When I quit my day job 11 years ago working for a major firm of Loss Adjusters, I didn’t have any clients or prospects; I just had a desk and an empty filing cabinet. The first thing I decided to do was get out there and start networking. I searched online and immediately joined the biggest networking group in the UK. After attending local meetings for a period of months, I worked my way up to be Director of one of the biggest chapters in the country and also took on other leadership roles.
After several years, I decided to move to another business networking group called 4Networking, which has grown to 5,000 meetings across the UK. Now, I’m a Group Leader of my local business networking group in North London. We regularly see between 30 and 40 businesses at each meeting, which is held at the Finchley Golf Club every other Thursday from 8 to 10 AM. It’s a really beautiful setting.
“I started The Claims Desk with nothing but my knowledge of the insurance claims industry— no money, no contacts, no infrastructure. And every client I’ve ever had has come to me through networking and referrals. That’s the power of strong relationships.”
I bring this up because I realize just how important networking has been for my business and my life. At these meetings, we see all kinds of professionals and business owners: solicitors, lawyers, insurance brokers, bookkeepers, IT consultants, tradespeople, and an osteopath for good measure. You can never be sure who might be your next client.
I feel like I should point out that, as important as it is to generate work for yourself through these meetings, you are also building up your own supply network. All of the people you meet could provide you with products or services you may need someday. I’m living proof of that, as all of the furniture in my office and all the business cards I carry came from connections I made while networking. In fact, I have given and received hundreds of thousands of £s in business referrals over the last 10 years!
To give you a sense of how serious I am about networking, let me tell you a quick story. About a year ago, my Dad was trying to get a hold of me. He kept calling and not getting anywhere, until I finally was able to pick up the phone. When I answered, he said, “Where were you?”
I replied, “I was in a networking meeting.”
Irritated, he said, “Every time I try to talk to you, you’re in a bl**dy networking meeting. Don’t you do any work!?’’ I had to laugh.
Aside from bothering my father (he was, of course, pulling my leg), my time in networking meetings has had the effect of allowing me to succeed in growing my business. Like I said, I started The Claims Desk with nothing but my knowledge of the insurance claims industry— no money, no contacts, no infrastructure.
And every client I’ve ever had has come to me through networking and referrals. That’s the power of strong relationships.
The caveat is, you need a great reputation built on trust in order for this to work. If you lose trust, the reputation you’ve worked hard to cultivate can collapse, so you need to stay active in the community and be dependable.
In the Loss Assessing/Insurance claims arena, you can’t escape the fact that who you know is a fundamental factor in your success. That’s why I want to offer you the chance to network through me. I’ve been networking solidly for over 10 and a half years, so if there’s someone or something you need to find, reach out to me and I can likely connect you to a person who can help!
And if there’s just one thing to take away from this, it’s the idea that networking alone is powerful enough to grow and sustain a thriving business. Unless you have bundles of money to throw at marketing and advertising, it’s truly priceless to know that sharing yourself and your business with others can take you far!
All the best,
Steve Lazarus
