5 top tips to make your speed networking session a success

5 top tips to make your speed networking session a success

Most businesses would agree — referrals and face-to-face contact are the best ways to build and nurture business relationships — however, contrary to this many businesses spend many thousands of pounds placing advertising and sending marketing via email or though the post. 

Why you should get involved with speed networking?

If meeting someone is the best way to judge whether you can do business with them why don’t more businesses get involved with networking? Well, for many people it seems to be a little bit of nerves that can keep them away from meetings — so, if a breakfast or lunch seems too daunting how about the best and quickest form of networking — speed networking?

Speed networking is not a new concept, however, in a time when we seem to be spending more and more of our working day communicating online and through email it makes a refreshing and interesting change to your business development strategy. Arguably, speed networking will give you access to more people in one hour than you might normally meet in a month. It’s quite normal to feel a little apprehensive but do a little prep work beforehand those nerves should be calmed.

As ever preparation is key

1. Make sure you have a great opener for each of your pitches — just 10 seconds will do, covering an introduction, what your business is about or what you are looking for.  

2. Try to think about the different types of people and businesses you are going to meet and how you could change your intro to meet their needs — you’ll have far more success if you can slightly tailor your pitch to each person. 

3. Be practical — remember your business cards and a pen to make notes (on the back of each card is a good idea) and remember people’s names!

4. Not everyone is going to seem suitable for you or perhaps be interested in your product or service right now, but, remember to “think outside the box” — the product or service may not be suitable today but what about next month or in year’s time when you have diversified or grown? Consider whether a contact could become a mentor or a partner or a franchisee? The people who gain the most from these sessions are those that are the most open minded. 

5. Although it may seem counter intuitive, do your best to help the people that you meet — try to offer solutions to them and their challenges. You’d be surprised at how this “pay it forward” mentality has helped many businesses — perhaps not immediately but at some point. You’ll impress your new contact and you never know they may well recommend or use you in the future. 

Networking for success

Many of the most successful entrepreneurs are those that have spent their time networking — building trustworthy, reliable contacts across their industry, in support services and a wide variety of geographical locations. Meeting people and developing positive relationships is surely the key to a successful business?

So, hopefully now you should feel a little more prepared for a speed networking session? Well you can book your slot here for the Manufacturing & Engineering Expo October 8th. And let us know how you get on ……

Skills shortage is becoming a critical issue

Skills shortage is becoming a critical issue

Groups across the manufacturing and engineering industry are highlighting the issue of skills shortages for the future of the manufacturing and engineering sector. A combination of poor reputation from a perceived lack of pay, lack of prospects and a poor working environment have meant that successive groups of students are not seeing the sector as an aspirational path to follow. As a result the continued growth of the British manufacturing industry could stall as an older generation of engineers come to retirement age and there are not the graduates below them learning the skills and gaining the experience to become the managers for the future. The CBI – the Confederation of British Industry - recently warned that the situation was so severe that it could, in fact, stall the sector completely, whilst the sector skills council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies, SEMTA, highlights a potential shortfall of some 80,000 workers across the next 2 years.

With the prospective situation looking so desperate a number of schemes have been introduced across the sector from education at a school level to the implementation of apprenticeship schemes by business, in an effort to create more uptake for the future.

Industry organisation warns of shortages

The EEF, the manufacturer’s organisation, comments that 80% of manufacturers that they have spoken to are already experiencing skills shortages and that with the increased business in the sector and many order books bulging this situation can only become worse. Added to this is the new competition from the financial services sector which has been actively recruiting those with a maths and science background for some of the risk analyst roles within the sector. And, whilst these numbers are currently small it could be argued that it is a sector that may grow and so pose more of a threat in the future.

More must be done by the education system

One of the other key issues it seems is an image one – manufacturing has a serious branding problem. Not only is there a low general uptake within schools for the science and maths courses to  the required level, but also many are arguing that more must be done to encourage girls to take up these subjects. Some are even suggesting that there should be positive discrimination at university level to encourage more women to take courses that will lead to a career in manufacturing or engineering. The Government has committed around £385 million to university facilities and teaching, whilst the CBI is arguing that university fees for certain  courses should be reduced to help the numbers to rise.

Arguably the salaries in many of these roles not only rival but in certain areas outstrip the salaries in most other careers and yet there still appears to be a stigma attached to these jobs. In response the Telegraph has recently announced the winner of their new competition to encourage innovation across five areas - pharmaceuticals, automotive, the environment, construction and defence - by students in the sector. It is offering a £25,000 prize (courtesy of Babcock Group International) to the entry that is decided displays the most positive change to the sector. This is a competition that is pushing the skills of engineers and science to the forefront and highlighting the sector in a more positive light.

Apprenticeship schemes partly hold the answer

The Government has also been pushing Apprenticeships for a number of months and it seems that for those that are heeding the advice and looking at establishing schemes where young people can be nurtured and grow has proven successful. A great example of this is a local manufacturing business, MEP, who are a multi award winning manufacturing business that specialise in moulding and machining.

Their commitment to an apprenticeship scheme is paying dividends – five years ago they decided that in order to create a workforce that would grow with their business they would need to create an apprenticeship scheme. They employed two to start with and have since then taken on an additional apprentice each year until last year when they took on six. Phil Hart from MEP comments “My ambition was to have an apprentice across all departments, including our support teams and we achieved this last October. We are seeing the benefits already as they begin to deliver value to the business, overall it’s been a really positive move.”

The Manufacturing and Engineering Expo run by the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce and supported by MAS and the EEF. The Expo is addressing the issue of skills shortages in its programme via the networking breakfast where Nick Holbrook-Sutcliffe from East Kent College will be speaking about their experiences and in a workshop that will feature the scheme run by MEP. Alongside this workshop are keynote speakers including Will Butler-Adams of Brompton Bicycles and Kevin Gaskell, the former MD of Porsche and BMW. It’s a free event to attend and there will be over 80 exhibitors and live demonstration areas.