Friday, February 02, 2007

Somebody Really Gets It!

The International Networking Week contest begins Monday, February 5. Many people have registered at the Certified Networker of Ohio website to participate. I am so excited about the effect this contest could have on the businesses of the people who get it! They realize that this three days can be like a shot of concentrated orange juice, with the infusion of lots and lots of energy. Kathy Stringham is one who clearly has it all figured out. Kathy and her husband, Dale, are the owners of several Coffee News franchises in SE Michigan and NW Ohio. Read Kathy's email to me.

"I decided last night to join the contest and it has been a pretty interesting day. I sent out that e-mail you received last night and people started to respond with times. I even have a couple of new referrals to people I wouldn't have thought of and those people set appointments with me too.
I am setting appointments with people because of the contest but I realize the power these appointments will have going forward. The response I am having makes me realize how many people I touch and hopefully I can positively impact them too."

That email made my day, because there had been some scuttlebutt that people could not participate in the contest because it would take them away from their business day. Yeah, I was pretty stunned by the comment, but realized that I probably had not done a good job of communicating about the benefits of being a contestant.

Kathy continued to make my day with a second email.

"I wanted to send a note to thank all of you in advance for meeting with me next week. I look forward to having fun, getting to know you better, learning more about each of your businesses and of course drinking lots of coffee.
If you have a question about our scheduled time please call or e-mail. I have some homework for you - I want to use the 6 Degrees of Separation principle and see if we can make some connections within my appointments. I am asking you to bring the name of 3 people or 3 businesses that you would like a connection to. I will keep a list of those people during the 3 days and share it with each of the people I talk to. If I find someone who has a connection to the person or business you want to meet, I will introduce you to them the following week. Make sure you are specific in your request."

Now I ask you, does Kathy get it???? Do you have someone you've met who displays the same networking savvy that Kathy does?




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So far this week the "Marathon one-to-ones" have been fun. I have kept a list of connections the people I am meeting with would like to make and asked all the new people as I met with them if they could help. I have found quite a few connection points, for example one business I have helped make 4 connections and another 3 connections.
It is great helping other people!