The Value of Networking

When I set up Decipher in 2001, networking was not part of my day to day vocabulary. However as a new business owner looking to secure new opportunities and show my skills, I soon learnt that I had to be in the room with like-minded people.

I remember my first networking event, when I entered the room and was met by the hustle and bustle of the room. I thought to myself, I don’t know anyone, how do I break the ice. This was short lived, as when I got into the room, people whom I had met in my previous employed roles, recognised me and the conversation flowed.

For me networking is not about the hard sales pitch. I advise my team at Decipher that when we go to networking events, go with an open mind to find out who the people in the room are, why are they there and what is it they are looking for from the event. It is quite normal when entering a large event for the first time to become daunted at the prospect. I tell our team that others in the room will be feeling exactly the same.

I often see at events, people trying to do the hard sales pitch. In our industry, networking is about understanding your audience and advising them about what you do, how you got into the profession and what brought you to that event today. This can often extend to other discussion topics such as other events attended and common interests.

I also tell my team that they need to keep their social media pages up to date, as following a face-to-face event, people will want to connect with you. The social media page is your opportunity to showcase who you are, what you have done and it is at this point that you continue to engage the audience about how you could be of assistance to the prospective client.

At Decipher we say to all of our team (from the undergraduates to Senior Leadership team) get to as many networking events as you can, this will help promote yourself and also Decipher, because you just never know who is in the room and who you might meet.

 Paul Gibbons
Chief Executive Officer
Decipher Group
A DESIMONE Company