Big Business NetWorking, Part 1: Crossing the Great Divide

Did you ever wonder why the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies don’t regularly show up at your Chamber of Commerce to hob-nob with the local printer or flower shop?

I certainly have pondered this for sometime as the owner of my own small business. As a consultant, speaker, coach and trainer, I tend to enjoy working with member-based organizations, small companies and entrepreneurial start-ups, although I have done work for larger organizations and even worked for large corporations prior to 2000. But during some of those early days I wondered, like many do, how my small business can get in the door to big business. One of the more obvious questions to me was, “where does big business NetWork, what does it look like and how do they do it?”

According to the most recent U.S. census, there are over 5.6 million companies with less than 100 employees (2.7 million of those with 1 to 4 employees) and only 101,755 companies with 100 or more…quite a difference. Based upon my own observations, there seems to be two distinct communities NetWorking in their own separate fenced-in backyards.

But what happens when big business desires to NetWork with small business and vice versa? Is there an easy way to NetWork across the “great divide” or do we have a situation like in the movie Cool Hand Luke where there is “a failure to communicate”?

Typically, small businesses choosing to do business with large companies have had to rely upon more traditional forms of promotion:  cold calling and advertising. While many companies today still rely upon cold calling to achieve this end, it requires an extremely thick skin, due to the red-tape of bureaucracy, not to mention gatekeeping tactics. These alone can cause high turnover and even the eventual closing of the doors. On the other hand, if the company is fortunate enough to be well-capitalized and savvy enough, they can employ effective advertising to break through.

Larger corporations wanting to do business with smaller companies, however, have the upper hand in that they have more resources at their disposal. Usually, they will form a small business division and hire representatives to go out and sell. In many situations, this is advantageous as there is often brand recognition and higher advertising dollars, so this should be a slam dunk, correct? Only when these organizations have a strong handle on NetWorking. The truth is that most don’t and if they get sales, it’s due to the strong-arming of marketing dollars, a handful of skilled NetWorkers or just dumb luck.

In the past, big business’ NetWorking strategy has been to flood a NetWorking event with a small army of representatives. While it might look impressive, it can appear monolithic. The other issue is that often NetWorking events are viewed by these organizations as sales events where there is an expectation of immediate dollars as opposed to the development of long-term business relationships, which only furthers the “salespeople selling to salespeople” effect that diminishes the value of the event as well as the organization running it. And even when a representative proves to be skilled at NetWorking and can establish the personal touch within an organization, it is often that that person will either get bumped up to a better position on the corporate ladder (as in the case of a well-known payroll company) or they will move on to another job, leaving those contacts orphaned.

The bottom line is that no matter the size of the company, poor NetWorking strategy will cost any corporation money and time.

Fortunately, there are some cracks forming in the wall between large and small. Of course, larger organizations are obliged to offer special programs to small minority and woman-owned companies, and while though it’s not true NetWorking, it has encouraged a growing number of NetWorks that cater to these communities to emerge. Additionally, several NetWorks like Chambers of Commerce have run successful events, sometimes referred to as “Goliaths”, where small businesses are invited to talk with the procurement departments of many larger companies in their area.

But the biggest attempt to blur the lines yet has been with the relatively-recent advent of online business and social NetWorking. It breaks down many barriers which traditionally have gotten in the way of small business success, such as the geographical barrier. With online NetWorking, people are people, no matter where they are located. More importantly, it takes the power away from the giant corporation and puts it into the hands of those who comprise it, because each contact made online is with an individual. When you view such information, the focus is on who they are, what they know, who they know, where they’ve been, where their going and, oh yes…the company for whom they currently work.

The significance of this cannot be underestimated or overstated: these NetWorks put the emphasis on the individual, not the corporation! By doing this, decisions to do business are based upon personal experience and contacts not by company size. And while there is still much needed improvement in the way the myriad of companies choose to partner, there is light at the end of the tunnel. With this in mind, as such advances in NetWorking take a stronger foothold on the world of business, we may be able to truly see a day where when it comes to NetWorking, size doesn’t matter.

Happy NetWorking!

Please contact Adam at Adam@TheNationalNetworker.com.

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