In this episode, Sharon DeKoning talks with Aanand Mehta from BNI Alberta North. Their conversation delves into the critical role networking plays in business success. Aanand explains how networking serves as the foundation for building relationships, resources, and referrals. He shares a story of two BNI members whose networking efforts led them to secure major clients for each other, emphasizing the importance of relationship-building over direct selling. 

Anand advises listeners, especially new networkers, to focus on being genuinely interested, following up after meetings, and giving before receiving. He highlights the value of attending both in-person and online events and underscores the global reach of BNI, which helps entrepreneurs connect across 80 countries through its resources and app.

The conversation also touches on key networking strategies, such as being present and mindful, building trust and credibility, and how introverts can excel in networking by taking a more strategic approach. Anand shares tips on how new entrepreneurs can get the most out of networking events and emphasizes that true networking goes beyond social media. He encourages listeners to attend BNI chapters to hone their skills and provides insights into BNI’s global presence, inviting people to connect via LinkedIn or through BNI Alberta’s website for further resources.

Aanand Mehta is a Co-Executive Director of BNI Alberta North. He was been a member of BNI for 9 years and a part of the regional management team for the past 3 years. He has a passion for working with Albertan entrepreneurs and professionals to build a culture of proactive and reciprocal business relationships. In 2018 he was recognized as Director of the Year and in 2019 was awarded the honour of the Givers Gain Award.

 

Before his role at BNI, Aanand co-founded Output—a company focused on improving the efficiencies of trades companies through new technology. Aanand is a volunteer with the Christopher Leadership Courses of Canada, instructing classes on effective public speaking & community leadership.

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Transcript
Sharon DeKoning: [00:00:16] Thank you for joining us today on our It's time for Success: The Business Insights Podcast. We're with Aanand Mehta with BNI. I have met Aanand, a little bit of history between you and me, back in 2018 I had reached out to Anand, not knowing Anand. Actually, I'm going to back up a little bit. We have a business coach and he's out of Calgary, it's Action Edge business coaching, I was at a 90 day planning session. In this room, I get to sit with about 30 different businesses in the region. One of the guys beside me he says to me, Sharon, are you part of BNI? I'm like, no, what's BNI? Never heard of BNI ever. Being in a rural area, I've never heard of it. He told me at that meeting that it's about 80% of his business is networking, and he's a busy man so he is really appreciative of BNI getting him out of his comfort zone, and we'll go into a little bit more detail about that later. Since that meeting with that gentleman in our 90 day planning, I reached out to Aanand in 2018, I believe it was. Anand is the executive director of BNI Alberta North. Thank you for joining us today, Aanand.

Aanand Mehta: [00:01:28] It's my pleasure. Thank you so much for the invitation, Sharon.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:01:31] It's going to be fun and exciting. I'm very passionate about BNI, maybe it's because I've learned to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and doing those presentations are huge. As we've learned, networking is huge. That's what we need to chat about today, so our episode today is 'Power Networking: Secrets to Building Business Relationships'. If we could jump into a little bit of detail from your knowledge over all these years, can you tell us what role does networking play in a success of a business.

Aanand Mehta: [00:02:02] I think it's the absolute cornerstone of success in business. Everything that we do in business requires relationships, it requires resources, it requires word of mouth referrals, and that is all at its root. It all comes from networking. Especially as an entrepreneur or a solopreneur, you need to surround yourself with people that are going to either motivate you, be a sounding board, people to collaborate with, otherwise it's a really lonely world and you just cannot do it alone. So networking is absolutely a cornerstone of business. Not only for small businesses though, but it has a huge value and impact in larger organizations as well. There's that age old saying, it's all about who you know, and it's absolutely true if you want to grow. If you want to move your business in a positive direction, you definitely need to be out there networking.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:03:07] Sometimes I find that I can go and have coffee with my girlfriend and it's great. It's absolutely great, but having coffee with a fellow business owner, there are two different conversations, and I feel like I need both in my life.

Aanand Mehta: [00:03:20] Yeah, absolutely. I felt the same way. When you're in business, a lot of our friends are not necessarily in business along with us. They don't understand those challenges, the struggles, they don't necessarily understand the wins when we've achieved something monumental in our business. For them, they don't see the challenges so it's hard to also appreciate the big successes. Through that networking, through that coffee with a local business person, by meeting somebody that has also started their own business, you're getting their knowledge, their expertise, their resources. You can be each other's mentor, and help work through problems, adapt quicker. There's so much to be gained from building those types of relationships in the business community.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:04:16] I can go for coffee at one of our one-to-ones, and in particular, well almost every session, but in particular the last session, I was making mental notes like you wouldn't believe about sponsorships, how they do their sponsorships and donations, how it's a different letter that they implement. A light bulb went off, and that's just from having a coffee with fellow business people, getting to know him, getting to know that relationship and having those questions and that open door. They're fantastic. In business, we can't do it alone and I think networking really helps us.

Aanand Mehta: [00:04:47] Absolutely.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:04:48] Is there anybody in particular that you can share a story with us that networking helped their business and their entrepreneurships?

Aanand Mehta: [00:04:57] I have a lot of BNI related stories, but it's about networking in general and building those relationships. The story I'd like to share, it comes from a 1 to 1, and for the listeners, in BNI we really encourage our members to get together, meet one on one with fellow members to build a relationship, learn more about each other's business so that we can become each other's marketing partners. We're out there listening, looking for opportunities, and through those relationships that we can build confidence and understanding of how to refer to one another. The story that I have comes from a 1 to 1 that two members were conducting, they'd known each other for several years at this point. They had a strong relationship, they're already close referral partners, and they both started in business in sales around the same time. One was in telecommunications, the other was in promotional products. They're both green, they're very new into their respective industries. They were targeting a very similar type of clientele, small businesses, 1 to 5 employees. They were just getting a good understanding of their products, their services, where they fit into the bigger picture of their ecosystems and their respective industries. They were able to grow together, as soon as one of them got a new customer, they were able to introduce that business to the other. It was a very fruitful relationship in that sense. That's where BNI played that important role in that structure, in that accountability between two very young into sales professionals. But over time, you start to think that your credibility is right at the top with that fellow member, because you're already earning all these great referrals. So what this story is really about, is about the importance of continuing to network and developing those relationships.

Aanand Mehta: [00:07:10] Sometimes we already think we're doing everything, we've already extracted the most amount of value. What happened is, between these two members, they went out for lunch together one day and they sat down and they were doing some discussion around business, but it was mainly just to, they were friends at this point, they're just sitting down and having lunch. The promotional products member says, I think I'm finally ready to introduce you to my biggest client. The telecom member says, oh my God, what? What do you mean, who's your biggest client? You can imagine that feeling, you already had this great relationship for so many years, in some ways there's instant disappointment. It's like, what do you mean? I don't already have access to all of your clients? I don't already have this credibility with you? What do you mean, who's your biggest client that I've never heard of before? It just goes to show the importance of continuing to develop that relationship, continuing to build that trust and not just resting on the successes that we've already had.

Aanand Mehta: [00:08:23] Unbeknownst to the member that was in promotional products, the member that was in telecom was trying to get into that same company for the last several months, but they'd never spoken about it. This company was a large enterprise level company, and the types of referrals that they were already currently sharing were for the small businesses, that 1 to 5, 10, 15 employees maybe at this time. This opportunity was for something in a totally different league. They had never talked about it, they hadn't continued to dive in deeper into the changes that were happening within each other's business. Yes, it started off with that sinking feeling, but this member says, I'm finally ready to introduce you. They discover that the other member was trying to get into that business this entire time anyways. Now the next hurdle came along, it's like, how does somebody that's in promotional products make an introduction for his friend that's in telecom? They're not dealing with the same people at that business. The relationship that the member in promotional products had with the marketing manager was so strong that he asked that marketing manager at this enterprise company to go down the hallway and let the chief technology officer know that he needed to pick up those phone calls. He was just ignoring the telecom guy, didn't want to hear from him, whoever picks up a phone call from a telecom rep in the first place. But the marketing manager said, I know you so well I'm going to go ahead and do this. It just goes towards showing all the different relationships that were involved in making that opportunity happen. It did happen, the member did get the business, and it ended up being one of those golden egg referrals that flourished into something never thought of before. So it was a story about the successes of networking, but also highlights the importance.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:10:34] Because it's relationships. As business owners, we have to build those relationships, establish those relationships with our customers and our clients. They got to build that trust before we can even implement a referral to them.

Aanand Mehta: [00:10:47] That's what trust and credibility is all about. It's all about that consistency, and even though we may think our credibility is through the roof, we need to constantly be working on it.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:10:59] Absolutely. I have a quick little story, I know it's not on our agenda. When customers come in, I like to ask them not just what they're needing, of course, we like to say that we're solution providers, not product pushers. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting to know your customers. This one customer came in and he was talking, I said, what do you need, because it's a relatively new company, what do you need help with, what else can we help you with? He said, Sharon, I really need drivers, I'm short workers. That seems to be the cry for help right now. Fast forward, I said, what's the criteria that they need? Within three weeks I knew somebody and I got that person a job, he came in the other day and he shook my hand. That's relationships, that's going above and beyond and asking, not even above and beyond, that's not even right, just genuinely caring. That's really all it is, just care.

Aanand Mehta: [00:11:49] Yeah, absolutely. It's showing a genuine interest.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:11:53] How can we help you? Taking advantage of those networking opportunities, me and, you know this Aanand, we talked about this before, before BNI I worked 9 to 5. That's a lie, I worked probably 7 to 8. Anyways, we come to work, we work in our four walls and to get to go out for coffee with another business person almost felt elaborate. I never took the time to do it, but it's so important and I've gained so much value from going out and having coffee with fellow business people. With BNI, and now I'm implementing the chambers and all that other kind of stuff as well into my curriculum, because I know what's important, and it's important to give back to the community as much as possible. When somebody is out networking, what would be some advice that you would give to somebody that's new to networking? Myself, I was that person. I would stand in the corner, preferably with my back to everybody. What would be a tip for somebody, advice for somebody going out networking? First of all, yes, we just talked about, it's important to grow your business. What would be a couple key takeaways for them?

Aanand Mehta: [00:12:55] I think number one is that, networking is not sales. The number one mistake I find people make is, they go out there to network, but it's really to make a sale. Meaning you walk into a room in a networking event and people are just out there hawking their business cards. They come up to you and they tell you about the five, ten, sometimes 20 different things that they do, and then they move on to the next person. Sometimes that might get a hit, they might get a sale out of that. It should be, I believe, about building those relationships. Things to think about when you're out there networking is, be interested. Be curious, ask them questions about their business. People love talking about their experiences. Showing a genuine interest can go a long ways. This is not anything revolutionary, but all of our moms have probably said at some point, you have two ears and one mouth, you need to use them proportionately. The same concept applies to networking. Show a genuine interest and don't just listen to respond. Meaning, don't just listen while you're waiting for your turn to now talk about all the amazing things that you offer.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:14:23] So be present, literally.

Aanand Mehta: [00:14:27] Literally, be present. Ask some questions, continue on that conversation. It needs to be like a volleyball, where you're passing that volleyball back and forth. Being mindful of how much time you're taking up in the conversation is also very important, especially if it's somebody new that you've just met. You need to show a genuine interest, respond to questions that they have, but we need to pass that volleyball back and allow them to respond. That's how we're going to start building that relationship.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:15:01] There's a book, and you can help me with that, by Doctor Ivan Meissner, and I can't remember which one, but he talked about how you stand at a networking event.  I know, for example, always keep the area open, don't put your back to people, stand open, crossing your arms, all that kind of stuff. Do you remember what book that was?

Aanand Mehta: [00:15:19] Yeah, he's had a number of amazing books when it comes to networking.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:15:23] Anyways, that one really resonated with me. It might have even been a podcast.

Aanand Mehta: [00:15:29] Yes, there are a number of podcasts. For example, if you're just meeting somebody brand new, it's one on one, we should be squared off and facing them. We need to be facing them because our body language says a lot. You talk about how over 90% of our communication is nonverbal. We need to be present, face them, look at them, say their name a few times. If you're at a networking event, a bit of a pro tip is to make sure that you're wearing your name tag on your right hand side, not on your left. The reason being, when it's on your right hand side and you extend your hand out to shake their hand, they're able to see your name tag instead of having to look over to see what your name is. Making it easy for people to say your name is just a really simple way to start forging that relationship. The more times you can say someone's name, it's the sweetest thing they'll ever hear, is their own name.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:16:37] Very good. Some key strategies to building meaningful and long business relationships. Do you have any tips on how to establish, we touched on them already, being curious and listening, but what else do you have? Do you have anything else up your sleeve you can share with us?

Aanand Mehta: [00:16:51] Absolutely. Continuing on from that networking event, is ensure that you follow up. This will help develop those longer term relationships. It's not just transactional, I met you at a networking event and now we've moved on. If it's somebody that you genuinely feel that you can help, that would be a great reason to follow up. If you think there are ways that you could strategize, and maybe there's opportunities there to be referral partners, follow up. If there's opportunities there to provide advice and mentoring, this is definitely where we need to follow up. That gets wrapped up into my next point which is, look for ways to give before you get. In BNI we call that givers gain. When you can find ways to help others first, you are going to stay top of mind. At the end of the day this is just a marketing strategy as well, so if you can find ways to stay top of mind, they're then going to be thinking about you in return. They're going to be looking for ways to help you, but it's because you first initiated it. That is how you can build a foundation of trust and collaboration with new people that you're meeting while you're networking.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:18:19] So there's two different personalities, introverted, extroverted. Any tips for either of those?

Aanand Mehta: [00:18:25] I actually find that networkers that are introverted are much more successful.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:18:32] We tend to hide in the corner and not do anything.

Aanand Mehta: [00:18:37] But once you're out of that shell, I find that introverts, and I'm an extrovert, so I find that introverts are actually much more strategic with how they network. Because of that, they're able to generate results.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:18:53] Well, there's a high five for our introverted listeners, because sometimes networking and all that kind of stuff, for introverted people, it doesn't sit well with them. It's scary.

Aanand Mehta: [00:19:02] There's a great book, it's by Matthew Pollard, I believe it's called 'The Introvert's Edge', so it's a great read for the introverts out there. The reason I think introverts are much more successful is because they're not out there looking to meet with 20 people. They're often going to be very strategic. This is why I'm going to the event. They have a goal in mind. I'm going to be there to meet a few key people. If this event that you're going to has an attendance list or registration list where you can see who's going to be in attendance, take a look at it, make a plan of who you want to go there and meet and know why. I find introverts are typically the ones that are going to plan a little bit further, because they don't want to be in there socializing for several hours. They want to get in there, meet the people they want to meet, and then move on. Versus the extroverts like myself where I want to go and meet 50 people at an event. I find it much more of a challenge to pare that down and then spend that meaningful time with someone.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:20:16] One thing I've noticed too, since I've started, and I've been in those shoes before, is sometimes people stand by themselves. They're awkward too, and they're feeling uncomfortable. My tip is, go talk to them. I've been that person, help them out a little bit.

Aanand Mehta: [00:20:33] Absolutely. It's very awkward when you just show up to a networking event, especially if you're by yourself. Go and talk with them, break the ice. What brought you to this event?

Sharon DeKoning: [00:20:46] Introduce them to others if you can.

Aanand Mehta: [00:20:49] Yeah, absolutely introduce them to others for sure is a great way to showcase your networking skills and it helps build that relationship.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:20:58] One thing, if you could talk briefly about BNI, because BNI, we talked about it a little bit, I mentioned it about Calgary, your BNI Alberta North which is Edmonton, but it's a global industry. Anybody that's needing to network or build relationships, you can find a BNI chapter almost anywhere, is that correct?

Aanand Mehta: [00:21:17] Almost everywhere. BNI is, we're proud to say, is going to be celebrating our 40th anniversary in January around the world. BNI is now in, I believe, over 80 countries now, and we have just under 330,000 members around the world.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:21:41] That's crazy, and on our app we have applications to every one of them, to contact.

Aanand Mehta: [00:21:47] You can get in contact with any one of those members through the app. In fact, there was just a recent update on the app that makes it even easier. If you're interested in networking, if you're interested in learning how to network, we're not talking about applying or becoming a BNI member, go and visit a BNI chapter, meet some great people and talk the language. It's a pretty unique opportunity to be in a room with like-minded people that are there to support one another.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:22:21] That's absolutely true. I have up here, for a wrap up, number one networking tip for small business owners. Again, I think we touched on this a little bit but, number one, what's your key networking tip for small business owners? How about let's change the question, number one networking tip for new entrepreneurs.

Aanand Mehta: [00:22:43] Number one networking tip for brand new entrepreneurs, that's a great question. I think number one is just getting out there. You have to start somewhere.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:22:57] You have to get out, it's so important.

Aanand Mehta: [00:22:59] You have to get out there. When I think back to when I was starting a brand new business, you get your plans in place, you do all your strategy, and sometimes I think as entrepreneurs we can overthink things. We want to make sure everything is absolutely planned out, but that's not the way business or life works, unfortunately. Just getting out there and starting, it starts opening up doors immediately.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:23:32] Some people I find, I know this because I work with businesses every day, people think that being on social media is a big enough platform for networking. It's not networking, it's the wrong kind of networking, but just being present on social media.

Aanand Mehta: [00:23:47] I think social media absolutely has changed the game when it comes to networking. There are opportunities to build relationships. I utilize social media to learn about who I want to connect with, who is a leader, who's making waves in a particular industry. That part, social media can be absolutely wonderful for. Being able to directly message them and saying, I really appreciate meeting you or I really appreciate seeing what you're doing in your business or in the community. But at the end of the day, it needs to become a real world relationship.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:24:22] You fall back onto that story you talked about. Your promotional products company introduced that tech company to their key customer. That is not going to be through social media, that is getting to know somebody, that's getting to go for coffee, that's building those relationships and that trust. There's a whole different ballgame there.

Aanand Mehta: [00:24:40] Absolutely, it's not just a conversation on social media. Always boils down, for me, onto focusing on giving and not getting. That way your intention is about helping others first. Whether that's through advice, referrals, resources that you can share, advice that you can share. You're going to be taking steps towards building your trust and credibility, and that's how so many doors can open that you never imagined or thought possible. Through the most unexpected people that you meet as well.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:25:17] Different industries, a lot of times we just stay with our own industries and that's how, as business owners, you stay with that comfort zone. But you need to get to know all the different industries, that's who you need to get to know.

Aanand Mehta: [00:25:30] Yeah, absolutely. Getting to know people within your industry, absolutely important to learn about what's new, what are other people doing, what do you need to sharpen your sword to stay ahead of the competition. Networking with people outside of your industry, that's truly where I found that those bigger opportunities, the larger doors, open up.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:25:53] What are some different platforms for in-person networking? Of course we talked about BNI, I know the chamber. Do you know of any other ones that they could look into their areas?

Aanand Mehta: [00:26:05] Well when it comes to your local areas, I find that using Eventbrite can be extremely powerful in your local area to find out what types of events are happening. Many organizations will put their events up on Eventbrite, maybe even the tickets are on there and often the tickets, those types of events, are free. Partnering, checking out events that your local chamber is putting on, can be extremely powerful as well. Local business associations. Those are larger organizations that are constantly having certain types of events. Even LinkedIn has a whole event section now, as well. Learning about what types of events or local businesses putting on can be a great resource in terms of looking for.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:27:06] We fall back to social media again too, don't we? There's lots of things being posted on social media as well, all the events. So, just be aware.

Aanand Mehta: [00:27:14] I truly encourage people to look at anything that they're going to as a networking opportunity. It might not be advertised or posted as a networking event, but everything, if you're going to be meeting people, it's a networking event.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:27:27] Well, I really appreciate you joining us today. Do you have anything else you want to add for our listeners? I'll probably have you back on again, I have some other topics that I'd like to pick your brain about. Anything on the secrets to building business relationships for our listeners today that you'd like to add?

Aanand Mehta: [00:27:42] I think I've wrapped that up with that, focus on giving, not first on getting or receiving. It's a big mindset shift for many. Many times we'll see people going to a networking event and just hawking their business cards, they're trying to make that sale, and it's a very quick way to become forgettable. We want to make an impression on people, and the best way I've found is focusing on what we can do for them.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:28:14] Those people actually scare me a little bit, I'm one of those people. How can our listeners connect with you if they have any questions about BNI, how can they reach you? I see you're on LinkedIn, where else can we find you?

Aanand Mehta: [00:28:28] Yeah, absolutely on LinkedIn. Our regional website for BNI is filled with a lot of information and contact details, so check out bnialberta.ca if you'd like to learn more or just to book a time to chat further.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:28:42] Perfect. Well, thank you so much, Aanand, for joining us today and we really appreciate your wisdom.

Aanand Mehta: [00:28:48] Thank you so much, Sharon, for the opportunity, for everything that you do to enhance businesses, networking, entrepreneurship in Lloydminster and the surrounding area. You've been absolutely phenomenal.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:29:00] Thank you. Now you can say something to Alex if you want.

Aanand Mehta: [00:29:04] Alex, this is amazing to see. This was a referral I sent to you over a year ago, so that's pretty awesome. Please ensure that you're putting in that 'thank you' for closed business to Sharon.

Sharon DeKoning: [00:29:19] I love it so much. Well, thank you so much, I really appreciate you joining me today.

Aanand Mehta: [00:29:23] This was great. Thank you so much for the opportunity, and if there's other ideas or topics that you're thinking of, I'm happy to just be a sounding board, not necessarily a guest. Would love to help however I can.