes in the back seat of his car, and used a flip phone long after the iPhone arrived. By many measures, Jack was behind the times. He couldn’t hold a candle to the up-and-comers when it came to self-promotion and personal branding. And yet, Jack sold more accounts than many of those newer reps combined.
Why? Because Jack remembered the names of his clients’ moms, dads, husbands, and wives, and he sent cards on their birthdays. He wrote handwritten thank you notes after meetings. He called prospects just to share a new restaurant he thought they’d enjoy, or he sent an article (often asking someone else to email it) that could help them tackle a challenge they’d mentioned. He reached out between sales conversations just to check in. Jack didn’t have to ask for the business (though he knew when it was time). Instead, when prospects were ready, they called him.
What Jack understood is that relationships are the foundation of our professional lives. The human connection you build at a networking event is fundamentally different from the one you build through LinkedIn. It has roots. It grows differently. And because it’s personal, it can work for you in ways a purely digital connection can’t, especially if you’ve never met face-to-face.
Most people who attend AMA Indy events are marketers, not salespeople. But I’ve always believed that no matter your role, there’s a sales component to what you do. You're selling ideas, selling strategy, selling yourself. Either way, the same principles apply.
AMA Indy meetings are designed to help you create personal connections that pay off down the road. Those of us who have been on the Indy AMA board for a while can tell you it's worked. We've seen our members earn clients, land jobs, and build a resource network upon which they can rely when they need advice and expertise. Perhaps you’re not in a position to be as attentive as Jack was, and that’s OK. That’s what’s great about having events scheduled for you. You can start by just showing up.
So here’s my advice: Keep doing what the modern world requires by using email, social platforms, and yes, AI, to organize your targets and make initial connections. Then take the next step and differentiate yourself by meeting people in person and building real relationships. Once you plant those seeds, you still have to nurture them, like Jack did. They'll pay off. Hopefully when you need them most.
Keep an eye out for AMA Indy’s upcoming in-person events at amaindy.org and on Eventbrite.