Networking Guy – Yuk!

My local Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a multi-Chamber mixer at the local newspaper in our community.  I love these events because I get to connect with business owners from neighboring communities that I don’t see on a regular basis.  That’s a good thing.

The bad thing was who I will call “networking guy”.  He was wearing a cowboy hat (not the norm in my suburban Chicago community!) and attached to that hat was a flashing neon “Let Me Tell You” badge.  I know, you think I am kidding, but I am not. 

I don’t like to judge, but this guy has it all wrong.  I don’t want to be “told” anything, and I sure as hell do not want to be told by a guy wearing a cowboy hat with a flashing neon light on it.  He was engaging in many short, meet and greet type conversations, but what really ticked me off was that while he was talking to one person, he was not making eye contact, but looking around for the next person to talk you.

Have you all met someone like this?  Probably.  Do we avoid people like this when we can?  Probably.  Can we be different than this guy?  For sure!

Here’s what I try to do at these events.  The new members of the Chamber are given a different color name badge to wear when they come to these things.  I seek out those new members, strike up a conversation to learn a little bit more about their business and then I ask them simple question, “What type of business or business person would be a good connection for you?”  Now, because I know almost all 900 members of our local chamber, I can, at that point, probably walk them over to someone that meets the criteria they just told me, and make an introduction, “Joe meet Mary, Mary meet Joe.  Mary said that knowing you might help her in her business, why don’t the two of you get to know each other a little better.”  Did I get anything out of it directly?  No, probably not.  Did I make a great impression on Mary and Joe?  For sure.  The next time Mary or Joe need my services, will they be more likely to think of me?  For sure.  More importantly, does Mary feel better about her decision to join the Chamber?  For sure.  Was Joe reminded about the advantages the Chamber has for him?  For sure.  Most of all, I feel great about connecting two people who did not know each other previously.  That’s part of what networking is for me.

So, the next time you are at a “networking” event, try and connect two people in your network.  The payoff will not be immediate, but it sure will feel good.


Published on Thursday April 9, 2009 in Core Self-Promotion Strategies, How to Talk About What You Do and Networking. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The Power of a Customer Advisory Board

I speak to many groups on Customer Retention Strategies and I am noticing that the concept of establishing a Customer Advisory Board for your business is consistently identified as the number one “takeaway” from the groups that I speak to.  In my presentations, I speak about “thinking outside the box”, as it relates to customer retention.  The number one “out of the box” strategy I recommend is establishing a Customer Advisory Board for your business.

 

First, for the sake of definition, what I am talking about here is getting together on a regular basis with a group of your best customers, soliciting their advice on how you could be serving them better.

 

Sounds simple, right?  Well it is.  Big companies have been doing it for years, so why not you?

 

What will this accomplish?  Several things, I expect, here are some possibilities:

 

-          You will continue to build on the trust relationship you have with those clients that participate.

-          You will get ideas on building your business that you had never dreamed about.

-          Your customers will be much more likely to become “raving fans” of your business, leading to more and better referrals.

-          You will have a chance to run new ideas (marketing, product, or service) past the participants and gain valuable insight on which ones might work best

-          You will have the ability to connect your customer with each other, thereby increasing your value to them (be strategic about the groups you get together!).

 

How will you execute?  Simple, send a formal invitation, followed with a phone call.  Tell your client that you appreciate your relationship with them and want to reward them for it.  Have your event at a local restaurant (a little more upscale is better), in a private room if possible, at a convenient time for them.

 

Write out your agenda in advance; start with the question, “Why do you like doing business with me/us?”

 

I challenge you to try this strategy and look forward to your comments and success stories!

Published on Sunday March 8, 2009 in Core Self-Promotion Strategies, Customer Retention, Keep-in-Touch, Networking and Referrals. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Free First Friday Focus Tele-seminar — Please join me!

Join me, Brent Burns, Certified Book Yourself Solid Coach, for my free, monthly “First Friday Focus on . . .” tele-seminar at noon (CST) on Friday, March 6.  This month’s topic is Customer Retention.  We are going to discuss the importance of customer retention, especially as it relates to the challenging economy that we are all part of right now.  I promise you will leave the call with strategies that you can implement immediately that will make your customer base more loyal, more profitable, and more likely to refer to you. 

Call Details:

Dial in number:  712-432-3900, access code:  6904581#

Time:  12:00 Noon Central time, 1:00 pm Eastern, 10:00 am Pacific time

Call Length:  1 hour

Bring your lunch and join me on the call!


Published on Thursday March 5, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Come Hear Me Speak!

This coming Friday, March 6, 2009, I will be the guest speaker at the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Builders Breakfast.  The event is titled:  Are You Spending to “Get” or “Keep” — The Importance of Customer Retention in a Challenging Economy. 

Given the current state of the economy, our marketing dollars are more precious than ever.  Many studies have shown that keeping our current customers engaged and continuing to build trust with them over time increases our revenue and reduces our marketing expenditures, so doesn’t it make sense to have a clearly defined and calendared Customer Retention program?  I think so, and this seminar will give you the tools to design, implement and measure your customer retention program.

This event is being sponsored by the Crystal Lake Chamber Young Professionals Group, they will be cooking pancakes for all attendees!!  Learn more about this program by clicking here, I hope you can come!

Published on Wednesday March 4, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Paralysis by Analysis

Has your “to-do” list spilled over to a second page?  Do you have a project that you have been meaning to complete, but just can’t seem to find the time?  Are you putting off that “big” project because it is just too intimidating?  Are you trying to get it “perfect” before getting it out there?

I admit, I suffer from a perfectionist personality.  I hesitate to move forward on something because, in my mind, I have not analyzed it enough and it is not perfect.  Who’s to say what is perfect?  This website was a good example.  It has been almost four months in the making, and I was still not live!  Enough!  So, no more “paralysis by analysis for me”, the site is up, I have a handful of blog posts, and I could not be more excited.  Once I let a few key friends know I was up and running, I got nothing but positive feedback.  Good for me, I just should have done it sooner!  Aren’t we are all guilty of things like this?  For today’s post, I wanted to offer some tips to shrink your list and get the big project done.

To begin, “JUST DO IT”.  Our friends at Nike have it right here, your project will never get done unless you start it.  Procrastination is a killjoy when it comes to things like this.  Your first step has to be deciding to get on with it.

Next, break down the big project into small pieces.  For instance, if the project is getting your website built, divide the various parts of this big project into smaller parts.  For instance, you could work on the page content one day and your auto-responder series the next.  Or, maybe you work on it page by page, adding content for only one page each day.  That’s what I did, and about a week later, I was done!

Now that you have broken down your project into smaller bites, you need to set aside the time.  Big tasks can seem daunting, especially those that require intense thought and creativity.  It also very easy to get lost inside of a project and spend the entire day deciding what font to use in your header, right?  I found myself doing this a lot and to help keep my day moving, I purchased a kitchen timer for my office and I now segment my day into 90 minute “blocks”.  I set the timer for 90 minutes, then when time’s up, I move on the next part of myday.  My 90 minute “creative” block, when I do things like making blog posts and adding content to the site happens between 10:00 am and 11:30 am each, it is when I am at my creative peak, so I want to be engaged with creative tasks furing that segment of my day. 

So, the next time you find yourself procrastinating on a project, I hope these suggestions will help you get to “done”!


Published on Saturday February 28, 2009 in Personal Development. 0 Comments Tags: , .