Source: http://successnet.czcommunity.com/from-the-founder/martians-venusians-and-networking/4063/
Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but networking is just networking, right? Or is it?
Over the years we have worked with both men and women to grow their businesses by referral, and recently, as part of a study, we have observed the differences between how men and women network. In particular, we have noted how the genders utilize the VCP Process differently.
Every relationship, regardless of its nature, goes through a process. In the world of networking, the process of building a business relationship is called the VCP Process. Following are the steps in the VCP Process:
Visibility - This is the point in the relationship at which individuals first meet. They might simply have a conversation, trade contact information, and move on. This might happen several times. At this stage, individuals merely have to remember one another and have some basic knowledge of the other.
Credibility - This is the second phase of the relationship. In this phase, two individuals have interacted several times and trust one another. The longer they know, work with, and support each other, the deeper their credibility and trust. At this phase of the relationship the two networking partners begin to trust and help each other—and the relationship continues to grow.
Profitability - This is the third phase of the relationship. At this point, two networking partners completely trust each other, open their networks and customer databases to each other, and proactively help each other. Each has a deeper understanding of the other’s business and knows how to develop referrals and connections as well as open doors.
The Transactional vs. the Personal Networking Relationship
Since the days of hunting and gathering, there have been assumptions about the genders and how each experiences the world differently. So there remains today a fascination with the differences between men and women. As networkers, we are specifically curious about how men and women use the VCP Process differently—and how that impacts the sales process.
One key difference is women generally work the VCP Process more slowly. Women often spend a great deal of time at the Visibility stage—individually getting to know those in their network. Remarkably, we have witnessed that many women will work the VCP Process expertly up until the point where they achieve optimum Credibility; suddenly, they stall the process. At that point it won’t move forward to the next level of Profitability.
We cannot yet say for sure why this happens. But we’ve hypothesized that many women are hesitant to directly ask for a sale or a referral, for fear of overstepping their boundaries and losing credibility. Instead, they wait to be asked about what referrals or sales they are looking for. If their networking partners never ask, then these women often don’t enter into the Profitability stage.
Another key difference we’ve observed is that, generally speaking, men have a propensity to work the VCP Process in a far more transactional way than women. A significant percentage of the male networkers we have studied tend to start the relationship building process with Visibility and then prematurely move the relationship to the Profitability phase by asking for business and referrals before it is appropriate to do so. These same men will quickly start the process over again if the relationship in which they asked for a referral or a sale does not prove to be profitable.
Does genetic makeup have anything to do with why a compelling number of female networkers excel in the Visibility and Credibility phases of building relationships but fall flat when it comes to the final phase of Profitability, and why such a prominent portion of male networkers tend to jump blindly from Visibility into Profitability?
Interesting and mysterious, these differences are the basis for our upcoming book, Business Networking and Sex. If we can learn more about how the two genders are different and alike at the same time, we can learn to be more effective at the entire networking process. And to us, that’s very exciting!
If you’re curious about whether our observations about men and women and how they network may prove to be genetically determined, take five minutes to complete our survey and be a part of helping us find out!
Tell us what you think! Do men and women network differently? If so, how?
Hazel Walker is the Executive Director for BNI - Central Indiana as well as a franchise owner for the Referral Institute. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and travels the world speaking to business professionals on a variety of topics. You can read her blog at www.hazelmwalker.com
Called the father of modern networking by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the founder and chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest New York Times best selling book, The 29% Solution, can be viewed at 29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. He can be reached at misner@bni.com.
