Weds 15th January 2025
Simon Hammond of Morpheus Insurance Solutions believes in networking and the benefits it brings to his business, but that wasn’t always the case. When he started Morpheus in 2002 Simon was working in a very profitable insurance niche targeting larger companies and new business came relatively easily. But the financial recession starting in 2008 changed matters significantly, and Simon needed ways to bring in business from smaller companies.
He first tried networking with local groups in and around Ashford, including Wealden Business Group, but it was when a fellow networker invited him to the Executive Association of Great Britain, based in London, that Simon found his networking ‘home’. A group full of like-minded people, with an ethos of helping each other to succeed in their businesses.
Simon didn’t actually receive any referrals in the first year of membership, but understood the need to build relationships and trust. At the start of his second year the referrals started flowing, justifying his faith. Before long Simon became a board member, then Chair, of the EAGB.
His zeal for networking led Simon to being called a card-pushing ‘rottweiler’ at one point, but over time he realised that quality was better than quantity, and forging genuine connections better than handing out dozens of business cards. In short, networking works for Simon, just as it does for many other business people.