The phenomenon of business networking has taken off in the greater Pietermaritzburg area in recent years. BNI (the business referral organisation) this week in Hilton celebrated International Networking Week, an initiative of the organisation.
Guest speaker Brenda Eckstein, the well-known businesswoman, networking expert and author, stressed the significance of networking in the professional and personal lives of business people.
She also provided guests with several useful tips for engaging in social and business networking, including:
• listen and look;
• comment;
• ask open-ended questions in order to ‘bring’ the other person into the conversation;
• build up a range of short, interesting stories to help build conversations.
According to Eckstein, four cornerstones need to be remembered:
• have fun;
• leadership is integral to the success of a networking group;
• strive for continuous improvement in each business represented;
• strive for growth.
BNI has 64 chapters in South Africa, including three in the greater Pietermaritzburg area. The organisation has been active in South Africa for the past 10 years.
