When networking with people you may not have met before, it’s pretty important that you're able to communicate your value to them. If you can do this, they come away from the encounter understanding the unique benefits you offer and the value of knowing you.

If you can match your value with their needs, you can create a win-win situation that leads to a long-lasting relationship beneficial to both of you. 

What Is Your Unique Value?

How well do you know the value you offer? You may have an idea already, but it’s important to figure this out to get the best results from your networking efforts.

Think about these questions:

• What are you proud of?
• What are your unique strengths?
• What skills do you have?
• What successes have you had?
• How have you helped clients in the past?

Make a mental (or written) list of your skills and areas of expertise. Think about where you’ve achieved results and where you’ve spent the bulk of your time. You can also perform a SWOT analysis of your business to help clarify it.

S.W.O.T. stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Learn From Feedback

Self-assessment will help you make a potential list of what you can offer, but let's face it, most of us are modest and don't like to toot our own horns. So, you also need to seek feedback from others. Other people can help you see your strengths generally better than you can by yourself.

Ask your friends, family, employees, business partners or connections, clients and customers, and some raving fans of you and your business. Review past emails to see what people have said in praise of you or reach out to them and ask. Don't be shy. 

You can also read the reviews and comments that you've received about your products or services. Why did your customers or clients choose you over the competition? 

Refining Your Value Proposition

I hope you managed to come up with a big list of things you should be proud of and that you add value to any relationship with. Now, narrow it down to just a few so you don’t overwhelm the people you meet. Which of your benefits would offer the greatest results to your network? Choose up to 3 and put them at the top of your list.

One technique that can help you narrow the list down is the “So What” test. For each of your top items, put yourself in the other person's shoes and ask, “So what?” This helps you identify which benefits have the greatest impact.  

Communicating Your Value Proposition

Once you understand the value you can offer, you need to learn how to communicate it to the people in your network. There are lots of ways you can do this.

When you prepare for networking, you should create an elevator speech. This is one of the introductions you can give when you first meet people at networking events. It explains who you are, what you do, and how you serve others. This should also convey in an easy-to-understand way the unique value you offer. 

For more on creating your perfect elevator speech check out my blog: "How to Craft Your Perfect Elevator Speech"

You should also include your value in your follow-up emails. If you’ve shared it in your elevator speech, your follow-up could be an email, which reminds them of the benefits you offer and who you are. 

The point isn’t to brag about yourself. It needs to be authentic benefits you can offer others and you don't need to exaggerate. If the value you convey is authentic, you’ll start to form real, long-lasting relationships that can help both of you. 
 

Next Steps

Start working on your list of items that can benefit your network. I think you'll be surprised at how long that list is when you're done.

What's your key unique value? Let me know in the comments below.