7. When you make the follow up call as agreed, review the business card or refer to your business development software if you use it and confirm that they were happy for you to follow up. If you had picked up that the person was going away for weekend then make sure that one of the questions you ask is "How did the weekend go?" I'm not asking you to remember these details. What I am doing is asking you to write down some small talk facts that you gathered on their business card. It helps break down their barriers to talking about business. When I ask my audiences "what is the most important thing with regard to business cards?" the normal answer I get is "make sure you carry plenty of them with you". Of course you know now that the most important thing is to ask for theirs. Offer your business card by all means, but don't be too quick to do this. I think it's a little pushy and it's another form of saying "aha you want to know all about me don't you. Here's my business card". It just may be that they don't want to know all about you … not at that moment anyway. There's a lot more to say about business development training and in particular working the room but you can find out about that on my other articles. Take note that business development and networking is about giving first and receiving second. If you go into it thinking "What's in it for me and what am I going to get out of this tonight" then the chances are you won't succeed. If you ask questions such as

· "How can I help you?"

· "Who would you like me to introduce you to?"

· "How will I know if someone I'm talking to will be a good introduction for you?"

You will be showing them you are a proficient and skilled business networker.

Dr. Albert Scweizer once said "Give without remembering and receive without forgetting". That should stand you in good stead when you're out there looking to create new business opportunities.