But What do I Have to Give?

Those new to using networking as a business tool are sometimes mystified about how to use this tool!

One day I met with a young woman, new to the area, and she was puzzled by how she could offer anything of value to people she met with.

I explained that as she met each new person, she added to her resource directory and that each new person gave her the opportunity to make a connection with that person and someone else in her growing network.

She literally sat back in her chair, thought for a second and said, "I just would never have ever thought of that!"

Networking can be the best way to become a valuable person to your friends, because you will bring added value to them.  And that's what networking is all about. 

What else would you have told this young person?

Trade Show Blues

OK, so it was only 50 bucks for the booth.  And I only spent another 50 on stuff to have at the booth.

What really ticks me off, is the networkers who tromp on my territory. Yep, that's right, they steal from me.


These are the people who visit the trade show as attendees.  These are the people who use my booth space as their booth space. 
These are the people who come up to me when I am exhibiting my company and tell me about what they are selling.  

Now, I'm not against a good old-fashioned conversation with a little give and take about what each other does.  After all, I won't know if what I have to offer is anything they would want or need if we don't.  And of course, I am very open to helping others.

But I'm talking about those rude people who are bold enough to come right up to my booth and sell what they have to offer, never asking a question about what the heck I am doing there and then moving on.  They are takers all the way. 

I'm calling the sheriff the next time they try to steal my time!

Know the Rules!

As we grow in our careers, many times we become known as experts in our field.  As a result we are asked to present at various meetings.  While we may be the expert in our work, sometimes we don't come across to our audience in that way.  Why?  For the very reason that we are not experts at presenting.

I was at a Chamber meeting last month when a couple rules were broken that took away from the speakers' credibility.

Rule #1, If you've forgotten your notes, don't announce it.  The audience doesn't know and if you are an expert, you should know what you're talking about anyway. So what if it's not exactly as you wanted it to be as long as you deliver the info.

Rule #2, This is one that drives me crazy.  DON'T LEAVE THE SPEAKER'S LECTERN EMPTY.  EVER!  Correct speaking etiquette calls for the emcee to introduce you, stay behind the lectern to welcome you to the stage.  Then at the end of your talk, please wait for that person to return to relieve you of your duties at the lectern.  Never, ever, should the audience be sitting there looking at space.  This rule is broken all the time.  You can watch for it now.

Are there any other miss-steps that you have seen speakers make?

Cornered

I just did a one!

What's a 1, you ask???

Well, I can't take credit for the term, but it means that I met with another person who monopolized the conversation for most of the time.  My friend, Sandy Pirwitz, who is a BNI Director, is the one who coined the phrase several years ago when caught in a similar situation.

But I think it's more embarrassing and frustrating for me because I'm known as the networking guru.  I should be able to manage better, right???

WRONG

This person watned me to know how wonderfully intelligent he was and also that he is an authority about everything...including areas of referral networking.  Including.......(fill  in the blank).

I had asked to schedule the event because this person had expressed a complaint about a program I oversee.  I wanted to hear his concerns and then hopefully solve some of those issues.  That didn't happen because this person didn't want solutions.

What did I learn from this situation that will help YOU in the future?  I wish I could give some really good advice here, but the only thing I have to say is just don't schedule with the type of person a second time.  Once burnt is enough.

Maybe you have some advice for me?????

Be There, Be Square!

More times than not I like to be there when I introduce two people.  Why?  Lot's of reasons!

1.  I usually learn something new about both even if they have been my friends for a long time.

2.  I can help to control the conversation.  It's easier for me to finesse the chat toward the reason for the intro than it is for either of the two to steer it.

3.  If there is something that "goes wrong" during the conversation, I can be aware of it and either attempt to fix or at least share my observations.

4.  It's helpful to have a third pair of eyes watching for body language.

5.  I can ask a pointed question without seeming like I am selling.  I'm just an interested third party!

6.  I may see an alternative for either or both parties, that neither of them would think of alone.  Again, because I am a silent observer, it gives me time to think.

7.  As the "organizer" of the introduction, I can act as the host, getting the conversation started, eliminating that awkward time of who should talk first!

What other reasons can you think of for being at the introduction of two people?

MINI change?????

So most of you know that I drive a MINI and in fact, I'm now on my second one, having compiled 190,000 miles on my cute little yellow '03, I now have a new, Laguna Green '12.  I love my car because of the way it drives and also the playful attitude of the whole company.  It's the "we do things and think differently" from the rest of the world.

When I picked up my new baby in March, my sales person, Brad Paris, told me to get the first oil change at 9,000 miles.  The dealership is a little over two hours away so I have to plan for something like this.  The middle of the September I am going to be in that area because we are going to our granddaughter, Kaitlyn's, 13th birthday party on Sept 15th, a Saturday and luckily the dealership has service hours on Saturdays.  This past Saturday I called to schedule that maintenance and also requested that they look at my dash to get ALL the dash lights to light. (I'm just weird that way!)

Within seconds I felt like I was talking to a "regular" car dealership.  The service adviser told me that I didn't need an oil change till 15K or one year, whichever came first and that my car would let me know with a message on the dash when that was so.  When I questioned him about my advice from Brad, the sales person, the service adviser again said that it didn't need to be changed. 

End of conversation about that.  

OK, so I asked about scheduling time for them to look at the dash lighting problem.  I was advised that they did NOT do diagnostic work of Saturdays that I would have to schedule time during the week.  I told him him that that solution would not work for me.  He said, "Well, we can't do diagnostic work because we might not get done and then you would be stranded without a car."  I asked, "But doesn't MINI provide loaner cars?"  You guessed it, "only on weekdays."

The light at the end of the tunnel is that I emailed Brad, the sales person, of my dismay.  To his credit, on a holiday weekend he immediately emailed me back asking me to call him on Tuesday while in my car, as he thinks he knows what the dash issue is and how to solve it.

What's this got to do with networking?  Well, networking is all about relationships and how they are maintained.  We usually think about this between two people, but it certainly can happen between a person and a company. 

Brad, the sales person, has at least made an attempt to keep my relationship intact with MINI. 

The service adviser?  I hope that he has come back from the holiday weekend with a refreshed attitude!

A Few Rambling Thoughts

OK, so I had coffee with Becky Robinson, owner of weaving influence, this morning.  We had met at the HEELS Boot camp at the beginning of the month when I heard her speak.  I was so impressed with her topic and her presentation style, that I just had to schedule time to get to know her better.  Like her curly red hair, Becky spirals energy and also asks great questions.

Becky is an expert in the social media setting, so I knew that I was in trouble since I hadn't blogged since the end of July.  Ya' know, life gets in the way!  I'm letting a few weeds get ahead of me tonight so that I can put a some words down for the masses to read!

What am I excited about???

Two things!

Our tenth anniversary event is coming up quickly and our 10/10 breakfast event is about 2/3rds of the way to a sell out.  My good friend, Scott Ginsberg, is going to be our keynote speaker.  Interesting fact that I found out this morning.  Becky went to the same college as Scott.  People can register at here.

Second thing!  I am charged up because Nick Nigro, our amazing trainer at Davis College, just started another Connext Nation class last week.  Davis is still the only college in the USA that offers a word-of-mouth marketing class to their students.  It is my hope that we can convince other colleges to do the same in the future, but in the meantime, take your hat off to Davis!

What chargin' your batteries at the moment?