My Kind of Networking

"The new spot to network with colleagues and clients is the hotel spa."

The New York Times ran an article today called “Networking at the Spa” which describes how golf resorts are on the wane and “more companies are turning to spas as a novel way to plan corporate outings.”

According to reporter Martha C. White, while golf can be very competitive and thus very stressful, chilling out in robes at the spa is much more relaxing, even for men. 

I couldn't agree more.  However, whenever you're outside of a traditional venue, whether at a golf course, a spa or a wedding, networking requires a good dose of self awareness.  If you’re at a conference or corporate meeting and there’s spa time involved, be sure to take cues from the people around you. 

It’s not appropriate, for example, to pull a marketing brochure out of your robe pocket and yak away about the strengths of your company to someone with cucumber slices over his eyes.

Respect the other person’s space and keep the conversation at a low intensity level.  It’s okay to talk business, but keep it general.  You can’t make the sale there, that shouldn’t be your objective, but you can move the relationship forward through a shared experience.  If you handle yourself well, you’ll have another opportunity at a more appropriate time to take the conversation to the next level. 

Comments

[Jason Jacobsohn]

Great reminder that you shouldn't talk business all the time. In most circumstances, you want to build the relationship first befor you talk much about business. In relaxed environments, you have the opportunity to get to know people more on a personal level, which is very important before any business gets transacted.